Logitech has long been one of the most prominent manufacturers of gaming accessories and hardware. Its lineup of Astro headsets, in particular, have been a staple of the company since Logitech acquired the brand in 2017. The Astro name is one that has been around since the days of the Xbox 360 and is synonymous with high quality, remaining the go-to choice for many gamers around the globe. If you’re in the market for a new gaming headset, there’s a good chance that Astro is going to be the brand you look to buy.
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Despite already being such a well-established name, Astro’s new A20X Wireless Headset surpasses everything that we’ve seen from the label in the past. The A20X isn’t only the most comfortable headset that I’ve personally used in the past decade, but it comes with a stellar feature set that makes it seamless to use across multiple platforms.
Rating: 4.5/5
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| PLAYSYNC makes switching platforms easier than ever | No Switch 2 support yet |
| Lightweight and comfortable design | |
| Tons of customization options | |
| Long battery life |
PlaySync Is a Game-Changer
What really sets the A20X Wireless Headset apart from previous Astro models is the implementation of PlaySync. This feature is one that lets users toggle from one platform to the next by simply pressing a button on the headset itself. The A20X comes with a PlaySync hub, which is very small in its design and can be connected to two devices at a single time. In my case, I hooked PlaySync up to both my PS5 and Xbox Series X. When booting either console up, all I needed to do to pair my headset to either platform was press the button on the right side of the headset to get it to switch to the corresponding USB port that was linked to that console.
While this might sound like a straightforward feature, it’s something that really hasn’t been seen before with wireless gaming headsets. The only way that users have been able to swap between consoles this quickly in the past has been with wired headsets, as those can plug directly into controllers. This makes the Astro A20X one of the best wireless headsets around and is a huge boon for those who play games across multiple platforms with high regularity.
Since the A20X is also compatible with virtually everything, you also have a ton of options when it comes to which two platforms you want to hook up at once. While I did two current-gen home consoles, PlaySync also works perfectly with PC and older platforms like PS4 and Xbox One. The only thing it doesn’t support right now is Nintendo Switch 2, but this should be changing in the future.
Comfortable Design Makes It Easy to Use for Hours at a Time
One of my biggest complaints with other gaming headsets I’ve used in the past is that they simply aren’t comfortable to wear. Whether this is because of the design of the device or the heft of it, I’ve quickly found myself straying away from regularly using certain headsets very soon after buying them. Luckily, this isn’t true with the A20X.
Immediately after putting on the A20X for the first time, I was shocked at how light it was. It only weighs in at barely 10 ounces, making it by far the lightest headset I’ve ever worn. This lightness made the A20X easy to use for multiple hours at a time without feeling the need to take it off. While I’ve found myself getting headaches or discomfort the longer I’ve used past headsets, the A20X never presented any of these issues.
The memory foam that circles the earpieces of the A20X also becomes more comfortable the longer you wear it. Initially, I thought that this material felt a bit cheap and I didn’t like how it conformed to the sides of my head. With prolonged use, though, I started to feel the headset adapt and sit more snugly around my ears. This memory foam doesn’t feel as plush as you would think, but it’s of a very high quality and is perhaps the biggest thing that makes the A20X feel so cozy.
High Quality Audio on All Fronts
Of course, the comfort and accompanying features of a headset really don’t matter unless it also provides a high-quality audio experience. The A20X also excels in this area, too, both when it comes to the audio of the earphones and the accompanying microphone.
I played a variety of different games of various genres with the A20X and found that all of them, regardless of platform, provided excellent audio experiences with the headset. Whether it be the eerie soundscapes of a horror game or the hectic battlefields of a multiplayer shooter, the A20X provides top-notch audio that doesn’t sound muddied. It’s a clear step up when compared to some of the older headsets I had been primarily using that were released a few years back.
It’s also worth noting that the A20X also features buttons on the side of the headset that let you balance the audio levels between party chat and game audio. Instead of having to dive into your console or PC’s system settings to balance this manually, you can just use the built-in buttons to do it without skipping a beat while playing. This is something that I used countless times with the A20X and while, again, it sounds relatively simple in its functionality, it’s an excellent quality of life feature.
As for the microphone, it’s detachable from the headset, which I personally love. Unless I am actively talking to friends in game chat, I don’t want a mic dangling from my headset. Like the earphones, the mic is also far better than you’d expect in terms of audio fidelity. I made some recordings with it on my PC and it nearly matched the quality of some high-level podcast mics that I have when comparing the two. This mic isn’t one that I would use by default for recordings like this, but it’s good enough that you should have the clearest comms of anyone in your party when using the A20X.
Customization Options Put the A20X Over the Top
What really solidifies the Astro A20X as the best headset I have used in recent memory is its suite of customization options. If you’re someone who wants to tweak the RGB settings of your gaming accessories constantly, there are quite literally 16 million color variants that the A20X has to offer. It’s the first headset from Logitech to offer what the company calls “LightSync RGB”, which is what provides this sheer number of colors. Using these RGB lights on the headset lowers its battery life to about 40 hours from the 90 hours that it can last without any lighting, but this is still an incredible level of customization that no other headset can match.
Bluetooth is also built into the A20X, which means that it can be used as a general pair of earphones as well. If you want to sync it to your phone and simply listen to music or a podcast, you can do so. It gives the A20X one more level of accessibility that I didn’t expect but very much appreciate having.
On virtually every front, the Astro A20X knocks it out of the park. As just a basic wireless gaming headset, it provides a stellar audio experience that will take your games to the next level. When taking into account its comfort and the advent of PlaySync, too, it makes the A20X stand out that much more amongst the hundreds of different competitors on the market. If you’re someone who routinely plays games across multiple platforms like I do, I really think this is the best gaming headset you can get at the moment.
The Astro A20X releases this week on October 8th for a price of $179.99. A sample unit was provided by Logitech for the purpose of this review.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
