Astro A30 Wireless Headphones Review

The Astro A30 have a sleeker design than other headphones in the Astro lineup. They come in three styles: 'White', which features purple accents, 'Navy', which has red accents, and 'The Mandalorian', which are black with a silhouette of the Disney show character on the earcup. There's an iridescent plate on the side of each earcup with a clear speaker tag fixed on top with magnets. The included speaker tags have Astro's logo etched on them, but you can switch them out with your own custom tags if you prefer. These headphones don't have any RGB lighting, however.

The Astro A30 are comfortable for most people. The headband and earcup padding feel good against your skin, and the earcups don't put too much pressure on your head. However, those with glasses will feel some extra pressure, requiring some repositioning. The headphones also feel stiff, and the hinges require some force to rotate and adjust.

These headphones have good controls. There are physical buttons on each ear cup: a joystick on the right ear cup used for most inputs and a dedicated mic mute/unmute button on the left earcup. The controls are easy to use and have feedback chimes that can be turned on and off or customized in the companion app. Unfortunately, it's hard to know when the boom mic is muted unless you switch the button back and forth. You can also easily nudge the joystick when adjusting the headphones and accidentally change the volume.

On the left ear cup:

• Mic mute
• Switch: Mutes and unmutes the microphone.

On the right ear cup:

• Joystick
• Move up: Increases volume.
• Move down: Decreases volume.
• Move L/R: Adjusts game/chat balance.
• Single press (Bluetooth only): Plays and pauses audio.
• Double press (Bluetooth only): Skips to the next track.
• Triple press (Bluetooth only): Skips to the previous track.
• Press and hold (Bluetooth only): Skips to the previous track.
• Bluetooth button
• Press a and hold Enters pairing mode.
• Power Button
• Press and hold: Power on/off.

USB dongle:

• Single press: Switches between PC and console compatibility.

They're gaming headphones and aren't designed to be portable. This is what they look like in their default position. They can't fold up for easier transportation, but the earcups swivel to lay flat, meaning they won't take up much space on a desk or coffee table.

The Astro A30 come with a great carrying case. It has a hard fabric-lined shell with a zipper to fully protect the headphones. The case also has a snap loop for attaching to your bag or just carrying around. On the inside, there's a hollow oval for cable storage that also helps stabilize the headset. The case is a bit bulky, but the profile is relatively flat, meaning it's easy to slide into a bag.

These headphones have great build quality. The construction feels premium as the silicone headband and faux leather ear cup padding seem sturdy. However, depending on your head shape, it can look like the headband padding is coming off at the edges where it meets the yokes. This could be to help remove tension on the headband padding when in use. However, if you have long hair, it can get caught in the flex point between the padding and the headband and pull or catch your hair.

They're decently stable. They'll stay in place when you're at your desk or on the couch but may slip around if you tilt or shake your head vigorously.

• Astro A30 Wireless headphones
• Detachable boom mic
• USB-A wireless dongle
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• 1/8" TRRS to 1/8" TRRS cable
• Carrying case
• Safety information
• Quick start guide

The Astro A30 have an excited sound profile with more thump and rumble than the open-backed Astro A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro 2019. The extra bass ensures sound effects have lots of warmth and body and helps emphasize them in your gameplay. There's also a peak in the treble range to help improve the presence of sibilants like cymbals. This added bump makes these sounds piercing, though. Luckily, if you want more control over their sound, you can use the 5-band graphic EQ and presets in their companion app to adjust their sound to your liking.

Unfortunately, these headphones have very poor frequency response consistency, so your experience may vary depending on if you can get a good fit and seal. If you wear glasses or have thick hair in particular, you may experience a drop in bass.

These headphones have poor frequency response consistency. They're extremely prone to inconsistencies in audio delivery depending on position, fit, and seal. If you wear glasses or have thick hair, you'll also likely notice a drop in bass.

The Astro A30's bass accuracy is good. The entire range is overemphasized, which adds a touch of extra thump, punch, and warmth to audio. In games like Far Cry 5, you can feel the boom of explosions and gunshots in gameplay. Sadly, the overemphasized bass also muddies dialogue and instruments.

These headphones have sub-par frequency response consistency. As a result, you may notice a drop in bass if you have thick hair or wear glasses, as this can rupture the headphones' seal on your head.

These headphones have great mid accuracy, although the response is somewhat tilted. The overemphasized low to mid-mid muddies and clutters dialogue and instruments but also nudge them forward in the mix. However, thanks to the neutral high-mid, dialogue, and instruments still have adequate detail and clarity.

These headphones have good treble accuracy. The low-treble is mostly flat and neutral, so dialogue sounds adequately crisp and detailed. However, a peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants, like S and T sounds, piercing.

They have a decent peaks and dips performance, so the headphones can control their sound profile well, for the most part. The bass range is relatively flat, but there's some mismatch present between the drivers, and it's visible in the mid-mid. The left driver has a small dip here, which results in a boxier-sounding mix. A steep peak in the mid-treble affects both drivers and makes sibilants like cymbals sound piercing.

The Astro A30 have decent imaging. Astro headphones that we've tested usually have great imaging, which is an indication of good ergonomics and quality control. It's important for the placement of objects like footsteps in the stereo image. Our unit has a slight phase mismatch in the low to mid-mid, which makes the right driver sound louder. It's somewhat noticeable with real-life content, as it affects the stability of the stereo image. Fortunately, the drivers are very well-matched in group delay, ensuring tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. Also, imaging varies from unit to unit.

These headphones have a poor passive soundstage performance. They're closed-back headphones, so their soundstage doesn't seem very spacious or as natural as open-back headphones. That said, the soundstage still feels wide and as if audio is coming from speakers placed outside your head.

These headphones are compatible with Windows Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos on PC and Xbox, which can help create a more immersive gaming experience.

These headphones have adequate weighted harmonic distribution performance. Our unit's left driver has significant distortion in the low-mid to mid-mid range. It's not present in the right driver, and most other frequencies fall within good limits.

These are the settings used to test the Astro A30. Our results are only valid when used in these settings.

The Astro A30 have poor noise isolation. In general, gaming headphones aren't designed to block out a lot of noise unless they have a noise cancelling (ANC) system. They passively cut out a good amount of higher-pitched noise like a PC fan, but they won't block out the noise from passing cars outside or the ambient chatter of a LAN party.

These headphones have great leakage performance. While there's some leakage coming from the mid-range, the rest of the spectrum is still relatively low overall. In a quiet environment, like at home, people around you won't hear your game unless you crank it to max volume.

The Astro A30 have two mics: a detachable boom mic and an integrated mic that you can use on the go when the boom mic isn't attached.

The Astro A30's boom mic has an alright recording quality. The mic is flexible so you can get the best positioning near your mouth, resulting in bright and clear speech. However, it can't pick up much bass in voices, meaning you'll sound a little thin.

These headphones also come with an integrated mic you can use when the boom mic is disconnected. This gives the headset a more casual look, but the integrated mic makes your voice sound less clear, further away, and thinner than the boom mic. However, this is because it sits further away from your mouth than the boom mic. You can hear the integrated mic's recording test here.

The boom mic has a great noise handling performance. It can separate your voice from moderate and loud background noise, so you'll have no problem being heard over team chat, even during a busy tournament.

The integrated mic performs quite well. Your voice sounds clear and present against moderate background noise. If you want to use these headphones more casually, you can still be heard clearly in busier environments like a subway station.

The Astro A30's battery performance is outstanding. While the manufacturer advertises the battery life to be 27 hours, our unit lasted 40 hours on a single charge, which is remarkable for a pair of wireless gaming headphones. However, battery life can depend on use, and your experience may vary. These headphones come with an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life, but you can adjust it to your liking in-app. You can use them passively to receive audio if the battery dies at the wrong moment.

The Logitech G HUB app is great for the Astro A30. You can see how it works here. You can flip between console mode and PC mode, check the battery life, and adjust the volume, feedback tones, and auto-off timer. There's also a 5-band graphic EQ with presets and a Game/Voice audio slider to personalize your gaming experience. Also, you can adjust the mic's noise gate and sidetone, which can help you better hear calls. Overall, it's simple, straightforward, and easy to use. However, these headphones aren't compatible with Astro Command Center PC software.

Their Bluetooth connectivity is excellent. You can connect them via Bluetooth, wireless dongle, and analog cable simultaneously or in any combination. If you're using all three connections, the headphones prioritize mic support via Bluetooth and dongle, but not analog. However, you won't have this problem if you only use two connections, like via analog and dongle or analog and Bluetooth. While Bluetooth latency is very high on PC, it's low on iOS and Android, ensuring audio and video stay in sync. However, latency can vary depending on the app and device used.

These headphones come with a wireless USB dongle for use on either Xbox or PlayStation consoles, depending on which variant you buy. The dongle included is only compatible with one console or the other, meaning you'll need to buy a second dongle separately if you want to use the headphones with both systems. Fortunately, latency is very low, ensuring your audio and visuals are in sync while gaming.

These headphones come with a detachable 1/8" TRRS cable that provides audio and mic support and a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging. You can't use the charging cable for audio.

These headphones have full mic and audio compatibility with PCs via Bluetooth, analog, or the included USB dongle.

If you have the Xbox variant of these headphones, this model only has audio and mic compatibility with PlayStation consoles only via the AUX cable. If you want to use these headphones wirelessly with your PS4 or PS5, you'll need to get the PlayStation variant instead.

The Xbox/PC variant has full mic and audio compatibility with Xbox consoles via AUX cable and the included wireless USB dongle. An LED tells you if the dongle is switched to PC compatibility mode (white) or Xbox compatibility mode (green).

If you have the PlayStation variant of these headphones, you can only use audio and mic via analog on Xbox consoles.

They come with a wireless USB-A dongle. The button on top lets you switch between PC and console mode, and it has no other inputs. It's also console-locked, so get the right one for your needs. Both versions are compatible with PCs.