Astro has made some great headsets recently, including the A50 and A10 we highly recommended. That said, the A50, which comes with every bell and whistle you can imagine, is really on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of price and features compared to the barebones wired A10 headset. Bridging the gap is the mid-range A20 – is it the “Goldilocks” of Astro’s product lineup?
The Astro A20 is a great gaming headset. The set up is a breeze, the battery life lasts for well over ten hours straight and overall, it feels nice on your head. With a retail price of $150, you will be able to find less expensive headphones, but not better headphones.
To set up the A20 headset, users simply plug a transmitter into your console via a micro USB cable and an optical audio cable. Next, users can plug the headset to not only pair it with the game system, but also to charge the headset. Once paired, the headset can also be charged from just about any outlet or USB port with a basic micro USB cable.
A20 headsets come set up for either Xbox One or PS4 and are not compatible between consoles due to restrictions from Microsoft regarding in-game chat. That said, both versions of the headset will work on a PC by plugging the transmitter in via a USB port.
If on a PC, the A20’s transmitter has an unlimited amount of saved audio profiles via the free Astro Command Center software. When on a console, the transmitter can store three profiled, which can be swapped in and out if you connect the transmitter to a PC. Users can also customize other settings like the sound gate on the microphone and update the headset’s firmware through the Astro Command Center software.
Perhaps the most important aspect of any pair of headphones is whether the audio actually sounds rich and full like it’s intended to be heard. Because the A20 is from Astro, you can expect the same high-quality features found across the company’s line of products. The A20 makes games sound crystal clear with no dropped audio from the wireless connection. Thanks to the use of an optical audio cable, the A20 is compatible with Dolby Atmos or Windows Sonic surround sound, so you can really feel like you’re in the game.
Chat also sounds loud and clear with the A20. The microphone arm can be flipped up to mute, which is quick and easy if you want to be polite and not chew potato chips directly into your friends ears. There’s also a satisfying click to know the mic arm is in place and muted, unlike the A50. I also liked how the Voice/Game mix buttons are moved right above and below the volume scroll wheel. All volume controls can be adjusted from the same area.
All this sounds great, and it is, but the A20 isn’t perfect. A major issue I had was discomfort after wearing it over my head for an extended period. The ear cups fit nicely on my ears and the material used feels soft and squishy, but the material used for the top is a hard rubber/foam type padding that is nowhere near as comfortable as the ear cups. Although the top padding may be integral to overall headset durability and is a nice material to use for a sweaty guy like me (it’s easy to clean and won’t become grimy with some simple care), it just didn’t feel nice against the top of my head.
Also, the headset can feel a little cheap. This isn’t meant to sound petty, or to compare it to the much more expensive A50, but the plastic sides feel kind of thin and adjusting the cup height can be a little rough – the cups don’t slide that smoothly.
I also had minor difficulty getting both chat and in-game audio to work when connecting the headset to my Xbox One. Thankfully, a system reset usually smooths everything over. This won’t be an issue for users who plug the transmitter in once and never touch it again, but if you will hop between a console and PC, you might experience some issues.
The Astro A20 headset is a bit on the pricey side, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better headset with all the features found here for less. The top padding may not be the most comfortable, and the sides may feel a little thin, but the A20 is still worth considering if you are in the market for a wireless headset that won’t break the bank. If the price tag is a little too high for you, check out the A10, which features the same high-quality audio and can be used with any device that has a headphone jack.
So what do you think? Are you interested in the Astro A20 headset? What headset are you currently using to game? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
