Finest Xbox controller for PC: Hand-picked suggestions for all budgets

Microsoft up to date its commonplace Xbox controller for the Collection X and S launch in 2020, and it’s nonetheless the very best Xbox controller for many PC avid gamers. It has a refined design, snug hand-feel, and importantly, Bluetooth connectivity so that you don’t want so as to add a brand new wi-fi dongle to your PC. Plus, it prices simply $60, and sometimes much less when on sale.

Pairing the Xbox controller is totally painless. Merely long-press the Bluetooth button on the highest edge, and choose the controller in your PC’s Bluetooth settings. It can mesh completely with the controller settings in most Home windows video games, and there’s no further software program to muck round with.

This controller has the usual Xbox button format, that includes asymmetrical thumbsticks and properly tactile buttons. The spherical d-pad is a welcome improve over older variations, which had mushy, cross-shaped directional pads. The 2020 Xbox controller has a plastic physique with a micro-dot texture on the grips and triggers to make it simpler to carry onto throughout intense gaming periods. The Elite controller provides rubberized grips and adjustable triggers, however it’s additionally a bit heavier.

A part of the rationale for the decrease weight is that the usual controller doesn’t have a built-in rechargeable battery. The continued reliance on AA batteries makes it lighter (even with the batteries put in), however conserving a field of batteries helpful is much less handy than simply plugging in a USB-C cable. There’s a USB-C port on prime for wired gaming, however it received’t cost the controller until you get the add-on battery pack.

Whereas the Collection X/S Xbox controller is acknowledged in Home windows, there are not any profiles or customizations such as you get with the Elite Collection 2. That’s in all probability high-quality as the usual controller lacks the extra rear paddle buttons of the Elite.

For PC avid gamers on a funds, look no additional than the PowerA Enhanced Xbox Controller. Whereas it’s just a little bigger than the 2020 Xbox controller, the PowerA unit is far lighter due to its lack of batteries. Sure, it is a wired controller, however your PC might be going to be near the place you recreation, whereas a console is almost certainly throughout the room.

In the event you can deal with the detachable cable and its getting older microUSB connector, the PowerA controller does all the things the usual controller does and extra. For instance, there’s a {hardware} toggle proper within the center for quantity management, and there are two programmable buttons on the again of the grips.

The button format is an identical to the usual controller, save for the extra controls talked about above. The buttons don’t really feel fairly as secure as Microsoft’s controller, and the d-pad is mushy. Nonetheless, it solely prices about $30 most days, which is half the worth of the official controller.

In the event you take your gaming critically, there’s no higher method to go than Microsoft’s Xbox Elite Collection 2 Controller. It’s barely heavier than the usual Collection X gamepad, however it has a long-lasting rechargeable battery, which saves you from stocking up on AA batteries. Plus, the arduous plastic physique provides method to delicate, rubberized grips that make for a really cozy hand-feel.

It is a controller that adapts to you. The dish-shaped steel d-pad is extra exact and tactile than the one on the usual controller, and the adjustable triggers can pace up your actions in shooters. Each thumbsticks and the d-pad are detachable, and the Elite Collection 2 comes with alternate attachments. For instance, there are longer sticks, sticks with domed tops, and a conventional cross-shaped d-pad.

Pairing together with your PC is simply as fast and straightforward as it’s with the inventory controller, however there may be an additional step after that. You’ll want the Microsoft Xbox Equipment app to replace the firmware and configure the controller’s profusion of added options. Through this software program, all of the buttons are remappable, together with the rear-facing paddles. You possibly can even create “shift” layers that change button features if you maintain one of many paddles. Simply since you make a ton of alterations for one recreation doesn’t imply you’re caught with that format if you swap to a distinct one. The controller can retain a number of profiles, and you may immediately swap between them by tapping the middle button.

The principle disadvantage right here is the worth, which clocks in at a whopping $180. Microsoft makes a model of this controller known as the Elite Collection 2 Core that prices a bit much less at $130. Nonetheless, this one doesn’t include the additional buttons and thumbsticks—in the event you care concerning the options supplied by the Elite controller, you’ll care about having that stuff. That mentioned, the Elite Collection 2 is barely value shopping for if you’re enjoying video games competitively or prefer to fake you’re.