Back in 2016, we reviewed and adored the previous generation of the Astro A50 Wireless Headset and Base Station. Offered in individual models for the Xbox One and Playstation 4, the Astro 50 Wireless headset brought you high quality and customizable audio that you can use on console or PC. The Astro A50 was truly an impressive product, allowing you to make detailed tweaks to EQ’s, mic sidetone, and mic gain levels, which you could apply directly to the headset. You can then use the headset with these customized settings, just as you applied them, on the console. Until this day, it is the only headset that I came across which allowed you to set a threshold for when the mic listens and transmits your voice, respecting that setting on the console.
For what you got, the headset had its forgivable flaws. The whacky occasional “robotic” warped mic transmissions were thankfully fixed in a firmware upgrade. A more unfixable issue existed with how the A50 Wireless rested on the Astro Base Station. The Base Station not only acted as a transmitter between the headset and console or PC, but it also acted as a charging dock. Many A50 users shared my gripe with how tricky it could be at times to have the A50’s connectors line up properly with that of the headset. You could not just plop the headset onto the Base Station and walk away. You had to reset the headset until the docking station finally confirmed that the headset was charging.
Well, Astro has been listening to the fans and owners of the A50 Wireless headset, taking in what they have learned to bring forth a newly refreshed A50. The Astro A50 Wireless + Base Station has now reemerged in its 4th generation, touting upgrades and updates to Astro’s acclaimed flagship product.
The new Astro A50 Wireless + Base Station features the latest Astro Audio V2 technologies, bringing new drivers, new wireless connectivity, and optimization for spatial sound technologies such as Dolby Atmos or Windows Sonic. The new Base Station now has a considerably smaller footprint, with improved physical connectivity with the A50 Wireless. Playing around with the 4th gen pair at E3 2019, we immediately noticed the improvements to the magnetic connectors, making the new A50 Wireless slot effortlessly into the Base Station. Users wanted a smaller and easier to use Base Station and Astro answered.
The new 4th generation Astro A50 Wireless + Base Station brings back everything we loved in the previous generation product. You still get all of the customization options available via the Astro Command Center (ACC) software as well as on-the-fly volume, chat, and EQ controls, straight from the headset. The boom mic mutes chat when the arm is raised up. The ear cups and headband feature plush fabric cushions, which are replaceable with leatherette options via the A50 Mod Kit.
The new Astro A50 Wireless + Base Station is available for pre-order now for $299 in two separate models: an Xbox One/PC model and a Playstation 4/PC model. Check out the new 4th Generation Astro A50 Wireless + Base Station for yourself, here.
† Product info and non-watermarked images used from Astro Gaming PR’s E3 2019 press kit.