Notice: Your browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.
Notice: Big Spring Sale Deal: The Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless has dropped by 45% on Amazon.com. See all Headphones Big Spring Sale deals.
The audio team will be at Montreal's Audiofest March 28-30! Come visit our booth in the Marketplace where we'll be measuring your headphones on our B&K rig!
The audio team will be at Montreal's Audiofest March 28-30! Come visit our booth in the Marketplace where we'll be measuring your headphones on our B&K rig!
- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless vs Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless
Astro A50 Gen 4
Tested using Methodology v1.6
Updated Apr 17, 2024 11:28 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.8
Updated Jan 08, 2025 08:21 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureSemi-Open
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Variants
- Arctis 9X (Black)
- A50 Gen 4 2019 (PC/PS4)
- A50 Gen 4 2019 (PC/Xbox One)
Our Verdict
SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless
Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019
The SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless and the Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019 are both very good wireless gaming headphones for the Xbox One, but the Astro perform better overall. The Astro are more comfortable as they have a more ergonomic headband design, and they deliver sound much more consistently than the SteelSeries. They also have a better-performing microphone and come with a full-featured charging dock. However, the SteelSeries connect more conveniently via Xbox Wireless and support Bluetooth, so you can mix in audio from your mobile device while gaming. The SteelSeries battery also lasts longer, and they charge much more quickly.
Check Price
Black
Arctis 9X
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comPC/PS4
A50 Gen 4 2019
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
Arctis 9X
SEE PRICE
BestBuy.comPC/Xbox One
A50 Gen 4 2019
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
Arctis 9X
SEE PRICE
Walmart.comBlack
Arctis 9X
SEARCH
B&HNotice:
Two or more of the products selected have been tested with different test methodologies, so some of the results below aren't directly comparable.
Learn how our test benches and scoring system work, and read more about the latest changes to our
headphones test methodology.
Read more
Main Differences forNeutral Sound
Neutral Sound
Threshold
Neutral Sound
7.8
7.6
Treble Accuracy
8.5
7.2
Frequency Response Consistency
5.3
8.6
Peaks/Dips
7.9
7.0
Mid Accuracy
8.9
8.4
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Semi-Open
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
8.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.82 lbs
0.8 lbs
Clamping Force
1 lbs
1.3 lbs
Controls
7.7
6.2
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Decent
Good
Feedback
Great
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
No
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
Adjustable Level
Mute/Unmute
Channel Mixing
Yes
Yes
Noise Cancelling Control
No
No
Talk-Through
No
No
Additional Controls
Bluetooth Sync + Presets
Presets + Surround Sound
Breathability
6.3
6.4
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
6.2 °C
5.9 °C
Portability
5.4
5.4
Portability Picture
L
8.6" (21.8 cm)
10.2" (25.9 cm)
W
7.0" (17.8 cm)
7.9" (20.0 cm)
H
3.5" (8.9 cm)
2.6" (6.7 cm)
Volume
211.00 in³ (3,457.66 cm³)
211.79 in³ (3,470.60 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
Yes
Case
0.0
0.0
Case Picture
Type
No case
No case
L
N/A
N/A
W
N/A
N/A
H
N/A
N/A
Volume
N/A
N/A
Build Quality
6.0
8.0
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.5
6.5
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
950 Hz
Bass Amount
-3.5 dB
-2.1 dB
Treble Amount
-1.51 dB
-0.3 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
5.3
8.6
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
1.47 dB
0.29 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
7.6
7.8
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
3.2 dB
4.3 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
59.07 Hz
38.05 Hz
Low Bass
-6.1 dB
-5.86 dB
Mid Bass
-0.36 dB
-0.18 dB
High Bass
2.35 dB
1.77 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
8.9
8.4
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.45 dB
1.61 dB
Low Mid
0.93 dB
0.3 dB
Mid-Mid
0.13 dB
-1.5 dB
High Mid
-1.33 dB
1.48 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
8.5
7.2
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
2.29 dB
3.12 dB
Low Treble
-2.03 dB
-1.42 dB
Mid Treble
1.13 dB
1.22 dB
High Treble
-5.88 dB
-5.63 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.9
7.0
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.49 dB
1.71 dB
Dips
0.64 dB
2.19 dB
Imaging
8.2
8.0
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.45
0.28
Weighted Phase Mismatch
5.59
5.92
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.65
1.56
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
2.34
1.95
Passive Soundstage
6.3
6.8
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
3.49 dB
2.23 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
5.73 dB
2.51 dB
PRTF Distance
21.61 dB
7.77 dB
Openness
5.7
9.1
Acoustic Space Excitation
2.6
6.8
Virtual Soundstage
2.0
2.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
No
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
Windows Sonic Spatial Audio
Dolby 7.1
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.4
7.5
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.316
0.282
WHD @ 100
0.176
0.174
Test Settings
Firmware
Unknown
39964.43
Power
On
On
Connection
Wireless (Proprietary)
Wireless (Proprietary)
Codec
PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz
PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Default
Studio
ANC
No ANC
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Boom
Boom
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
4.2
2.3
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
No
No
Overall Attenuation
-10.57 dB
-5.23 dB
Isolation Audio
Bass
0.06 dB
1.54 dB
Mid
-9.61 dB
-0.99 dB
Treble
-23.05 dB
-18.11 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
2.6
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-4.35 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-5.16 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-4.89 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
ANC Wind Handling
ANC Wind Handling Graph
ANC Wind Noise
N/A
Leakage
7.7
4.2
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
35.49 dB
53.37 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
No
No
In-Line
No
No
Boom
Yes
Yes
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
8.3
8.6
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
85.99 Hz
20 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
3.36 dB
1.36 dB
HFE
9,805.86 Hz
6,267.15 Hz
Weighted THD
0.46
0.105
Gain
15.13 dB
16.63 dB
Noise Handling
8.0
8.3
SpNR
34.17 dB
39.29 dB
Noise Gate
Always On
On/Off Toggle
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
8.0
8.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
8.0
8.0
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
8.1
8.0
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
28 hrs
17.5 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0.0
Total Battery Life
28 hrs
17.5 hrs
Charge Time
2.4 hrs
4.4 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
No
Auto-Off Timer
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
Yes
No
Charging Port
micro-USB
micro-USB
App Support
8.0
6.0
App Picture
App Name
SteelSeries Engine
Astro Command Center
iOS
No
No
Android
No
No
macOS
Yes
Yes
Windows
Yes
Yes
Equalizer
Graphic + Presets
Graphic + Presets
ANC Control
No
No
Mic Control
Adjustable Level
Adjustable Level
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
No
No
Surround Support
Yes
No
Connectivity
Wired Connection
9.1
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
No
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
No
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connector
1/8" TRS
No Wired Option
Latency - Analog
0.2 ms
N/A
Latency - USB
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
Recorded Latency Connection
Analog
No Wired Audio
Bluetooth Connection
6.6
0.0
Bluetooth Version
4.1
No Bluetooth
Multi-Device Pairing
Bluetooth + Console/Non-BT Wireless
No
Quick Pair (Android)
No
No
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
No
Line Of Sight Range
139.00 ft (42.37 m)
N/A
Latency - SBC
242 ms
N/A
Latency - aptX
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
N/A
Latency - LDAC
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
Recorded Latency Codec
SBC
No Bluetooth Audio
AAC Support
No
No
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
7.5
8.8
Line Of Sight Range
70.00 ft (21.34 m)
57.00 ft (17.37 m)
Latency - Dongle
56 ms
11 ms
Recorded Latency
PC Compatibility
Analog
Audio Only (Not included)
No
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
Audio + Microphone
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
Audio Only (Not included)
No
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
Audio + Microphone
PS5 Analog
Audio Only (Not Included)
No
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
Audio + Microphone
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio Only (Not included)
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
Audio + Microphone
Audio Only
Xbox Series X|S Analog
Audio Only (Not included)
No
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
Audio + Microphone
No
Base/Dock
3.4
9.0
Type
Wireless USB Dongle
Wireless Dock
USB Input
Yes
Yes
Line In
No
Yes
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
Yes
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
No
Yes
Power Supply
USB
USB
Check Price
Black
Arctis 9X
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comPC/PS4
A50 Gen 4 2019
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
Arctis 9X
SEE PRICE
BestBuy.comPC/Xbox One
A50 Gen 4 2019
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
Arctis 9X
SEE PRICE
Walmart.comBlack
Arctis 9X
SEARCH
B&H
SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless
Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019
Comments
SteelSeries Arctis 9X Wireless vs Astro A50 Gen 4: Main Discussion
What do you think of these products? Let us know below.
Looking for a personalized buying advice from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.