Astro A50 Lightspeed Gen 5 review: the one gaming headset for Xbox, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC gamers
The best gaming headset for console hoppers
🏆 Review score: 4 out of 5
Pros:
✅ 🎧 Perfectly balanced sound for gaming right out of the box
✅ ⚙️ Amazing collection of downloadable community-created game profiles
✅ 🎛️ Well-placed and intuitive controls
✅ 😌 Lightweight and breathable headset for all-day wear
✅ 🔋 24-hour battery life and convenient charging base practically give you infinite playtime
Cons
❌🙅🏻♂️ Two out of three USB-C ports only work for Xbox or PS5
❌ 🔌 Headset base requires plugging in a USB-C power brick
❌ 🎚️Agrivating simultaneous Bluetooth audio mixing
❌🔕 Lacks noise-canceling available on other $300 gaming headsets
Shortcut Review
Having a PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PC, and multiple handhelds, I need a wireless gaming headset that can support multiple sources at the same time. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless has served me well, but even then, it can only support two devices, so when Astro announced the A50 Lightspeed Gen 5, I knew what I had to get next.
The $299 Astro A50 Gen 5 makes it a breeze to console jump with the touch of a button, there is no need to get up or swap out wires anymore. This gaming headset also has fantastically balanced audio straight out of the box, and you can download a wide range of community-created sound profiles tuned specifically for games on a per-title basis. I can also game for hours thanks to this headset’s lightweight and breathable design, plus a 24-hour battery that easily recharges between uses on its convenient charging base.
Not everything about the Astro A50 is perfect, of course. The headset base has three very platform-specific USB-C ports that won’t work with every gamer’s setup. This headset offers no sound isolation or active noise-canceling, so it's very easy to hear a PC fan or screaming children through its breathable earcups. Minor annoyances like Bluetooth audio mixing and the fact it needs a separate charging cable instead of being able to draw power from its three other USB-C ports also ding the experience of this headset for me.
If you can look past those flaws, the Astro A50 Lightspeed Gen 5 is an excellent gaming headset you can literally wear all day with extremely flexible sound profiles to hear the best quality game audio. It’s easily the dream gaming headset for console jumpers with three systems.
Full Review
🎧 Ready to go out of the box. The Astro A50 Lightspeed Gen 5 easily has to be one of the best-sounding gaming headsets you can pull out of a box and just start using. Its default sound profile offers high sound resolution and a very balanced audio to enjoy the low rumble of explosions, midrange for dialogue, and treble to pick up on minute details like footsteps in Modern Warfare III and crisp reloads. It’s all thanks to the 40mm Pro-G graphene drivers pulled from the Logitech G Pro X2 and Astro A50X. For the most part, you don’t even need to touch the EQ to enjoy great-sounding game audio and music.
🎵 Mastering tunes. While the Astro A50 Gen 5 sounds great out of the box, tuning the EQ will give you the best quality audio on a per-game basis. The Logitech G app on PC, iOS, and Android gives you plenty of flexibility to adjust the EQ from 20Hz to 20,000Hz, though it’s a little obtuse since it doesn’t label what each range will actually change like how SteelSeries does on its GG app.
If you’re less technically minded for creating EQs like me, there’s an amazing swath of community-created profiles you can download in the Logitech G app. You can easily search for games, music genres, and more. All of this is sadly limited to the PC app for now, so console players won’t be able to take advantage of it until it comes to the mobile app.
👂Spatial sound. Imaging or tracking where sounds come from is also even better on the Astro A50 Gen 5 thanks to its new Dolby Atmos support. I can literally hear orbital guns and Hellpods falling from the sky while playing Helldivers 2. I can also easily tell when footsteps are coming from the left, right, or above in Modern Warfare III with the Astro A50 Gen 5.
🎮 Triple setup. Connecting your Xbox, PS5, and Nintendo Switch or PC all to one wireless transmitter base is easily my favorite feature of the Astro A50 Lightspeed Gen 5. You can have all your gaming systems connected, and you only need to tap the quick-swap button on the headset’s left earcup to switch between them.
❌ Very specific ports. Connecting multiple systems is easy, but the USB-C ports are confoundingly specific. The Xbox port only works with the Xbox, and the PS5 port will only play audio when connected to a PS5 or Nintendo Switch. Meanwhile, the PC port doesn’t support either the Xbox or PS5, but it works with gaming PCs, handhelds, the Nintendo Switch, and even phones.
Normally, these ports are platform agonistic, aside from the Xbox-licensed USB-C port being the only one that supports Microsoft’s console. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is another wireless gaming headset that lets you connect up to two systems of any kind with its two USB-C ports. Both headsets utilize USB 2.0 ports, so there’s no reason for the Astro A50 Lightspeed Gen 5’s USB-C ports to be platform-specific.
The Astro A50 Lightspeed Gen 5 won’t be an ideal gaming headset if you want to connect two PCs or have the very common setup of a PS5, Switch, and PC. Unless you have the specific setup Astro and Logitech have prescribed for its wireless gaming headset, you’re shit out of luck. If you’re looking for the most flexibility, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Wireless is a better choice, even though it only has two ports.
🔌 Required USB-C power brick. Annoyingly you need to hook up a fourth power cable with a dedicated USB-C power brick to set up the Astro A50 Gen 5. It’s a minor annoyance since other wireless gaming headsets can simply draw power from the console or PC they’re connected to. Logitech explains the “A50 [Gen 5] was designed to ensure the product and the integrated charge dock are sufficiently powered, no matter what devices are connected or their power management configuration.” But there’s not really any need for this since USB-C – or even USB 2.0 ports from 20 years ago – can carry data and power.
📐 Familiar iconic design. The A50 Gen 5 features the same squared earcup and plastic frame design Astro has been using for years. It’s hard to knock it since it’s so iconic now, and the headset’s all-plastic construction is extremely flexible and lightweight. For $300, I wish the Astro A50 Gen 5 felt a little more premium and involved more metal like other gaming headsets at the same price point.
🎛️ Well-thought-out controls. One thing Astro easily has going for it over all other gaming headsets is its well-placed and intuitive controls. I can easily distinguish between the power switch (yes, a real switch!), quick swap, and Bluetooth buttons on the right earcup. Switching between game/chat mix happens with a toggle on the face of the right earcup, as usual on an Astro headset. Meanwhile, if you want to mute your mic, all you have to do is flip up the microphone instead of having to awkwardly reach for a button.
😌 Breathable comfort. The Astro A50 Gen 5 is easily the most comfortable gaming headset I’ve worn this year. It has thick, but plush and breathable ear pads that are deep enough so your ears don’t brush up against them. This wireless gaming headset is also so lightweight that I don’t feel any fatigue from wearing it for even eight hours straight.
🔕 Missing ANC. Unfortunately, the flip side of the Astro A50 Gen 5 being so breathable is outside noises, like the whirl of my gaming PC’s fans, easily slip in. An easy fix would be to buy Astro’s replacement leatherette earpads, but that would ruin the comfort I just praised this headset on. I would much rather have Astro add active noise canceling to the Gen 5. It’s sorely missing, especially when other $300 level gaming headsets from Alienware, SteelSeries, Turtle Beach, Corsair, and Razer have implemented it.
🛜 Bluetooth mixing. The Astro A50 Gen 5 also supports simultaneous Bluetooth audio while I’m listening to wireless gaming audio. I can mix in my audio just like I can with chat, though it’s not as smooth as I’d like. Adjusting my Bluetooth volume is relegated to my mobile device, but then turning the knob on the headset itself actually changes the master volume for both the wireless and Bluetooth. This setup leads to a lot of back-and-forth adjustments, and I would rather be able to adjust the volume from the two separate sources independently.
🔋Infinite battery life. The Astro A50 Gen 5 might only have 24 hours of battery life, but it’s very unlikely you’ll ever hit that limit unless you literally game for a full day straight without stopping to sleep. Another reason you’ll likely never run out of battery life is it’s so easy to charge this headset by simply placing it onto its convenient charging base. Unless you haphazardly avoid putting this headset back onto its base after three very long play sessions, you’ll never run out of battery with this wireless gaming headset.
Should you buy the Astro A50 Lightspeed Gen 5?
Yes, if…
✅ 🎧 You want a wireless gaming headset that connects to your three gaming systems
✅ 🔊 You don’t want to mess with the EQ and just have a great-sounding gaming headset
✅ 📊 You want a wide range of EQ profiles designed for each of your favorite games
✅ 🎮 You’re looking for a headset for all-day play
✅ ⚡You want an easily rechargeable gaming headset
No, if…
❌ You need a gaming headset with noise-canceling (get the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro)
❌ You have a setup of two PCs or a PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC (get the SteelSeries Arcits Nova Pro Wireless)
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.