Logitech G Astro A50 X review: all in fun

Introduction

There’s no shortage of choice when it comes to the best gaming headsets – but the majority will only play nicely with a single games console. Two at best. What if you’ve got a trio of gaming machines under your TV, and have an equally potent PC for good measure? The Logitech G Astro A50 X is out to prove one size really can fit all.

Having gone through four generations already, this latest iteration adds a platform-agnostic docking station with HDMI passthrough and USB audio. That means it plays nicely with both Xbox and PlayStation consoles, as well as PCs. Graphene drivers promise top-tier sound sound, and a ‘broadcast quality’ mic should give your in-game comms excellent clarity.

All that extra tech makes this one of the most expensive gaming headsets I’ve ever tested, though. Does that push it out of the mainstream and into the realm of serious console collectors?

Design & build: artfully angular

The A50 X can trace its design back to before Astro was a Logitech sub-brand. This headset brings back its predecessor’s expansive ear cups, flip-out boom microphone, and thickly padded fabric ear cups, as well as the extensive use of plastic. For such an expensive headset, I was hoping for a more premium feel. It’s sturdy enough to survive the odd bout of gamer rage, at least.

There’s no mistaking this for anything other than a serious gamer headset, with the mic permanently affixed and an abundance of controls on the right ear cup. My black-on-black review sample was arguably a little subtler than the white-on-black model, but I wouldn’t fancy wearing either out of the house. Not that you can, as the Bluetooth is contained within the base unit rather than the headset.

I thought comfort was a mixed bag. The headband is as well stuffed as the ear cups – ear cups that weren’t quite breathable enough for my ears to stay sweat-free after an extended gaming session. The metal arms holding each ear cup provide easy adjustment, at least, and the amount of clamping force was spot on. It’s far from the heaviest gaming headset I’ve worn, but at 363g it’s no lightweight either.

The ear cups are held in place with magnets so can be easily popped off and replaced, either with official Astro pads or third-party ones. You don’t get a spare pair in the box, unlike the much cheaper Logitech G Pro X 2. There’s no active noise cancelling here, but the ear cups do have a decent amount of passive background isolation.

Features & battery: HDMI hero

So far, so typical gaming headset. It’s the base station that sets the Astro A50 X apart from its rivals. As well as giving you somewhere to stash the headset (and keep its batteries topped up in the process), it acts as an HDMI switcher for swapping between all your gaming hardware. Got a PC, PlayStation, Xbox and a phone you want connected at all times? The A50 X has got you covered – sort of.

There are clearly labelled HDMI 2.1 inputs for your consoles, and USB ports for all three wired devices. Just keep in mind Astro doesn’t put any HDMI cables in the box, and you’ll need a bunch to get everything connected. I’d suggest investing in some cable ties, unless you fancy staring at a rat’s nest of cables every time you want to get your game on.

Once I’d plugged everything in, pressing the PlaySync button on the headset would instantly switch the active audio and video signals. Or rather, they did between my Xbox and PS5; there’s no video passthrough for PCs, so you’ve still got to change that video signal manually. My gaming rig usually lives in a separate room to my consoles, which would mean missing out on one third of this headset’s functionality. My Nintendo Switch was relegated to Bluetooth only, with no passthrough of any kind.

I like that it can wake a console from sleep, and the LEDs on the front make it clear which source is currently active. It plays nicely with 4K/120p signals and variable refresh rate games, with no image quality penalty or increased input lag. HDMI 2.1 switchers aren’t cheap, so it’s great to see Astro going the whole hog here.

Headset and base station communicate with Logitech’s Lightspeed tech, which is as low latency as wireless sound gets and with zero dropouts while both gadgets were in the same room. Just keep in mind there’s no option for wired listening.

Astro rates the A50 X headset for 24 hours of playback before it’ll need to recharge. The base station is such a convenient way to top up I had to consciously not dock the headset so I could confirm those figures; they were largely on the money when listening at moderate volume levels.

Interface: G whizz

The Logitech G app lets you customise the A50 X sound, either through EQ presets or by tweaking the equaliser manually. It’s a one-size-fits-all approach, with no way to set specific profiles for each connected device. I like that you can make these changes on your smartphone, though; it saved me having to boot up a computer every time I wanted to adjust bass response or sharpen up the treble.

There’s a few EQ options for the microphone as well, though I didn’t feel the need to fiddle with the defaults; I’m not convinced by Astro’s ‘broadcast quality’ claim but my Call of Duty teammates had no complaints about my in-game voice clarity or volume. The mic arm is easily adjusted to be closer to your mouth, and while it eventually bends back to its original position, you’d need to be gaming for a full evening to notice.

Sound quality: plenty of punch

The A50 X is packing a pair of 40mm drivers made from tough-yet-light graphene, which is easier to drive than other speaker materials. That helps cut down on distortion, and means a more accuracy across the frequency range. That bore out in my testing, with breaking glass that sounded brilliantly textured, tyre squeals that were suitably shrill without ever becoming sibilant, and gunshots that had plenty of impact.

I thought the Logitech G Pro X 2 delivered more oomph at the low end, possibly because of its larger 50mm drivers. Bass in general wasn’t nearly as skull-shaking as previous Astro headsets, but there was still plenty of it in evidence when bringing down buildings in The Finals or darting between the stomping legs of one of Horizon Forbidden West‘s Tallnecks. That also makes them a good all-rounder for different game genres, as well as for kicking back with music or movies, without first having to play about with the EQ presets.

Spatial sound was pinpoint precise, whether using Dolby Atmos on Xbox, Tempest 3D audio on the PS5, or Windows Sonic Spatial Audio on my PC. Even in stereo the soundstage was satisfyingly wide, with clean layering of audio elements. It’s every bit as good as I’d expect given the price, if not quite as bombastic out of the box as some rivals.

Logitech G Astro A50 X verdict

The Astro A50 X isn’t the most luxuriously built gaming headset, and it certainly isn’t the cheapest. But it plays nicely with all the consoles sat under your telly, not just one of ’em. For a certain subset of gamers, that will easily justify the added expense over more mainstream rivals.

If you don’t split your play time equally between Xbox, PS5 and PC, though, it’s harder to recommend. The HDMI switch is overkill for single-system setups, where alternative headsets with USB wireless dongles do the whole “plug and play” thing a lot better. Your PC has to be right next to your console to get the most out of it, and then there’s the matter of all the cables.

Ultimately I found it a rather complicated way to simplify your gaming setup – but if you’d rather not swap dongles and adapters on the regular, the A50 X will still appeal.

Logitech G Astro A50 X technical specifications

Drivers	40mm dynamic
Frequency response	20-20,000 Hz
Connectivity	Wireless via HDMI/USB, Bluetooth
Ports	3x HDMI 2.1, 3x USB-C
Battery life	Up to 24 hours
Dimensions	363g