I referee on astro quite a bit. Many of our high schools have astro and we have a VERY large sports complex that has MANY astro pitches both indoor and outdoor. They also have numerous baseball fields that are all turf which they turn into soccer/football fields when they have an all-turf tournament.
Here are my thoughts as a referee and player
Player -
Pros -
You get a true roll and can play on the ground. Nothing worse for a technically superior team than to have their advantage dimished due to a poor grass pitch constantly producing freak bounces.
Slide tackling - I don't mind it. They old turf used to burn the skin off of your legs. The new stuff is just fine. I have done many slides with hardly a mark
Cons -
The pitch is FAST without grass to slow the ball down, need to really adjust the weight of your passes
Cutting on turf is harder on the knees. It may not seem like it to the younguns but at 48, I feel it in my knees
IT IS HOT - The last tournament I worked they went on mandatory water breaks for the turf fields then when we got to the finals and fewer games were getting played, they moved the championship games off of the turf to grass due to the heat.
Refereee
Pros-
Don't have to worry about mud, holes, etc. Not going to roll an ankle stepping in a hole as an AR!
Lines -
The lines are always accurate (a slight con is when the field is used for multiple sports/field sizes multiple different color lines can confuse players
TECHNICAL AREAS!!! - so nice to have these lines present. Spectator boundary lines are great to have as well
Shoes - It is nice to wear my all black running shoes which have better cushioning than my cleats
Cons -
IT IS HOT - Summer tournaments working all on turf can be rough
Cutting - This is not so bad for the CR. The crab is not an issue as an AR but the rapid starts/stops from a sprint make my knees sore after a while and the twist off of the left leg to take off into a sprint is a bit more uncomfortable.
IT IS FAST - the turf games seem to switch ends more rapidly in my experience. It might just be the caliber of teams but it seems that way to me.
Overall I like the turf as a CR. As an AR, I think I prefer a grass field with a smooth path on the touchline. As a player, I do like the turf compared to a poor grass field, BUT if I could play on high quality grass field.... I'd take the grass.