The Astro A10 Gen 2 headset represents the brand’s entry-level. Under the bar of 60 euros, it presents itself as a simple and stylish wired headset.
Helmet gaming Astro A10 Gen 2 is positioned as an alternative to Logitech’s G335. If Astro retains its specific design, this entry-level model takes up the lightness and the “flip to mute” microphone found at Logitech.
For the rest, we find ourselves here with a helmet that seems rather classic and should be suitable for players on a tight budget since its official price when it comes out does not exceed 60 euros.
Subtle ergonomics for a successful design
The relationship between the Astro A10 Gen 2 and its cousin at Logitech is first found in the colors offered. The brand offers several more or less original colors and we received the rather classic white model.
The helmet is entirely made of plastic and revolves first of all around a fairly flexible arch covered with a large padded area. This one is covered with a fabric which gives a fairly qualitative appearance to the whole. This padding can also be easily removed.
The imposing supports of the earpieces slide in the arch to be able to adapt the amplitude of the helmet according to the morphology of each one. The notches are well marked here and the amplitude just right.
In effect, the whole remains a bit tight for big heads. This is mainly due to the rigidity of the ear cup supports which tend to press the lower part of the pavilions on the base of the ears. A point that must be taken into account before proceeding to checkout.
The slight freedom of orientation of the pavilions as well as the rather correct padding of the ear cups therefore fails to compensate for this small defect in terms of comfort. In the same way, the earcups that house the 32mm drivers are in our opinion a bit small.
The Astro A10 Gen 2 only has a single jack connector whose non-braided cable is removable. It is equipped with a small remote control to adjust the volume and an input/output splitter is also provided in the box to be able to connect the headphones to all devices.
Astro has therefore also taken up the good idea of the flip-to-mute microphone found on the G335. The shape-memory boom is therefore adjustable and the pickup of the microphone will be automatically cut off when it is raised along the arch.
If the Gen 10 Gen 2 is visually convincing, the comfort unfortunately remains low, especially for the most voluminous cranial boxes. He also has for him very correct quality of assembly and a contained weight.
A decent sound performance, but a convincing microphone
The small size of the A10 Gen 2’s ear cups also seems to have had an impact on the drivers, which here are “only” 32 mm. In practice, this doesn’t necessarily make the headset worse in terms of sound performance, at least for a headset in this range.
The sound coming out of the earbuds is globally convincing, for most uses. The set seems rather well defined at first sight, but certain pieces allow you to quickly realize a quite marked lack on the lowest frequencies. In the same way, the highs are a little behind, which in the end leaves a little too much room for the mids.
It results a rather messy result on somewhat complex titles and in some games where the soundscape is easily loaded. Fortunately, the headphones make up for it by offering very correct stereophony, which will help to locate sounds correctly. Likewise, the sound stage is sufficiently wide to offer correct immersion in games where this is important.
In summary, the sound performance of the Astro A10 Gen 2 is simply correct. It will be suitable on this point for most users, both for gaming and for listening to music or watching films and series. However, the most demanding users will not miss the flaws mentioned above.
The built-in microphone seems to benefit from the experience of Logitech and Blue since it offers a surprisingly clear and well-defined rendering. This is not necessarily usual for a helmet in this price range and it is rather a good surprise. We can simply blame it for its low volume, which will logically have to be compensated for by the communication solution used, but there is not really any white noise to report.
?️ Example of recording with the Astro A10 Gen 2 microphone (normalized to 0 dB)
Astro A10 Gen 2 Headset Price and Availability
The Astro A10 Gen 2 headset is available at the recommended price of 60 euros.