Astro A50 wireless gaming headset 2016

I was impressed by the A40 TR headset but I felt that some people would prefer a wireless version. Well, waddaya know? Astro have reworked their A50 wireless set to become even better.

The reason why I prefer a wired connection is that wireless headsets are great — until you go to start a marathon session and find out the battery is about to die.

Gaming-headset manufacturer Astro Gaming feels our pain, Gadgety faithful.

Astro gave a select few a sneaky peek of their new A50 in London a couple of weeks ago. This new wireless headset will play nicely with PC as well as the PlayStation 4 (Blue) and Xbox One (Green).

The new wireless gaming headset comes built on Astro’s all-digital Command Center platform, allowing users to tweak every input and output, while also creating their own custom EQ profiles. Owners of Astro’s A40 Tournament Ready edition headset should already be familiar with the interface.

This handy control lets you alter game volume, chat audio, mic, and AUX channels individually to generate custom audio mixes for streaming output.

More importantly, the base station now acts as both a display stand and charging dock for the headset. The dock has a set of wells carved into it allowing users to stand the headset up and in the same divots is a set of corresponding power contacts. Astro rates battery life to 15 hours.

Users can plug in the base station into a PC as well as an Xbox One or PS4 depending on which version of the A50s they pick up.

Meanwhile, the headset itself connects wirelessly to the base station over a 5GHz frequency. This means next to no latency.
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You want more? How about Dolby Headphone 7.1 surround sound? Yup, you got that too. Having 7.1 surround should mean an unfair advantage in your favour when playing first person shooters.

The A50 gets the fantastic noise-cancelling boom mic. This features the natty flip-up mute functionality which also stows the mic out of the way when not in use.

Aron Drayer, VP of Marketing for ASTRO Gaming, commented:

For the development of the new A50, we took everything we learned from last year’s A40 TR launch and applied it to the new A50. These two products now share the same all-digital platform, allowing the A50 to utilise ASTRO’s Command Center software for adjustment of every input and output, along with the creation of custom EQ profiles.

It wouldn’t be an Astro headset if it didn’t come with the option of customisation. So, there’s the Astro A50 Mod Kit. This lets you swap out the headband and ear cushions for leather versions, as well as other colourways.

I’m really loving how these look and can’t wait to test them out – soon, hopefully 😉