You drop the A50 into the stand, and nine times out of ten it lands securely and starts charging.
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More importantly, it’s easier to get the Astro A50 into the damn charging dock-even when the headset is extended to its full size. Just set it in a custom cradle and power will flow. No need to remember to plug it in at night, no additional cables. Make it so the place you store the A50 is the same place you charge the A50. Keeping wireless peripherals charged is the main hassle preventing adoption, so Astro had a nifty idea: Remove the friction. The 2016 iteration of the Astro A50 introduced the charging stand, a new model for keeping a wireless headset topped up-and one I still haven’t seen copied. Most of Astro’s work went into redesigning the accessories, same as the A40 TR and its spruced up MixAmp. The change to the more reliable (and cleaner, at least around here) 2.4GHz band is a boon.Įnough about the headset, though. Interference has only gotten worse over the past few years as 5GHz proliferated. The old Astro A50 worked on the 5GHz band, which from the start had problems with signal range and penetration in my San Francisco apartment building.
You won’t necessarily notice that change at home, but you’ll appreciate it. The new model replaces the slider with a button, which makes it somewhat difficult to remember which button toggles surround sound and which changes EQ.Īnd last but definitely not least, Astro’s moved the A50 to the 2.4GHz wireless band. The old A50 used a sliding switch to change among three EQ profiles. IDG / Hayden DingmanĪstro also redesigned the A50’s onboard controls slightly. When you’re selling a $300 headset, that’s important. And black is, for better or worse, more “premium” feeling than the toylike colorways of the last set. If you didn’t like it-and I didn’t-you were out of luck.
Boring? Safe? Maybe, but the last generation of A50s launched in blue-and-silver for the PlayStation 4 and PC, gray-and-green for the Xbox One. In a few years, we might all have technicolor A50s that match our innermost desires.įor launch though, Astro’s gone with…black-and-white (with a touch of gold).
That’s somewhat meaningless, as Astro prides itself on providing options for personalization-even hinting that an A50 equivalent of its new A40 Astro.ID program isn’t out of the question. First and foremost, the colors are more restrained this time.