Astro A50 Gen 4 vs A50 Gen 5
Amazon links in this article are affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
A50 Gen 4 (left) and A50 Gen 5. (A50 X is off to the right)
Quick Summary
The Astro A50 Gen 5 is an improvement over the A50 Gen 4 in almost every way.
The Gen 5 uses updated graphene drivers instead of normal dynamic drivers. It has Bluetooth, both Xbox and PS5 support, and a vastly improved microphone.
The A50 Gen 4’s main advantages are that it has stronger bass and a Dolby Audio button directly on the headset instead of requiring software like the Gen 5. The Gen 4 Base Station also has extra ports for optical cables and 3.5 mm.
If you’re deciding between these two wireless headsets, I highly recommend the Gen 5. The only exceptions are if it’s outside of your budget or if you can’t live without the Gen 4’s thunderous bass.
Connectivity
A50 Gen 4
Power switch, Dolby Audio, and EQ preset buttons on the A50 Gen 4.
Game and Voice volume buttons are on both headsets.
There are two versions of the A50 Gen 4 - Xbox and PlayStation. Both versions work on PC. Unfortunately, on PS4 and PS5, the Game/Voice mixing functionality only works if you use an optical cable. I made a quick tutorial video showcasing this.
There’s a Dolby Audio button which creates a virtual surround sound effect when toggled on. You can also create and save 3 different EQ presets to the Base Station using the Astro Command Center PC app.
The battery life is stated to be 15 hours, but it’s more like 8 in my use case.
A50 Gen 5
Power switch, PLAYSYNC, and Bluetooth buttons on the A50 Gen 5.
Gen 4 Base Station on top.
The A50 Gen 5 only has one version (though there are different colors). It works on Xbox Series S|X, PS5, and PC. The Base Station for the Gen 5 has ports to connect to all 3 systems at the same time. The PLAYSYNC button will toggle which system the audio is playing from.
The Gen 5 also has Bluetooth which can play audio simultaneously with whatever system’s audio is also playing from the Base Station. Unfortunately, the headset requires the Base Station to be on and in range for the Bluetooth to actually work. Equalization is controlled through Logitech G Hub on PC or mobile when using it on consoles.
Unlike the Gen 4, the Game/Voice mixer does not work at all on PC for the Gen 5. It only works on Xbox and PC. For this functionality, you’ll need the A50 X. Here’s my full article comparing the A50 Gen 5 to the A50 X.
The battery life is stated to be 24 hours. It’s definitely over 12, but I haven’t deliberately kept it off the charger long enough to test this properly.
Headphone Audio Quality
The A50 Gen 4 is equipped with 40 mm dynamic drivers, and the A50 Gen 5 has 40 mm graphene drivers. In terms of detail and clarity, the A50 Gen 5 dominates. For competitive FPS games, that’s the one to go with. Utilizing the “gaming” preset in G Hub emphasizes the upper midrange and treble while dipping the bass more to make footsteps and reloads stand out even more.
Halo Infinite with the A50 Gen 5.
The A50 Gen 4 excels at bass. Outside of the PC38X with velour pads, I haven’t heard another gaming headset with as powerful, rumbly bass as this. It makes single player games incredibly immersive. The sound separation isn’t as good as the Gen 5, but it’s still viable for many different use cases.
Microphone Audio Quality
The A50 Gen 5 has one of the best gaming headset mics on the market. It sounds natural and the background noise rejection isn’t artificial. The Gen 4’s mic sounds muffled and compressed. Both are flip up to mute. Great improvement on the Gen 5.
Comfort and Build Quality
The Gen 4’s paint peels off way too easily.
The builds of these headsets are very similar, but I find this was a missed opportunity for improvement. I weighed my A50 Gen 4 at 371 grams and my Gen 5 at 367. Both are too heavy.
The overall builds are plastic, and they have a metal adjustment hinge. The paint scuffs obnoxiously easily on the Gen 4 without even touching it. The Gen 5’s paint is a bit better, but I already saw a bit of wear on my A50 X after 8 months and that has the same material as the Gen 5.
The Gen 5 has every so slightly larger ear pads.
In regards to comfort, they’re alright but not amazing. I wish the cloth earpads were accompanied by alternate pleather pads to trap in more bass and be softer over long gaming sessions. The Gen 4 used to have a Mod Kit option for pleather pads available, but it’s been out of stock for years now. Overall, there are both about a B or B- in comfort.
Software
Astro Command Center.
Logitech G Hub Desktop App.
The Gen 4 uses Astro Command Center for PC and the Gen 5 uses Logitech G Hub for desktop or mobile. ACC isn’t bad at all, but you can’t adjust EQ presets on the fly when you’re on console because there’s no phone app, and you can’t EQ the mic.
G Hub has both mic and headphone audio EQ. You can also save more presets to G Hub.
Alternatively, since the Gen 5 comes with a pre-activated Dolby Atmos license, you can use the equalizer in that software and the virtual surround sound effect it comes with on PC and Xbox.
Verdict
I recommend the A50 Gen 5 over the A50 Gen 4. For all but the most demanding bassheads, the the Gen 5 is a better device in terms of headphone audio, mic quality, connectivity options, and included software.
Remember that if you want game/chat mixing to work on PS5, you must either use the A50 Gen 4 with its optical cable or go a step up to the A50 X.
