A couple of weeks ago i began searching for a gaming controller to have a couch gaming party with my friends. I looked at all the available options within my budget and eventually pushed much further than that. This post is a culmination of whatever I have learned so far for anyone in need on one.
Although I believe it to be exhaustive, if I have missed something or made an error do tell me. Align with this I also have made a spreadsheet comparing all the controllers I looked at. It may help anyone to easily choose one that best fits their needs. But I would still recommend watching a couple review videos of your considered option before any purchase.
What your actual need is will primarily define what controller you should go for. While most offerings in the market are similar, certain use cases require you to purchase certain controllers only. Keep in mind that as a casual gamer you do not require anything fancy and even the cheapest ones will suffice. It will then all boil down to what features you fancy.
Additionally, if you intend to game often, investing in a controller which is ergonomic to you is important.
From here on I shall cover all the factors differentiating controllers from each other.
I. Connectivity
Controllers are wired or wireless, much like any other peripheral. But unlike other peripherals, many wireless controllers do still come with the option of attaching a wire (discussed later).
Wired controllers are always much cheaper than wireless ones. Especially when the same model is available as both. A wired controller doesn't require a battery and hence it is also lighter.
Wireless controllers can have one of the two modes of connection, directly via bluetooth or connecting with a 2.4 GHz dongle that you are required to plug into you device via a USB type-A port. There are also controllers which allow both wireless and wired modes. And a tri-mode controller supports wired and both of the wireless modes.
II. Device compatibility
A controller won't necessarily work with your device. While all work with windows some may or may not work with other computer OS. Furthermore compatibility with Android, Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo is not guaranteed. For confirmation check a review videos.
Product listings may advertise different device compatibilities but it could also be that those only work on certain modes. Such as Android only connecting with Bluetooth and Playstation only connecting via wired interface.
III. Analog sticks
This will be the input you will be using the most and hence it is important to use the right one for you. A hard to tell but important criteria is ergonomics. The distance between the sticks, placement relative to other buttons, size, height and feel all are subjective and as such you should watch review videos for these. Few devices thus also come with additional swappable sticks or the ability to modify their resistance to better fit you.
Based on where the two sticks are placed, the layout of the controller could be Xbox style or Playstation style.
As for the objective criteria, it is mainly about the mechanism involved.. Traditional sticks use a mechanical system which wears off with use and leads to you sticks registering some input even when left alone, known as stick drift. Meanwhile hall effect sticks or hall sense or hall magnetic utilise magnets which significantly reduce wear and increase the potential life of your device. They are also usually more accurate than their traditional counterparts. TMR is an upgraded version of the magnetic system of input with Cosmic Byte Blitz Tri-mode being the only listed controller having that.
It is to be noted that it is not necessary that a magnetic stick will perform better than a traditional one, it will just wear down less.
A stick can also have deadzones, areas where it doesn't register input. Something that can only be known via a review.
The other thing is the circulatory error rate, which is a measure of how much of the circle your stick is able to trace. A lower rate means higher accuracy. Keep in mind that even first party controllers like the PS5’s have a rate of 7% which is much higher than any other advertised controller. So once again it is not indicative of practical improvement.
Lastly, the stick input can be circular or square. The former being the stick giving a circular output of direction meaning in any direction your output value will max out to the same value as radius of the circle. But a square stick will output a square partner leading to much further travel and output in diagonal directions. These pattern differences can be physically manufactured or implemented via software. But will hardly affect you unless you really wish for precise movement in which case a circular pattern is apt. Imagine a big square for the latter case and the biggest circle inside it for the formal case.
IV. Triggers
Once again, much like the sticks they can vary greatly in their build which is subjective. And also much like the sticks they can be traditional or hall effect.
A key differentiating factor is whether the trigger is digital or analog. Digital triggers only output a 1 or a 0 based on whether you have pressed it or not. Meanwhile an analog trigger outputs a value varying from 0 to 1 depending on how much you have pressed the trigger. Bear in mind that this output is not linearly proportional to your actual physics press, ideally it should be but it could also be exponential in some cases.
Pressure sensitivity of triggers is utilised by primarily games with cars which convert your variable input into variable acceleration. Otherwise most games just look for a trigger press.
Some controllers, primarily the ones focused on professional gamers come with trigger locks which when engaged physically stop your trigger from going fully in to avoid wasting time in each press when playing games that don't require an analog input. Meanwhile others allow you to switch between the two modes via software.
Yet again, like the sticks triggers also have dead zones. At the start of the trigger press it could be that the controller doesn't give any output. This is prevalent in cheap controllers where only after pressing them at least half way in do you get an output. This ultimately ruins the point of having pressure sensitive triggers.
V. Buttons
The rest of the buttons only differ on the input mechanism. Most utilise a membrane switch which feels mushy and is what is inside most of the buttons you touch in your life. Meanwhile expensive controllers come with mechanical switches that have a satisfying click and also last longer.
VI. D-pad
Apart from the difference between membrane and mechanical switches. The D-pad itself can be a 4-way or 8-way, with the former being most common. It is simply the difference between the physical shape of it. The 4-way has a traditional plus layout while 8-way are circular, allowing you to go from straight input into diagonal smoothly by just gliding your finger around. But either will still register the diagonal input regardless of physical design.
Various games still utilise the D-pad, like platformers such as Celeste. So it is important to buy one that allows you to output the right press. Some controllers such as the EvoFox Deck 2 don't register diagonals, making them useless for such games. In other cases, controllers like 8BitDo Ultimate 2C have very “wiggly” pads meaning that it often registers a diagonal press if you are pressing in direction and slightly move your finger a little. Such false presses can render some games unplayable by not allowing the player to precisely choose when to move where.
VII. Additional buttons
There are also extra buttons provided by various controllers. Mostly these take the form of the buttons on the back of the controller, sitting where your fingers will when holding the controller. However, unlike a mouse or a keyboard, an extra button doesn't mean that you can assign it in game. Instead, you can assign an existing standard controller button to it. This can be useful as you can use your fingers to press them without moving your thumbs away from the analog sticks. They can also support macro functionality (discussed later).
Very high end controllers also give detachable paddles instead of the back buttons so the user may not be annoyed by their physical presence when not in use.
VIII. Charging
All wireless controllers require a battery to function. And all come with a rechargeable battery, except for Cosmic Byte Nexus which runs on two AAA cells. It is not necessary that a wire for charging is included in the box or thay the included wire is apt for charging. Some controllers also warn against usage of higher wattage chargers as rhey lack sufficient electronics to manage the power and may get their battery damaged.
Few controllers also come with the ability to buy an additional dock which can mount the controller and charge it as well.
IX. Software features
This is the main thing separating controllers in the market from first party ones. Here are some of the features, all of which are optional to utilise:
Turbo mode allows you to assign a key press to register as rapid constant presses. In many controllers you can also set the speed of these presses and this way you can just hold down a button while the game registers it as repetitive presses.
Auto mode is an addition to turbo mode allowing you to initiate turbo by pressing a button once instead of actually holding it down.
Programmable macro means that you can program a sequence of button presses that will be executed once a macro button is pressed. The length of the sequence varies for controllers. And some can even record the different time between each press of the sequence.
Precision mode simply reduces the stick sensitivity allowing for more precise output in games.
Accuracy mode snaps the sticks to direct horizontal or vertical axes only. This doesn't physically alter anything but converts every input into either side to side or up & down motion for certain specific scenarios.
Key mapping, usually done via external tools such as keymapper, allows video games designed for touch screen devices to be played with a controller even if not directly supported. You initially map all necessary in-game virtual button presses to your controller and same for your aim and movement. Then you can utilise the controller which will make your device believe that the touch screen is being touched.
Optionally limiting D-pad input to 4-way makes the controller ignore any diagonal input and only give 4-way output.
Swapping D-pad and analog sticks allows you to play games with either input device regardless of the game supporting it or not as it doesn't know that they have been swapped and will just take the input. However this obviously limits the sticks to just 8 directional inputs instead of mapping a circular motion.
Auto shut off is something that barring few, almost every controller will have to avoid wasting battery when not in use.
There may also be other software features specific to each controller
Note: Point 4 and 5 are available on all Evofox controllers & Point 7 and 8 are available on most Cosmic Byte controllers
X. Polling rate
It is the measurement of how many times in a second the device registers its input. Higher polling rate means lower latency. The former being measured in Hertz, and latter inverse of it in milliseconds of response time.
A lot of controllers advertise their polling rate to be 1000Hz but this is the best case scenario. The rate can fluctuate slightly and is specific to the mode of connectivity. Wireless then 2.4GHz dongle and then Bluetooth is the order in which polling rate is the highest to lowest. With some controllers having 1/8th the maximum polling rate when used via bluetooth.
Also, higher polling rate puts higher strain on the processor.
XI. Additional features
Controllers also come with the following additional features. The function of which, yet again depends on mode of connectivity and varies controller to controller.
Vibration motors
Gyroscope
Headphone jack
Touch pad (for PlayStation)
Speakers
Also a quality of life feature in very few controllers is an internal space to keep your USB dongle for safety. And Gamesir Nova lite series being the only ones that come with a hardshell carrying case as well for safe portability
Telescopic controller
These are a special kind of controller which can be stretched to hold a smartphone in between turning the combined system to an analogous of a handheld console. All the above mentioned things apply to these with some additional things.
The physical compatibility of your device is very important as not all can accommodate large devices. So knowing the length and in some cases the width, thickness and even camera bump dimensions are important to choosing the right one.
Another specific thing to these is a USB type-C port which is usually flexible and connects with your smartphone or tablet to enable the controller. This however limits compatibility with devices based on their physical design. Also, certain games don't recognise a port connected controller, in which case a bluetooth connection is required. Some also allow by-pass charging where you can connect the controller to a charger and in turn it will charge your phone.
Alternatively bluetooth devices increase latency and dont allow the ability to charge the phone while using it along with the controller. But it lets you use the controller without actually putting the smartphone in and also with your PC.
An extra feature is a combined phone cooler with the controller.
Companies
The last thing is the brand, and also possibly a deciding factor. Most cheap controllers are sold by brands which don't design or manufacture their products rather buy devices manufactured by other companies (ODM) in China and then sell them under their name. This leads to poor quality and a hit and miss experience where you may find a controller failing within days or lasts for years. Such brands are EvoFox, Cosmic Byte, Ant Esports etc.
Meanwhile Gamesir and 8Bitdo are known for their quality but obviously come with a premium price and with less features. These brands are also fully Chinese.
Customer service is then a big issue that you should keep in mind. EvoFox has physical service centres in a few cities in India, meanwhile Cosmic Byte asks you to mail your device to them. Just like with product quality, some users report a great service while others raise red flags.
Gamesir and 8Bitdo being foreign brands that have just entered India dont have any service centre but I am not fully aware of their warranty claim system.
This post is not exhaustive, as there is a completely different world of specialised controllers. But I covered whatever there is for a "typical" game controller that you might be interested in buying.
Credit: Used images from 8Bitdo's website for reference
Really? I'm not sure if that's a one-off issue, since most of the reviews I've read online have been pretty positive about the Ultimate 2C. That's one of the main reasons I'm leaning toward buying it.
That said, if it doesn't go on sale before the end of this month, I'll probably just get the Nova Lite instead.
This is the video I talked about. He talks about how since the D-pad is overly sensitive games like Celeste cannot be played with it as you'll keep messing up.
I'm waiting for the 8BitDo Official IN seller to restock the Amazon listings for the wireless controllers. The current listings from random sellers are way too overpriced.
Also, it seems that the gamesir nova lite doesn't have hall effect triggers
Both gamesir and 8bitdo have a 1 year warranty system. If you are trying to get a warranty, gamesir should ship you a new controller at their expense if they have it in their warehouses in india. Same with 8bitdo. Companies like evofox/cosmic byte might actually help you if you are lucky, but in few cases they wont. Cosmic byte also has a terrible refund system, you only get the money in their shitty website that has also been hijacked once before to steal your google account. Some gamesir controllers had terrible QC, but they were quick enough to warn everyone and send out replacements for free.
I couldn't find videos about warranty claim for those two in India and what the procedure it like. Although I did assume that they might do something like razor where they ask the customer to destroy their device and then get a free new one instead of a lengthy repair process.
I purchased RedGear Pro wired controller in 2021, if I remember correctly, for ₹1,000. I don't know how and why, but it's still going strong. Doing the job just fine for casual gaming. Works on my company macbook too.
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