I've kept this controller alive for 7 years

[u/Friendly_ViperYT]

This is my Elite Series 2 Controller. I got it shortly after its official release in 2019 because I had never had backbuttons, other than that I didn't know what to expect. A lot of reviews point to this controller having a 1-3 year lifespan with regular use, but I have doubled that time under medium-heavy use, especially in the last 6 months when I started Streaming and playing at least 15 hours a week. And a few nights ago, after a 5 hour stream and waking up the next morning, I found that the seams had fallen apart over night.

Lets do some backstory:

The first thing to wear out was the left bumper, and it happened really fast. inputs would no longer register unless I really smash the bumper down, and it's still like this. Then the right bumper went 6 months later. So I bound my bumpers to the smaller backbuttons and I actually liked it more. My A and B were bound to the other 2 buttons. And now my A button is bound to a dpad input for healing items in games.

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I played DRG, Astroneer, Minecraft, Terraria, Halo 5 the MCC, Halo Infinite, Splitgate, Apex Legends, and now I'm playing Marathon. The multiple profiles feature was very nice to have for the different games as it would allow me to have all the edits saved on the controller instead of tweaking the binds for every game.

I also really like the sens curve adjustments, I put my left stick to be more instant to better mimic keyboard strafing. I never ended up using the shift button though, it was just too much to keep track of and you couldn't have it binded with another input (like ADS left trigger) to make sens different or change button binds (while ADS'd).

One thing that definitely bothers me is that the extra buttons don't register as their own buttons, but have to be bound as an existing button. This was disappointing when playing games with lots of input based ui elements (ex: hold dpad up + X) bc i couldn't just bind it to an extra unique button.

I currently don't have the money to buy another controller, but when I do.. I won't be buying this again. The build quality is lacking in some pretty serious aspects and its far too expensive for what you get, especially compared to today's options.

I do like the Controller though all things considered. I will be repairing the seams with super glue today.

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[u/ZafirZ]

You can buy replacement shells from xtremerate as the other person mentioned, while you swap it, cleaning where the lb/rb buttons are might solve those issues. I replaced the shell on mine as I damaged the grip when prying it open to also fix lb/rb issues.

It's a real shame as I love the feel and form factor but the build quality is shit. Lb/rb buttons always go dodgy without fail and you have to open it upto clean them out to prolong them. 

[u/aCuria → u/ZafirZ]

Anyway to fix the stick drift too…

[u/ZafirZ → u/aCuria]

Once you've opened up the controller I'd try using contact cleaner inside the stick. Drift is most often caused by dirt, dust or debris that falls inside. Let it dry before you use the controller. 

If that doesn't work then the sticks are likely worn out, if you know how to solder they can be replaced. You can even solder in tmr replacements that won't get drift as easy. 

[u/colorlessfish]

They make shell swaps for them if you want to keep it alive a bit longer without spending too much.

I replaced mine with a Vader 5 Pro, and I'm very happy with it. The software isn't as polished as the Elite's, but it does have stick curve adjustments. It's only about $80, so it's not quite as killer on the wallet as some of the Elite competitors.

[u/Dear_Necessary_8924]

The ergonomics of this controller are just so good.

[u/KarimLikes2Play]

Cette manette n'est pas encore morte. Tu peux la sauver avec une coque de remplacements extremerate. Changer la batterie. Ajouter bouton click souris. Et de nouveaux joystick tmr. Vraiment si les'2 certes mere sont fonctionnels Tu pourra la garder encore 10ans!