Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019 Headphones Review

The Astro A50 look very similar to the Astro A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro 2019. They have a fairly conservative color scheme, with little in the way of adornments other than a slightly contrasting model logo on the ear cups. Still, their bulky design and non-removable microphone make them stand out in most environments. The plates on the other surface of their ear cups can also be swapped out if you want to individualize your headphones a little more, and you can purchase mod kits from the Astro website.

These are comfortable headphones. Their ear cups are spacious and deep, which should suit most ear shapes and sizes. They don't clamp the head as tightly as the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017. Their headband does a good job of distributing their weight, too. The coating on the padding is also quite soft and feels nice on the skin. However, they're quite big and heavy.

The Astro A50's control scheme is acceptable, though it's better suited to the needs of gamers rather than casual users, as they lack any onboard controls for music playback or call management. Their mic is flip-to-mute, you have a volume wheel, an EQ preset cycle button, and a button to disable or enable Dolby Digital Surround Sound. They also have two additional buttons on the right ear cup that lets you control the mix between in-game audio and audio from another device. They differ from the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017 by having a button to cycle between EQ presets instead of a switch, and the base now has a screen that shows you which preset you're on. There’s good audible and tactile feedback and all the controls are easy to use.

These headphones are passably breathable. Heat can be trapped inside the ear cups since they create a tight seal around your ears, restricting airflow. These headphones aren't designed for sports, and you may sweat more than usual if you're using them when working out. This shouldn’t be an issue during casual gaming though.

These headphones aren't especially portable. They're very bulky and don’t fold into a more compact format, though their ear cups swivel flat to reduce their footprint. They also need to be within range of their stand to work, which further limits their portability.

These over-ears are very well-built and feel durable. The ear cups are dense and made from solid plastic, so the headphones feel like they could handle a few accidental drops without too much damage. The hinges are sturdy and made out of metal, but their headband seems to be the weakest point of their construction.

The Astro A50 are reasonably stable. They don’t clamp your head tightly, and head movement can easily make them sway off your head, though this shouldn't be a problem if you're using them for gaming.

• Astro A50 Gen 4 headphones
• Base station
• Micro-USB to USB-A charging cable
• Optical cable
• Manuals

The Astro A50 have a well-balanced default sound profile. In-game sound effects, dialogue, and music should be delivered with mostly equal emphasis, though fans of more action-heavy genres may want a little more thump and rumble. That said, while their companion software features a graphic EQ that you can use to generate presets, some users have reported issues using it and you can read more in the App Support box. You can still customize their sound using their onboard EQ preset cycling button though.

Note: These headphones were tested with the 'Studio' EQ preset.

These headphones have great frequency response consistency. This means that they deliver audio relatively similarly across different users and between reseats.

These headphones have great bass accuracy. Their low-end bass response is slightly underemphasized, so sound effects in action-heavy games might lack a bit of thump and rumble. A small bump in the high-bass range adds a bit of boom to your mix.

The Astro A50 have excellent mid-range accuracy. Vocals and lead instruments should sound full-bodied and clear. However, a small dip in the mid-mids can nudge them to the back of the mix.

The Astro A50's treble accuracy is great. Voices are reproduced clearly and in detail, while sibilants, like S and T sounds, should be bright without being piercing.

These headphones have good peaks and dips performance. A bump in the high-bass range results in some boominess while a dip in the mid-mids nudges vocal and lead instruments to the back of the mix. The adjacent peak in the high-mids can make them sound a little honky and harsh. The peak in the mid-treble range can give sibilants a somewhat piercing quality.

The stereo imaging of the Astro A50 is very good. The weighted group delays falls beneath the audibility threshold, which results in a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Additionally, the L/R drivers are well-matched in regards to phase, amplitude, and frequency response, meaning that objects like footsteps and instruments are located accurately within the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

These headphones have an okay passive soundstage. They have a fairly open soundstage, but it might sound unnatural and located as if inside the listener’s head rather than in front of them.

These headphones have a Dolby 7.1 virtual surround sound feature, though we don't currently test this function.

The Astro A50 have good weighted harmonic distortion performance. Audio reproduction is fairly clean and pure across the frequency spectrum at both moderate and high listening volumes.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when they're used in this configuration.

These headphones have terrible noise isolation performance. They don’t really block out any ambient noise in the bass and mid-ranges, like the rumble of bus engines or background chatter. They also don't block out much in the way of higher-pitched ambient noise, like the hum of an A/C unit.

The leakage performance of the Astro A50 is bad. Even though they're closed-back headphones, they aren’t the best to use around people in quiet environments. They leak similarly to semi-open headphones, and escaping audio might still be noticeable in crowded settings.

The boom mic has excellent recording quality. Your voice should sound clear, natural, and full-bodied.

The boom mic has amazing noise handling performance. Teammates or those on the other end of a phone call should understand you clearly, even if you're speaking from a loud or crowded environment.

Note: There are four mic profiles inside their companion software with four different noise gate settings. We tested the microphone with the ‘Streaming’ setting, as it has the lowest noise gate, though you can also select 'Night', which has the least aggressive noise gate setting, 'Home', which is the default, and 'Tournament', which is the most aggressive setting.

These over-ears have very good battery performance. They supply over 17 hours of battery life, which should be more than enough for most gaming sessions, though this can vary with real-world usage. They can also be used when charging, which is useful. They only take about two hours to charge with the micro-USB cable, but more than four hours with the dock. On the upside, this is still noticeably shorter than the older Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017. They have an auto-off timer too, which turns off the headphones during periods of inactivity. However, it's rather short, which can be annoying if you're gaming and don't move too much, as it can still trigger even if audio is being played.

These headphones are compatible with Astro Command Center. However, some users have reported encountering severe issues when using the software. They are unable to update the headphones' firmware, which is necessary if you want to connect them via USB to newer consoles. Users also can't access any of the software's features. These issues may be due to Astro moving the software download from their site to the Microsoft Store. However, all of this poses a significant drawback if you're looking to pick up a pair of these headphones.

When working correctly, the Astro Command Center offers a wide array of features. It has a graphic EQ that can be used to set up different presets, which you can cycle through using the EQ button on the right ear cup. You can also choose between four different noise gate settings for their boom mic to isolate your voice from ambient noise. Unfortunately, you can’t control the mic’s frequency response like it on the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017. There’s also still no option to extend or disable the gyroscope auto-off timer feature, which is frustrating. They also have no surround sound effect menu or true button mapping beyond the EQ presets.

Update 07/07/2021: These headphones have been updated to test bench 1.5. In this update, we made changes to the way we test latency. We now use a click track in our software and we measure latency three times and average the results. This new method has resulted in different latency values than what we had reported in our previous test bench. However, our results are still valid.

These headphones offer excellent non-Bluetooth connectivity. They have a base station that provides very low latency audio, but it doesn't have as long of a wireless range as other headphones in the Astro range, like the Astro A30 Wireless.

The Astro A50 can’t be used wired. They come with a USB-A to micro-USB cable, which is only for charging. They also have an optical cable used for plugging in their base station. If you want a gaming headset that can be used wired with console controllers, check out the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE.

Update 09/01/2021: Due to user feedback, we have clarified the Astro A50's compatibility with PS5 consoles. Since the PS5 doesn't support optical, you need to update the headphones to the latest firmware using the Astro Command Center to connect them to this console. This firmware lets you connect the base station to the console via USB. However, some users have reported that the audio quality drops when using this connection compared to using optical. While we conducted our original testing using the base station connected to our PC via USB, these results should still be valid compared to the sound you get from the PS5 when connected via USB.

Alternatively, you can purchase an Astro HDMI adapter for the PS5 directly from the manufacturer, allowing you to connect to the console via optical. This adapter is advertised to enable the 'Game:Voice Balance' channel mixer control for this console. You can find more detailed instructions on how to connect your headphones this way here.

These headphones have full mic and audio compatibility with PS4 and PS5 consoles when you connect their non-Bluetooth wireless transmitter to the console via USB. However, you may need a firmware update for this connection to work on PS5 consoles.

The Astro A50 can only receive audio when you plug their base station into Xbox One consoles. They don't function at all with Xbox Series X consoles.

Note: While the 'PC/PS4' variant of this headset isn't fully compatible with Xbox One or Xbox Series X consoles, the 'PC/Xbox' variant is. You can connect the 'PC/Xbox' variant of this headset to your Xbox Series X console by following the steps outlined on the Astro Gaming Blog.

The Astro A50's dock is great. It has a lot of inputs and acts as a charging station for the headphones. This variant is fully compatible via USB on the PS4, PS5, and PC. The base station is advertised as console-locked for either PS4 or Xbox One, but the headset can connect to both base variants.