When it comes to gaming, few things infuriate me more than an enemy catching me off-guard.
For the past few weeks, Ive been testing out the fourth iteration of the Astro A50 gaming headset.
So take that with a pinch of salt.
The good things
Right off the bat, the Astro A50 is incredibly comfortable to wear.
Considering theyre a bit on the heavier side (380g), I was pleasantly surprised by that experience.
If something feels off, you could fine-tune the fit by moving the adjustable rods on each side.
Astro has also charted them to make it easier to adjust the length equally on both sides.
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The headband is swappable, and so are the earpads.
Theyre louder, and the details were less refined, but it wasnt all that worse.
Still, Id take the A50 over the WH-CH700N all day.
To use the microphone, youll need to pull it down to your mouth.
Flipping it back up automatically mutes it a feature I found pretty handy.
Anyways, not really a deal-breaker.
If youre seeking a prime noise-cancelling experience with the A50, though, youre out of luck.
The stock earpads offer practically no sound isolation.
For what its worth, Astro never claims otherwise.
While Im satisfied with the battery life, I have a few qualms with the charging dock.
Even with the latest firmware, switching between EQ presets seems to occasionally cut off all sound output.
The A50 simply stops to appear in sound parameters, and even a hard reset wont fix it.
The first time it happened, it took me almost 20 minutes to deal with the issue.
Unplugging the USB cable from the dock and then plugging it back in.
After trying outRazers newly released Kraken Ultimate headset, theres no denying it trumps the A50s volume.
But is that an issue?
Personally, I find the A50 audio experience a lot more delicate and polished.
Yes, the A50s not the loudest set out there.
So, theres that.
Is the Astro A50 the right headset for me?
With the fourth iteration of the A50, theres no doubt that Astro gets a lot of things right.
The headset is such a comfy fit, I could wear it in my sleep.
The sound is bassy, but not intrusively so.
The physical buttons make it easier to navigate through different controls without having to kick off the dedicated app.
My only holdback with these cans, really, is the price.
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