Our Verdict
The Astro A50 are definitely aimed towards gaming but can be used for occasional music listening thanks to their good audio reproduction. However, their overall bulky design and poor noise isolation aren't suited for the office or your daily commute.
- Comfortable and sturdy design.
- Accurate audio reproduction with EQ and presets.
- Decent microphone that filters out noise.
- Bulky design not meant for outdoors.
- Poor noise isolation and leaky at high volumes.
- Aggressive auto-off timer.
The Astro A50 are very good for neutral listening. They have a comfortable design, a well-balanced sound profile, although some may feel like they're a bit bass-light. They also have a decently spacious soundstage and a good stereo image reproduction which is suitable for both critical listening and gaming. You also have access to an EQ to make them sound the way you prefer.
Sub-par for commuting. The Astro A50 gaming headset doesn't block a lot of noise and leaks a lot at higher volumes. These headphones also have to be in range of the transmitter dock, so they won't be suitable for commuting or traveling unless you're on a plane or train and using a laptop. Even then, the dock isn't really practical to use under those circumstances.
Mediocre for sports. The Astro A50 Wireless have a bulky design that's not stable enough for running or working out. they also need their dock to function so unless you're planning on working out inside near your gaming setup, these aren't recommended.
Sub-par for office use. The Astro A50 have a comfortable design you can wear for hours and a great app with a lot of customization options. However, they leak quite a bit at higher volumes and won't block the ambient chatter of a noisy office environment.
The Astro A50 Wireless 2017 are very good wireless gaming headphones. They sound well-balanced, have a good microphone that can separate your voice from ambient noise, and they're very comfortable to wear for numerous hours. Their wireless design offers a bit more freedom than wired headphones, and they have a fairly low wireless latency.
The Astro A50 need to be connected wirelessly to their base to work and therefore can't be used for wired gaming.
The Astro A50 is a decent option for phone calls if you can get the setup right. It's not Bluetooth compatible, so you'll have to connect the base to a computer to take calls. The boom microphone has decent recording quality and people shouldn't have any issues understanding you on the other end of the line.
Changelog
- Updated Jan 04, 2021: Updated Wired results to better reflect no wired connection.
- Updated Feb 14, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
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Compared To Other Headphones
The Astro A50 Gen 3 2017 are good gaming headphones, but the newest version, the Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019, are one of the best gaming headsets that we've reviewed, provided you get the dock for the right console. The A50 has a lot more features than lower-end Astro headphones. They have multiple input options, they sound well-balanced, and they're very comfortable. They're also well-built with a premium, somewhat breathable design but they're not as versatile as some of the other headsets that can be used outdoors too. You can't use them with your phone since they don't support Bluetooth, their base is console-locked and they don't have a regular audio jack. They're also considerably more expensive than most of the other gaming headsets we've tested so far. See our recommendations for the best Xbox One headsets and the best gaming headsets for PC.
The Astro A50 Gen 4 are slightly better gaming headphones than the Astro A50 Gen 3. They are quite similar, but the main difference is the small base station on the 2019 model and the fact that the battery now takes less time to charge while offering a bit more continuous playback. Additionally, the microphone on the 2019 model performs better overall.
The Astro A50 Gen 3 are noticeably better gaming headphones than the wired Astro A10. The A50 are more comfortable, better built, and have a more accurate out-of-the-box audio reproduction. On the other hand, the A10 have a better-sounding microphone, and their wired design means you don't have to worry about battery life. However, the wireless latency of the A50 is fairly minimal, and they come with a dock that offers convenient inputs and dock charging. The A50 are also compatible with the Astro Command Center, while the A10 are not.
The Astro A50 Gen 3 are better for wireless gaming compared to the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Wireless. The Astro are more comfortable, deliver audio more consistently, and have notably better microphone noise handling capability. Meanwhile, the Turtle Beach are sightly more portable, block out more ambient noise, have a more stable fit, and last longer on a single charge. They're also Bluetooth-compatible, so they can be used to stream music off of your phone as you game.
The Astro A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro 2019 are the wired variant of the Astro A50 Gen 3, so they are very similar. The A40 are open-back, and their microphone is better than the wireless A50. Both can be used with PCs, Xbox One, and PS4, but you might have to play around with settings to get audio and mic support. The A40 have the same great build quality, and both can be used with the Astro Command Center software on PC, though some users have experienced issues when using it. If you prefer the freedom of a wireless headset, go with the A50. If you don't want any latency and don't want the hassle to charge your headphones, get the A40.
Test Results
The Astro A50 Wireless look and feel like gaming headphones. They have a flashy color scheme and a large, bulky design that won't be ideal for outdoor use. You also can't remove the mic, which further emphasizes the gaming-only aesthetic. On the upside, they look well-made and feel high-end thanks to the premium materials used in their build quality.
The Astro A50 are comfortable headphones with large spacious ear cups that fit well around most listener's ears. They're somewhat heavy headphones but thanks to the comfortable padding on the headband and ear cups, they distribute pressure evenly and don't feel too tight on the head. They can get a bit fatiguing after a while but in most cases, they're comfortable enough for several hours of gaming without any issue.
The control scheme of these headphones is fairly limited but suitable for gaming purposes. You have access to a volume dial, a switch to cycle between EQ presets, and a Dolby button to enable the surround sound. You can also easily mute the microphone by flipping it up and there are two buttons on the that let you mix your game and voice audio quickly.
The Astro A50 are decently breathable gaming headphones. Since they're over-ear headphones, they trap a bit of heat inside their cups, but thanks to the breathable pads, you should still be able to wear for a while without your ears feeling too warm.
These gaming headphones aren't portable. They're very large and take a lot of space, and since they need to be connected to their dock station to work, this limits their portability even more. This shouldn't matter for people who will leave them with their gaming setup.
The Astro A50 are very well-built, durable gaming headphones. The ear cups are dense, and the plastic used in their build quality feels high-grade and capable of withstanding a couple of accidental drops without much damage. The hinges are also sturdy and made of metal, which adds to their durability. However, to make the headphones lighter, the headband is somewhat open and a little hollow with only a plastic midsection resting on the head. It's fairly flexible but doesn't feel as resistant as a regular headband, especially those with a metal frame like the HyperX Cloud 2/Cloud II.
These headphones are stable enough to play games or listen to music or videos, but shouldn't be used for any physical activity as they'll more than likely sway around and come off your head.
The sound profile of the Astro A50 Gen 3 2017 is fairly well-balanced. Some may find them a bit bass-light due to the lack of sub-bass, but overall, they sound fairly neutral and are suitable for most gaming soundtracks and different music genres. You can also EQ them easily inside their companion software.
The Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless have a good frequency response consistency. The treble range is quite consistent across multiple re-seats. Also, in the bass range, the delivery is also quite consistent, but people with glasses could create a small gap in the headphones seal, which can result in a small loss in bass.
The bass accuracy is great. It's well-balanced, but some people may feel like it's a bit bass-light as they lack a bit low-bass. This mainly is noticeable in bass-heavy content, but shouldn't impact your gaming experience too much.
The Astro A50 have a very accurate mid-range. The whole range is well-balanced, although there's a small dip in the mid-mid range. This results in vocals being nudged to the back of the mix.
The treble range of the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017 is good. The range is mostly flat up to the mid-treble range, although it's a bit underemphasized when compared to our target curve. They lack a bit of presence and detail in this range. On the other hand, there's a rise in intensity and brightness in higher frequencies, which can make sibilants (S and T sounds) a tad too sharp and piercing.
The peaks and dips performance of these headphones is decent. The dip in the mid-range will mainly affect dialogue and voices in games and music. Also, there's a noticeable peak in the treble range which can make them a bit too sharp for some, especially on already bright content.
The imaging is very good. The weighted group delay is low, which is good. The graph also shows that the entire GD response is below our audibility threshold. This ensures a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit are well-matched, meaning that objects (like footsteps) and instruments are located very accurately in the stereo image on these headphones. However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.
The passive soundstage of these headphones is decent. While they're closed-back headphones, the porous pads help to give a more open soundstage compared to other closed-backs. There's a decent amount of pinna interaction and the activation is accurate, but the size and distance of the soundstage are small. It seems to be located inside the listener's head rather than in front.
These headphones support Dolby 7.1 surround sound which can be enabled directly on the headphones.
The weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. It's within very good limits, even at high volumes, which results in a clear and pure audio reproduction.
These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when listening using these settings.
The isolation performance of these headphones is very bad. They let a lot of ambient noise seep into your audio and barely block out anything. They aren't suited for a bus ride or the office as they don't block out the bass and mid ranges well. They also have sub-par treble isolation. Overall, you should use these headphones in a very quiet gaming environment.
The Astro A50 have a poor leakage performance. Even though they're closed-back, the porous pads let a lot of audio leak out. People around you should be able to hear your game or your music, and this could even be picked up by your microphone. This won't be ideal if your gaming setup is in your room where your partner is trying to sleep.
The Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017 have a boom microphone that can swivel but can't be fully detached.
The recording quality of the mic decent. Recorded speech is understandable but doesn't sound as full-bodied as the newer Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019. People online shouldn't have any issues understanding you, but it might sound a bit muffled.
The boom microphone of the Astro A50 Wireless has excellent noise handling. It does a great job at separating background noise from your voice so you should be heard clearly even in noisy environments.
Update 01/03/2019: We've updated the audio while charging comparison, thanks to user feedback, since you can use the regular micro USB cable to charge the headset while gaming wirelessly. The battery score has been adjusted to reflect this change.
The Astro A50 Gen 3 have a decent but slightly frustrating battery performance. They provide about 13 hours of continuous playtime, which is good and should be more than enough for most gaming sessions. They also automatically turn off, which saves a lot of battery. Unfortunately, this feature is overly aggressive, turning the headphones off within 5 minutes if you're only using the microphone, and within 17 minutes even when there is audio playing. The latter only occurs if you're not moving your head or the headphones during those 17 minutes. It can't be disabled, even with the Astro Command Center app. Also, they take a very long time to fully charge with almost full 6 hours, which is noticeably higher than the average gaming headphones.
Update 04/19/2019: We've slightly adjusted the score of the Astro Command Center to better reflect its features when compared to other gaming software.
The Astro Command Center is an easy-to-use and efficient support software. It features a 5-band EQ, a few presets, and microphone settings like noise gate and frequency response. Unfortunately, you can't disable the gyroscope auto-off feature, which means you have to keep your head moving for the headphones not to turn off. It also lacks a surround sound setting, although this can be found directly on the headphones.
These headphones aren't Bluetooth compatible. If you want a gaming headset with Bluetooth support, check out the Turtle Beach Elite 800, the Turtle Beach Stealth 700, or the SteelSeries Arctis 9X if you're looking for a headset for the Xbox One specifically.
The Astro A50 Wireless Gen 3 have a charging station that acts as a transmitter as well. The range isn't the best, but you're still able to play from your couch, and there's a bit more latency than some other gaming headphones, but most people shouldn't notice it.
Update 01/04/2020: We updated the results for the length and connection to reflect that they can't be used wired.
These headphones can't be used with a wired connection. While they can be plugged in for charging while still being connected wirelessly to their base station, they don't have any audio jack that could be used with a console controller or mobile devices. If you like the design of the A50 but would prefer a wired headset, take a look at the Astro A40 2019.
On PC and PS4, you can get both audio and mic support by using the appropriate console variant of the base station. However, they can't be used wired so you won't be able to connect them to your controller. Our Xbox One variant worked on PS4 by connecting the optical cable and using the PC mode.
On Xbox One, you can get both audio and mic support by using the appropriate console variant of the base station. However, they can't be used wired so you won't be able to connect them to your controller.
The Astro A50 come with an excellent base station that provides dock charging and multiple input methods. They have a regular line-in audio jack, an optical input, and audio via the USB cable when plugged into your PC or the appropriate console. The base station of the A50 is advertised as console-locked for either PS4 or Xbox One, but the headset can connect to both base variants. However, we managed to use our Xbox One base on the PS4 by connecting the optical cable and using the PC mode. By doing this, you will have both audio and mic support but don't have access to microphone monitoring or settings since the support isn't native.
