Astro A50 X gaming headset review

I am a fiend for high-end gaming headsets. Why? Nowadays, the top of town is touting gaming headphones that boast excellent audio, low latency-wireless, long battery life, all-day comfort and simplified multiplatform compatibility. In short, the extra investment is generally justified by the kinds of features and versatility that mean you can use the same headset for a gaming generation (or more).

With that context in mind, I’ve spent dozens of hours testing the Astro A50 X gaming headset. And while there’s a lot to love, the high asking price does make the cons ring a little louder than they otherwise would.

There are hundreds of gaming headsets to choose from today, and it used to be that the pricier end of the spectrum tapped out at around the $500 mark. Not anymore. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless started a pricey new-gen headset trend, offering an eyewatering $735 RRP at launch. That RRP has remained since launch which, nowadays, covers black and white colour options.

That effectively puts the Astro A50 (not the X) version at the next priciest with a $599 RRP, alongside the identically priced Turtle Beach Stealth Pro. All of that pricey context is there to say that the Astro A50 X is the more expensive of its peers, with a $749 RRP. While all other models mentioned in this section sporadically receive generous promotional discounts, at the time of writing, I’d only seen smaller discounts for the A50 X.

The Astro gaming headsets have always had an iconic design, and that trend continues with the A50 X. There’s a mix of metal, durable plastic and soft fabric earcups. The flip-to-mute mic sits on the outside of the left earcup while all of the physical controls and USB-C port are relegated to the right earcup.

Those physical controls translate to a volume dial, dedicated Bluetooth and device-switching buttons, plus a power toggle. Chat and game mix are controlled by clicking the back and front of the right earcup, respectively. All of the physical controls are small without being impractically tiny, and they’re spaced out appropriately so it’s easy to train muscle memory to reach them without looking while the headset is on your noggin.

As for comfort, there’s a spongey fabric cushion on the fixed headband and generously deep soft fabric cushions on the earcups. Whether you’re wearing the A50 X all day at work or during all-night gaming sessions, comfort shouldn’t be an issue. As for the battery life, Logitech claims 26 hours before a recharge. During my longevity tests, the A50 X beeped at me after around 17.5 hours of continued use when the battery was at 30%, so this claim rings close enough to true. That said, it’s ultimately moot because of the included charging station.

Setting up the Astro A50 X is somewhat simple, albeit with some disclaimers depending on your configuration. For starters, it’s disappointing that Logitech hasn’t included an HDMI cable or a second USB-C to USB-A cable. The fully versatile TV setup necessitates three HDMI cables and two USB-C to USB-A cables. Admittedly, there is one USB-C cable included for a single console, but that still doesn’t solve the HDMI issue.

One of the A50 X’s biggest pros is the base station. It’s used to charge the headset via three metal connectors beneath the earcups (two on the left, one on the right), it houses the Bluetooth receiver for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, plus it’s how you connect a last-gen or current-gen PlayStation and Xbox console for single-button-press audio input swapping.

Whether you have one or two of those consoles, they both come with an HDMI cable, so that’s two sorted, but you’ll need to purchase a third—ideally an HDMI 2.1 cable for video pass-through features like VRR—to connect to the base station’s HDMI-out port. You also want to connect separate USB-C to USB-A cables to the PlayStation and Xbox consoles for full functionality. Then there’s the power cable and wall outlet, which are mercifully included.

That power cable has split cable design, which is also important for PC users because the power port on the base station also acts as a PC communication port. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of the split cable, if only because it hampers the placement of the base station, relative to the reach and slack of the cable. A separate port would’ve solved this placement-compromise issue.

In terms of sound, though, the A50 X is great out of the box. In the dozens of hours I’ve spent watching movies, listening to music and playing games, the A50 X boasts well-balanced and great-sounding audio, even with the default preset. There’s also a gaming or media preset via the Logitech companion software, plus you can create your own or download custom options from the community.

The Logitech G Android app is more limited and frustrating than helpful, so I spent more time with the Logitech G Hub software on PC. That initial choice of default, gaming and media presets is initially underwhelming on the quantity front, but the community-created presets are a godsend. Admittedly, the search function is a little wonky, but shifting the filter from ‘most recent’ to ‘most downloaded’ was a great way to find the most popular presets, kind of like what the Steam Deck offers with community control layouts.

There are also equaliser settings for the microphone, including a smattering of downloadable community presets. The only frustration with the presets is you need a Logitech account to access them. On the microphone front, it’s a simplified gateway to clear comms. The mic isn’t quite as impressive as the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro but it’s only a smidge behind for my ears.

As for the versatility, there are some compromises depending on where your gaming devices are placed. If you have a PC, PlayStation and Xbox in the same spot—say, connected to a 4K TV or linked to a computer monitor—you’re off to the races. If, like me, you have a PlayStation and Xbox connected to a TV and your PC is somewhere else, the full versatility is complicated. It would’ve been preferable to have a separate USB 2.4GHz dongle for PC, but the range on the A50 X is, admittedly, generous enough that I can feasibly use them given my desktop PC and TV/consoles are both in the same room.

That said, Bluetooth connectivity is frustratingly dependent on the wireless range to the base station, meaning taking calls, listening to music or playing mobile games with A50 X headset audio is range restricted. It seems like a missed opportunity for Logitech not to have put the Bluetooth receiver inside the headset rather than in the base station. Couple that hypothetical with a removable microphone, and the A50 X could hypothetically function as multipurpose headphones as well as a gaming headset.

Given the close-competing RRPs of these high-end cans, it makes sense to compare the Astro A50 X with its big SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless rival. I’ve been using the Arctis Nova Pro as my main gaming headset for the last two years, and it’s still the best gaming headset I’ve ever used.

But let’s start with where the A50 X beats the Arctis Nova Pro. The A50 X has a better-quality microphone, comfier soft-fabric earcups (slightly better for glasses, too), HDMI pass-through via its base station and downloadable community-created audio presets. But the Arctis Nova Pro is the better in every other way for me: bigger, better audio with the option to use hi-def sound via 3.5mm connection; a growing list of presets, including competitively viable game-specific choices (and dev-forged options); decent active noise cancelling and inbuilt Bluetooth.

Even some of the A50 X wins become more personal preferences with the right context. The superior microphone on the A50 X is perhaps partly due to the fact it’s fixed, whereas the Arctis Nova Pro has a fully retractable mic and an overall design that lends itself to everyday use as well as gaming. In 2023, I switched out my original Arctis Nova Pro earcups for some thicker cooling-gel alternatives that make them even comfier for my noggin than the A50 X. Admittedly, the A50 X earcups are also replaceable, though third-party ones are reportedly not advised because of how the stock ones are tuned for audio.

Ultimately, the Arctis Nova Pro can shift between mainstream gaming platforms with the flick of a switch and the shift of a lightweight DAC, plus a Bluetooth receiver in the headphones boosts the versatility further. That DAC is also used to recharge an included spare battery, so while you do lose audio for the 20 seconds it takes to swap batteries, it’s easy to mitigate for continuous wireless audio. I started the A50 X review with an open mind and open ears, but the Arctis Nova Pro still holds the top spot for me as far as high-end gaming headsets are concerned.