This is the comparison between the Astro A10 and PDP LVL50 gaming headsets. Both has the big price difference but both are under the $100 and the one is wired and the other one is wireless. Both has different features and some positive points. So, check out which one will be the best option for you budget.

Introduction

Astro A10

Astro has never widely released a headset that cost less than $250 in the Astro a40. Maybe the A10 are a gateway drug to higher price models like the A40 and A50 but it’s only a smart move if the headset doesn’t work great.

PDP LVL50

There are two models in the PDP LVL50, the blue one for PlayStation 4 and the green one Xbox one. There’s just like a couple differences but not anything like too drastic. The retail price of these are $79, so $80 for a wireless gaming headset is not bad at all and considering the fact that these went through to be officially licensed PlayStation and officially licensed Xbox headset. So, that means they had to actually go through a lot of testing and a lot of things to get that seal of approval.

Design & Features

Astro A10

This headphone is solid plastic, nothing fancy and nothing that feels too premium. But, Astro claims that they won’t break. Most of the puts their reviews that the headphones break from the side of the headset. Astro claims their build will solve this problem. The plastic is very malleable, it’s soft. There is a metal band inside the top of the band and likely will Bend if you really torque these things out of shape but that’s not an everyday use case.

There are no detents in the ear cup adjustments, detents are like the little like clicky system. The cable coming with this headphone is about a meter long, it has inline volume control up and down.

PDP LVL50

In both models you get the exact same thing as far as accessories go. You will get a micro USB cable for charging. These do get about 16 hours of battery life which is not bad at all. You can get distance of about 40 feet with the wireless signal which uses a USB dongle that’s included in both of the boxes and these do not have a wired connection at all.

There is a little bit of the differences is the Xbox one model cable is black, these are really long cables so that if you do want to use them plug straight in with anything with a USB connection like your PC and then the PlayStation model has a gray cable. They both function the same, both has 2.4 gigahertz connection then you’re getting the same 40 feet distance that you can go away from them, so there’s no difference other than the look.

It is very sleek, it just looks simple. It’s not over the top and it doesn’t look ridiculous for a gaming headset. In the inside the adjustments are made, it’s the cables and it’s kind of coiled up and on the PlayStation it’s blue and on the Xbox one model it’s green.

On the right hand side, you have your volume knob basically go to minimum and turn it up all the way to max. Now, on the left hand side which is where your power button is located, a mode button that lets you switch between pure audio and in a bass boost mode and then you have your micro USB connection on the bottom.

In the Xbox one model, on the left hand side they added a game chat wheel. Basically, you can balance how much the game you want to hear and then how to the chat you want to hear. You’re not able to do that with the PlayStation 4 model.

Comfort

Astro A10

The ear cups are fabric not velour but it’s not bad. The opening is a little narrow and sort of odd shaped. When you put them on but they are kind of really wide, they fit wide on your head and I wore them for a few hours and it didn’t find them uncomfortable. They’re not the most comfortable in the world but they’re worth of comfortable for this price range.

PDP LVL50

This is an extremely light headset, so they really didn’t have to put like a whole lot of padding up top. The material itself is really nice and actually for the ear pads causes there to be a little bit of breathability, so if you gain from longer sessions it don’t get hot, it just has a little more airflow that’s going through them as opposed to wear like pleather and leather ear-pads. Even though they’re very soft, they still at the same time it’s kind of firm, when you put them on your head because there’s not a whole lot of clamping force it doesn’t do that thing like memory foam. So, at first I feel like they’re a little bit stiff but after using them for a little while, they start to loosen up.

Microphone

Astro A10

The mic in this headphone is like flip type mic, you can flip it up and down. The muting will be done just by flipping the mic. The mic itself is like comically floppy but I suppose that’s a good thing when it comes to durability it doesn’t necessarily go out of shape or anything.

I’m more than a little impressed with what I hear from this mic. It’s not full bodied because you’re not using a large diaphragm condenser mic but it’s clear and it’s not really shrill and painful on the top end. You can use this without any trouble.

PDP LVL50

The microphone is not removable, so you basically have it on there all the time. If you push it down, it will able to use it and then when you push it back up it will turn your mic off. It is a bi-directional microphone and it has this little noise cancelling foam tip on the end.

It picks up pretty clear, it’s very tinny. It’s not picking a lot of the bass tones out of the voice but if you’re just gaming online with friends this will definitely cover that but if you’re wanting to stream on services like twitch or YouTube, I’m not really sure that this is going to do the work.

Sound Quality

Astro A10

I played a couple hours of games on the ps4 with the A10, you can feel the sound of footseteps in the game. There’s a boominess in the base and the lower mids that gets a little a too overwhelming in combat games. I also found that the DualShock 4 didn’t drive these as much as I would want, they were okay in Witcher 3 but I just couldn’t quite get the volume that I wanted in battlefield 1.

But, in Witcher 3 the sound was clear and pretty well-balanced up top and they weren’t too shrill. They weren’t painful in that high end, there was still more low-end than I liked but it wasn’t the constant presence because you don’t have explosions going off all around you all the time. This seemed like they tried to go for a balance of sound design for games like Witcher 3 and games combat games.

I listen to some music on these and I found that they did a pretty nice job. The tuning of the bass in the low mids was still a little wonky and kind of covered up some of that details and lower sound but they perform better with music than I expected.

PDP LVL50

The sound on both of the model were identical. Although these are wireless it is still stereo does not have 7.1 or 5.1 surround sound but in gaming headsets I always feel like the surround sound is just kind of gimmicky. The stereo sound in these are amazing.

I like the bass boost mode, the pure audio just kind of gives you a somewhat flatter sound signature but definitely not flat as in studio flat. The highs are really accentuated and they do that on purpose so that you’re able to hear directions of where people are hear subtle sounds and it not just blend in or be overpowered by bass. So, if you want a more like competitor type sound, you probably want to stick to the pure audio.

Now, if you want something a little more exciting and a little more thump to feel explosions and gunshots that’s probably where you want to bump to the bass boost mode. I enjoyed the most and it sounded absolutely incredible and not just with games, it sounded amazing with music, it sounded amazing with movies. So, if you’re somebody that does a lot of your media on your console or either your PC for 80 dollars you can have all that covered in this headset.

I really enjoy it when companies can still do bass and also have crystal-clear highs at the same time. It just gives you more of that open environment because when bass starts to overpower and it sounds muddy, it sounds really closed in on most headsets and that kind of takes away the whole environment that you’re supposed to be feeling.

Conclusion

Astro A10

If you’re a sound board looking to get those footsteps in the combat games the first-person shooters, these are not that kind of headset. There’s no surround sound or tuning available. Those who are on a budget and don’t have or want to spend $300 on a gaming headset,these compare well maybe even better than other headsets I’ve tried in this range. They’re more bass heavy and that will be good news for a lot of people who want more bass.

PDP LVL50

I think for $80 this is pretty much a no-brainer on buying these if you have either one of the consoles. Now, I was also able to use these on my PC and even using a USBC adapter into my Nintendo switch, I was able to use them Wireless with that as well and in gaming is absolutely phenomenal.

[i2pc pros_icon=”icon icon-plus-thick” cons_icon=”icon icon-minus-thick” show_title=”true” title=”Astro A10″ show_button=”false” pros_title=”Pros” cons_title=”Cons” ][i2pros]Slick, durable design
Impressive audio performance
Clear microphone
Affordable
[/i2pros][i2cons]A little snug
[/i2cons][/i2pc]

[i2pc pros_icon=”icon icon-plus-thick” cons_icon=”icon icon-minus-thick” show_title=”true” title=”PDP LVL50″ show_button=”false” pros_title=”Pros” cons_title=”Cons” ][i2pros]Relatively comfortable ear cups
Lightweight design
Noise-cancelling microphone
Solid music and gaming performance
Good battery life[/i2pros][i2cons]Could be louder
Limited equalizer options[/i2cons][/i2pc]

Buy Astro A10 

Buy PDP LVL50