The new headphones from Logitech G and ASTRO are universal: wireless simultaneously on PS5, Xbox and PC

Astro, the famous brand of top-of-the-range gaming headphones, is increasingly rooted within Logitech G, so much so that the new product belonging to it is called Logitech G ASTRO A50.

As mentioned, Astro products have always been top of the range, but the A50 At the basis of the product is the desire to eliminate once and for all the fragmentation of the same model of wireless headphones into multiple variants, usually those dedicated to PlayStation/PC and those dedicated to Xbox/PC. Astro A50 they are to all intents and purposes wireless gaming headphones, with the proven transmission protocol LIGHTSPEED from Logitech G, which they work simultaneously on PC, PS5 and Xbox.

How do they do it? Thanks to a special dock station! Logitech and Astro call it technology PLAYSYNC. Basically connect the HDMIs of the PS5 and your Xbox directly to the base station.

An HDMI 2.1 will in turn start from the base station which you will connect to the television or monitor. The base station will then take care of “passing” the video from the consoles to the television, simultaneously sending the audio to the headphones (wirelessly) to the A50 X, all this without affecting the fidelity of the source. And the PC? You can connect it to the base station via USB, and enjoy the same wireless audio. To be honest, you can also connect additional devices to it! In fact, on board there is the Bluetooth modulewhich also allows you dual-device mixing, i.e. listening to the console and the phone (or a voice chat) from your smartphone at the same time.

The base station obviously also works as a (magnetic) charging base for the Astro A50 For starters, they integrate graphene drivers, the ones we had already seen in action on the Logitech G PRO X 2.

Graphene is currently the material that comes closest to the ideal characteristics that a driver should have, i.e. being rigid, weightless and able to be set in motion or stop very quickly (or instantly). Let’s see a list of the salient features:

HDMI 2.1 Passthrough

• HDMI 2.1 40Gbps bandwidth
• Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
• Variable Refresh Rate (VRR)

Audio

• 2x HDMI Audio up to 24 bit /48 kHz (console)
• 2x USB Audio up to 16 bit/48 kHz (console)
• 1x USB Audio up to 24 bit/48 kHz (PC)
• Drivers: 40mm PRO-G GRAPHENE
• Frequency response: 20 – 20,000 Hz
• Dolby Atmos + Windows Sonic Spatial Audio on XBOX, Window 10/11
• 3D Audio on PS5

Microphone

• Pattern: Omnidirectional
• Frequency response: 60 – 20,000 Hz
• Sampling Rate: up to 16 bit/48 kHz

Wireless technology

• LIGHTSPEED Wireless 24 bit/48 kHz
• Up to 12 meters via LIGHTSPEED
• Bluetooth

There would be much more to say, including the possibility of manually set various parameters both from G Hub if you play on PC and from the dedicated mobile app if you are on console, not to mention the microphone with a wider sampling rate than most of the competitors.

But we’ll get back to it during the review.

Logitech G ASTRO A50 X LIGHTSPEED + Base Station they are available for pre-order on the official Logitech G a website €409.99. A truly top-of-the-range price, as we anticipated at the beginning. What is certain is that, unless you have classic wired solutions, you will hardly find something capable of working wirelessly on three platforms simultaneously. Actual availability is expected in the first half of 2024 at major electronics retailers. In the United States they should be available from December 20th, we don’t know if it will also be available on the Italian/European Logitech G store from that date.