Headset for the hardcore

TECH

TECH REVIEW

 

I love physical interfaces, with tactile knobs and switches and inputs and outputs and wires. You can see exactly what’s going where and what’s not.

Software and wirelessness, on the other hand, always feel temperamental or vulnerable.

Logitech’s recently released gaming headset, the Astro A20 X, literally straddles both worlds, but its selling point comes in the form of its wired elements. The headset itself is wireless, connecting through the ether — using Logitech’s proprietary Lightspeed technology, not Bluetooth — to a slim little switcher, the Playsync Base. The switcher uses USB to plug into two separate platforms — among PC, Playstation 4, PS5, Xbox Series X or S and/or Nintendo Switch. And the Type-C USB cables it comes with are a useful 2m long.

A button on the headset allows the user to easily switch between two platforms as the headset itself stays wirelessly connected via Playsync.

This cross-platform ease is appealing to gamers. I tested it with my PC and PS5 and was able to use the headset’s microphone to talk with others on Discord on my PC, before flipping over to my PS5’s audio. And I could walk in and out of the room with the headset still on, the connection never falling out, even when I stood outside across the road. My phobia of wirelessness was placated.

On the headset there is also a button for toggling between voice chat or game audio volume control. You’ll also find a power button, Type-C USB connection for charging and a button to change to Bluetooth.

It is plug and play too. I have had trouble in the past with the latest Logitech software deleting drivers for old Logitech equipment, but the A20X works without having to download the company’s software. Of course, there are benefits to using it, including equaliser adjustments or syncing up the headset’s RGB lighting with all your other lit-up devices (I had the RGB on my PC, keyboard and the A20X all glowing bright red in unison, because I could). Unfortunately, there is no option to mix audio with the A20 X, even when using the Logitech software — it’s either one platform’s audio or the other’s.

The headset’s cans are plushy and comfortable. The microphone can be unplugged, and so I also used the headset without all the bells and whistles to just listen to music through old-fashioned Bluetooth. While it was comfortable, and the overall build feels sturdy despite being a lightweight 300g, there is a bit too much up and down wriggle room. But it’s made for the sitting-down types anyway.

The sound was terrific, a noticeable difference from my old JBL Quantum (a-third of the A20 X’s price), conveying a full-bodied 3D sound. The 48kHz boom microphone’s voice quality is also markedly better than other options and as good as most affordable standalone podcast microphones.

The A20X isn’t for the casual player — especially retailing at $399. It is made for hardcore gamers, with its cross-platform capabilities and an incredible 90-hour battery life (or 40 if the RGB lights are on).

That coupled with the microphone fidelity, a pleasing white exterior (black is also available if that’s more your style) and syncable RGB lighting on the cans would also make it perfect for an on-camera streamer.

By George Elliott