Astro A10 Headphones Review

The Astro A10 have the same design as the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017, but with a few brightly-colored accents on the ear cups. Thanks to their boom microphone, they have a distinct gaming-oriented design. However, you can't remove the microphone, so they don't transition well to outdoor use. The microfiber-covered ear pads also give them a slightly more high-end vibe than the HyperX Cloud Stinger or the Logitech G430 Gaming Headset.

The Astro A10 are decently comfortable. They have spacious ear cups that fit well around most listeners' ears. Also, they're well-padded and covered in a microfiber coating that feels nice on the skin. However, they're tighter on the head than the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017, which can get a bit fatiguing during long gaming sessions. For slightly more comfortable gaming headphones, take a look at the Turtle Beach Recon 70.

The Astro A10 Headset has sub-par controls. There are only two physical controls, which is a bit limiting. Unfortunately, the volume wheel lacks discrete points, so you won't be able to achieve a consistent volume setting. The wheel stops when you've reached min or max volume. The mic also makes a clicking sound when you put it upright so that you know you're muted.

• Flippable boom mic: When flipped upwards, mutes the microphone.
• Volume wheel: Adjusts the volume.

The Astro A10 are fairly breathable thanks to their slightly porous pads. However, since they fully encapsulate the ear, your ears may feel slightly warm during long gaming sessions.

The Astro A10, like most gaming headphones, aren't very portable. They're big, bulky, and don't fold into a more compact format. They also don't come with a carrying case to help protect them when you're on the go.

The Astro A10 have a good build quality. They're mostly made out of plastic, which feels solid and durable. They don't have the premium build of the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017, but their headband is more flexible and feels a lot more durable. The cable is thick, rubberized, and detachable, so you can always replace it if it gets worn down by regular wear and tear.

These headphones are reasonably stable. They should stay on your ears during casual gaming sessions, but they aren't designed to be worn during workouts. They may fall off your head during more intense physical exercise.

• Astro A10 headset
• 1/8" TRRS audio cable
• Manuals

The Astro A10 have an uneven sound profile. While they deliver a bit of extra punch and boom to help emphasize sound effects, dialogue and instruments are pushed to the back of mixes and sound harsh. Unfortunately, they're not compatible with Astro Command Center software and lack built-in EQ presets to help you customize their sound to your liking.

The Astro A10 have very good frequency response consistency. While they're relatively consistent in delivering bass, they're more inconsistent when it comes to the treble range. You may need to readjust them each time you wear them to get the same listening experience.

These headphones have great bass accuracy. Low-bass is slightly underemphasized, so you may not feel the deep thump and rumble in action-packed video games. The overemphasis in the mid and high-bass adds an extra boom and punch to your audio.

These headphones have okay mid accuracy. The low-mid is neutral, so vocals and lead instruments are clear. The dip in the mid-mid pushes these sounds to the back of your mix, while the peak in the high-mid makes them harsh and honky.

The Astro Gaming A10 have just okay treble accuracy. The low-treble is underemphasized, veiling the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments. However, the mid-treble is more neutral, so sibilants like cymbals are bright but not piercing.

These headphones have middling peaks and dips performance. A peak across the bass range produces a punchy, boomy bass. As it turns into a deep dip in the mid-mid, lead instruments and vocals are pushed to the back of the mix. The rise in high-mid, in comparison, makes notes in this range harsh and honky. The deepest dip in the low treble dulls lead instruments, while the peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants like S and T sounds piercing.

These headphones have great imaging. Weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. Our unit's L/R drivers are also fairly well-matched in amplitude and phase response, creating a stereo image with accurate placement and object localization (like voices and sound effects). While there is a slight mismatch in frequency response, it shouldn't be too noticeable with real-life content. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and your experience may vary.

The Astro A10's passive soundstage performance is mediocre. While the soundstage is relatively open and larger than on-ears and in-ears, sound is still perceived as coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you. The soundstage also doesn't seem as spacious as the open-backed Astro A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro 2017.

The Astro Gaming A10 have a great weighted harmonic distortion performance. Where the spike in the low treble at normal listening volumes can make your audio sound harsh and impure, this might not be noticeable to everyone. Its frequencies otherwise fall within good limits, resulting in clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings we used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid for these test settings.

These headphones have terrible noise isolation. They hardly block out any background noises in the bass and mid-ranges, meaning you can hear the low thump and rumble of engines and voices from people nearby. On the upside, they have a fair performance in the treble range, meaning they may block out some higher-frequency noises like the hum of a nearby AC unit. If you're looking for a similar pair of gaming headphones that block out slightly more background audio, check out the JBL Quantum 100.

The Astro A10 have mediocre leakage. While the overall leakage isn't very loud, it sounds fuller than in-ear headphones. If you're listening to audio at loud volumes in a typical office setting, it could be audible to others.

The boom mic's recording quality is excellent. Recorded speech sounds rich, full, and detailed but lacks brilliance and airiness.

The Astro A10 Headset's microphone is great at noise handling. It transmits your voice clearly, even if you're in a noisy setting.

You can't use these wired headphones with Bluetooth. If you want a gaming headset that supports Bluetooth, check out the Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless.

The Astro A10 Headset has a wired 1/8" TRRS connection with in-line volume control. Unlike the Xbox Stereo Headset, the audio cable is also detachable, so you can easily replace it if it gets damaged.

The Astro A10 have full audio and mic compatibility when you plug their 1/8" TRRS cable into your computer's AUX port.

These headphones have full compatibility with PlayStation consoles via an analog connection.

The Astro A10 are compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles when you plug their 1/8" TRRS cable into your controller's AUX port.

These headphones don't have a dock. If you need a headset with a dock with a wired connection for gaming or watching movies, consider the SteelSeries Arctis 7 Wireless 2017.