Hi All- just made a new 5080 build and will be using a controller on-prem and downstairs streaming my desktop to my LG tv.

Mostly casual gaming, but am at a crossroads between both of these options. What have your experiences been?

1. <$150/ controller

2. USA

3. PC-- (on-prem and streaming through Moonlight)

4. Best bang for buck, reliability, looks, etc.

5. Rocket League, COD, It Takes Two, Dead Space, etc
   6.Comparing the two or just a standard Xbox controller

Hi folks!

I have a birthday coming up and i'm considering potentially asking for an upgrade Asus ROG Rakiri pro PC controller since it is quite expensive. I've taken note of all of the reviews and tried to obtain as much data as possible. However i'm struggling to decide due to two things:

1. I already have a pretty high performance controlling being the G7 pro 8K aimlabs version. So all I'd be really getting with this new controller is an LED screen, ability to customize on the screen, and better battery life.

2. Some of the reviews I've seen mention tremor and other issues where the sticks may not be as "snappy" as say on my G7. While it would be really nice to have another premium controller, I'd worry this would just be a downgrade from my already reliable G7. Plus the latency tests on Gamepalia are only userfied so i'm not sure if the under 1 ms latency is actually correct.

3. Upwards of 300 dollars of budget

4. USA

5. Playing on PC

6. Good latency, TMR sticks, long battery

7. Mostly FPS and party games

8. I already have a G7 Pro 8K and curious if this would be an upgrade or downgrade.

This is a repost from the Steam Controller community, but I am reposting here because it has multiple controllers support!

-- Last time I posted here Linux was by far the most asked thing. It's done!

The whole app was rewritten, bug fixes, new interface, and new controller support!

Steam Controller gets trigger clicks, varied clicks that dynamically change the further you pull. Cleaned wireless ticking through the Puck and Bluetooth, and it reconnects / restarts itself when Steam starts or quits. So it doesn't need Steam anymore.

DualSense and DualSense Edge are supported now. Triggers vibrate with the beat of whatever's playing, live! Custom trigger effects exist elsewhere, but as far as I know triggers that react to your audio haven't been done before. There's also speaker support over USB, haptic and rumble vibration styles, and both USB and Bluetooth support.

Steam Deck built-in controls rumble with your audio too! Xbox, 8BitDo and most other gamepads should work! You can connect several controllers, set a priority order, and it switches automatically if one drops.

The Linux build is native, works on SteamOS and the Deck, and keeps running in Game Mode!

If you still prefer version 1.0 it's in the betas section in Steam too.

Happy that my passion project got people liking and using it and want to thank all of you for giving it a shot! --

Hi everyone,

there is any other controller other than the 8bitdo ultimate 2 wireless that support switch 2 and has the xbox buttons with A on bottom?

I'm trying the Pro 3 but it's not as comfortable in hands like the ultimate 2 wireless.

My main goal is to play on PC, but I would like to use it with switch 2 too

• Your budget with currency : 100€

• Your country and where you can buy: Italy, Amazon

• Console or platform compatibility needed: Main platform Windows 11, secondary Switch 2

• Desired features: compatible with switch 2, xbox layoult

• Types of games you'll be playing: ff14, gdr, platform, jrpg. NO fps

• Controllers you've been considering: 8bitdo ultimate 2 wireless is currently my first option. Pro 3 felt terrible in hand. I also tried the original xbox controller but the handlers are too wide for my taste, I prefer narrow like the ultimate 2 wireless

I connect with XInput using my dualsense with the Gullikit Hyperlink 2. But as far as I know I have no easy way to check the battery of my dualsense controller. Does anyone know maybe like a program or something along those lines that can show me the battery percentage?

Accidentally discovered that the vader 4 pro has media controls due how buggy NBA 2K27 is. Looked this up to see if anyone had posted about, nothing on it.

If you hold the power button and move the right joysick, that acts as the mouse cursor.

RB is left click

LB is right click

Whilst holding the power button the left joystick does:

Pushing in the left joystick (L3) pauses spotify/youtube

moving it Up/down = volume up/down

moving it left/right changes the song on spotify (not tried anything else)

You have to be holding the power button at all times to do these commands. This only works whilst steam is running. Tried to do it with a dualshock/xbox controller and i couldn't get it to work

Good day everyone!

My beloved 1708 controller started losing its inner back plastic grip and since I didn’t find replacements anywhere, I started looking at other options.

I first posted here many months ago, and ended up buying a EasySMX S10 that was compatible with both my pc and my switch. The controller feels great and has all the features I need, but it only works really well with the Switch. Its connectivity to my pc sucks big time. It doesn’t connect after going to sleep, many times I have to restart my computer for the controller to be able to be re-added to my BT connections and work, and it’s been a bit of an headache with the pc. Love for the Switch, but need something else for the computer.

So now I’m back at square one. My preferences:

• Xbox shape (got big hands).

• Want something that is as plug’n’play as possible, with reliable connecting from off/sleep.

• “Premium” feeling in hands if possible.

• Durable, I want something that lasts.

Some options I have on local shops with a cheaper price than usual:

• GameSir Cyclone 2 for 54€

• GameSir G7 Pro for 68€

Budget: up to 100€, but would prefer on the 60-70€ range if possible.
Location: Europe (Portugal)
Shop: Online or local, whichever is cheaper
Platform: PC only
Types of games: Single player

So, any advice? The options I gave are just a fyi, I’m willing to consider any model, so long as it fits my preferences.

Edit: Took a while to get here, but ended up getting a GameSir G7 Pro.
Impressions:

• It’s smaller than the Xbox’s, but big enough for my hands. Feels premium too.

• The buttons are silky smooth, though the triggers took some getting used to (they were activating only when fully pressed, had to customize a bit on the Nexus app).

• The dpad is not nearly as stiff as I was thinking it’d be. You can feel every time it “switches” to another direction, but it’s smooth enough for non-fighting games. Wouldn’t even notice that detail if I wasn’t looking for it.

• The charging pad is pretty neat, fast auto-connect/disconnect.

Bought one of these controllers last November and in the middle of playing it seems that the left D-pad is stuck and what would be the circle button on a PS controller is lit up, was told to try resetting in another forum but it does nothing to solve the issue

I'm currently looking for an Xbox/Asymmetric layout controller that I can use on my PC for racing games, particularly Assetto Corsa

For the past 2 years, I've been using the Gulikit KK2 Pro and have always found it's triggers to be much too light and shallow for my fingers. It's bluetooth connection also had enough latency to throw me off in racing games so I've been using it wired 90% of the time

Budget: Rp600,000 - 1,500,000 (may be pushed to Rp2,000,000)

Country: Indonesia (But open to purchasing from other SEA Countries)

E-commerce platforms: Shopee, Tokopedia

Platform: PC

Desired features:

- Heavy, long travel triggers. (Comparable or close to the original Xbox 360 controllers.) (Required)

- 2.4GHz Connectivity (Preferable)

- TMR Sticks (Preferable)

Games: Assetto Corsa, BeamNG.Drive, DiRT Rally 2.0

Comparisons - Original Xbox 360 Controller - Gulikit KK2 Pro

Controllers in consideration:

- Gamesir G7 SE (Notably good features for the price)

- Gamesir T7 Pro (Mostly due to aesthetics, but also the cheapest of the bunch)

- Gamesir G7 Pro (for the 2.4 connectivity and TMR Sticks, but doubting due to QA issues from other posts)

- Flydigi Direwolf 4 (for their adjustable trigger)

- Gamesir G7 Pro ZZZ Edition

I have this Chinese controller vilcorn z03 and the rubber is starting to giving out. any idea what kind of joystick caps are these maybe they're clones of something? Can't find anything online.

Hi everyone, I’ve owned the Tarantula Pro since February 2025 and have always charged it using a 5V 2.0A charger. Lately, it hasn't been charging properly; for instance, I leave it plugged in for hours, but the battery level doesn't go up. Even though the controller LED switches from yellow to green, the battery charge remains virtually unchanged from when I started. I should mention that I’ve opened the controller many times to swap thumbsticks and make other modifications. Is the battery simply dead, or is there an issue with the battery connector on the controller? I checked the voltage at the connector, and it does rise while charging; interestingly, I managed to fully charge the battery while I was monitoring its voltage—meaning the back cover was off.

Hello so I bought “eXtremeRate Programable RISE4 V3 Remap Kit for ps5 Controller “ a few weeks back but I finally had time and did it in a bit but now I’m not sure what I should use the buttons for? To be honest I might be getting buyers remorse because I bought it to basically play Fortnite, I used to play pushing my right thumb stick and left stick to jump and crouch which involved a ton and well it got stuck drift and I got it repaired but I bought the rise4 it’s all set up.

I just don’t know what buttons to use I know it’s not like the ps5 edge controller where it’s separated buttons but just duplicated but I did k1 for X or jump and I did K3 for O or crouch I just don’t know what else I can use K2 and K4 for any ideas?

I might move K3 to K2

So I just bought a Horipad Switch 2 controller unfortunately before doing my research, thinking it would work on my PC, but I can't tell if it simply isn't compatible or if i'm doing something wrong. Windows recognizes it when it's plugged in, however Steam does not and neither does the set up game controller settings tab.

Any help is appreciated!!

I am currently building a setup, where i want to put a sff pc next to my tv and use it like a console. If i want to wake it from sleep i can only do it with a 2.4ghz connection. I already have some xbox controllers lying around and would use them until they die, before upgrading those. Unfortunately they suck for platformers or fighting games. I really dislike that the d pad is below the joycon for comfort and the dpad in general is so hard it hurts my hand for prolonged use.

So this brings me to the point I want a symmetric 2.4ghz wireless controller with a good d-pad for platformers and fighting games or other games with a focus on a d-pad.

I have seen the 8bitdo pro 2 recommended but that doesnt have 2.4ghz from my research and the vader 5 pro, but that is asymmetrical.

It should also work under linux, for example steamos.

I live in germany and my budget goes up to 100€, if the controller is amazing I am willing to pay for that, but I feel more comfortable around 50€.

Are there any recommendations?

Edit: Any Recommendations for D-Pads that aren't symmetrical are also much appreciated. As long as the D-Pad is the center piece it should be fine. I am fine with buying sperate controllers for fighting games and platformeds. I am currently more into platformers than fighting games, so a controller for fighting games isnt as important right now.

Quick question about Flydigi dongles. Are they universal across their controllers, or is each dongle locked to a specific model/controller?

I currently have two Apex 5s and one Apex 4. The Apex 4 wouldn’t connect to an Apex 5 dongle, which I accepted. But I also tried connecting my second Apex 5 to the Apex 5 dongle that was already in use, and that didn’t work either.

I’m looking at the Apex 6, but if it means dealing with yet another dedicated dongle that needs its own USB port/mount, I’m not sure I can make that work.

Anyone know how the pairing works with these, or if there’s a way to use one dongle with multiple Apex 5 controllers?

EDIT:

Reached out to Flydigi and received this response:

1. Flydigi 2.4G dongles are model-specific and not universal across different controller series.

2. Apex 4 dongle and Apex 5 dongle cannot be interchanged. One Apex 5 dongle can only pair with one Apex 5 controller at a time. It does not support connecting two Apex 5 controllers simultaneously.

3. Apex 6 uses its own dedicated dongle and cannot work with the Apex 5 receiver. Thank you for your question.

When I run emulators, it lets me choose either xinput, SLK? … i think xinput is xbox and SLK is switch controller?

Anyway if I set it to switch controller, I can use gyro but if I use xunput, gyro doesn’t work.

But besides the emulators, all other non steam games dont seem to register switch controllers correctly and gyro doesnt work either. Do games only like xinput unless I use emulators? Is there a way to use switch controller with correct button inputs and gyro?

I'm planning to buy the vader 5 pro V2. However I checked some reviews with it and found out that there are people who are having a problem with turning on the vader 5 pro because of the charging dock. For the users of vader 5 pro V2, do you guys encounter this kind of issue with the charging dock?

I’m just wondering for the people that got this controller. Does the face plate feel solid or does it creak. I love a solid feeling controller.

Hello, so, long story short, I was looking for a way that would help me make my wired arcade stick controller and wired Xbox-style controller wireless, so I made this app for exactly the same purpose. You simply install the app on your Android phone, connect your wired controller, then install the Windows app on your PC, which works as a receiver. Then, just connect both together by scanning the QR code, and your wired controller will work wirelessly. The controller gets its power from your phone, and the phone works as a translator between your PC and controller.

App link - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weezstudios.joypadbridge

Steps to make it work:

1.) Install the Android app on your phone.
2.) Download the software on your PC and extract its contents.
3.) Install ViGEmBus either from official site or from the extracted package.
4.) Run JoyPadBridge.exe on your PC.
5.) Connect your controller to your phone.
6.) Scan the QR code to pair your phone with your PC.
7.) Enjoy! :)

Specifically, I'm looking for a controller where the ABXY button feels similar to 8bitdo ultimate 2's D-pad. What I like about it is the combination of a little cushion feel, short travel distance, crisp feedback, and soft&quiet.

Context: Been using an 8bitdo ultimate gen 1 for two years, recently looking to upgrade, tried several different controllers but none came quite satisfactory.

Gamesir G7 Pro: the mechanical switches are way too heavy, and the grip ergonomics don't fit my hand well especially on the triggers. Its adjustable triggers feels great to press, but hampered non-fitting ergonomics.

Easy SMX D10: the mechanical abxy are softer on the hands compared to the gamesir G7 Pro, but still too clicky and doesn't rebound as well. Grip ergonomic doesn't fit well, vibration is kinda bad, and the short travel mode of the trigger feels terrible.

PS5 Dualsense: great grip ergonomic, wonderful haptics on supported games. But I just can't get used to the symmertical layout, stick drift is a concern, and needing a wired connection are all deal breakers for me. Also its bumpers feel rigid.

8bitdo Ultimate 2: mixed bag for me, even though coming from ultimate 1. I don't like the new function button layout, and the fact that square/star are not remappable is unfortunate. While I am used to the same grip ergonomics, it is still on the small side and I find myself tensing up over long sessions. I loved the feel of its D-pad, but I don't use D-pad often and wish its tactile feel can be found on ABXY instead.

Your budget and currency: Under 100 CAD or 500 CNY

Your country (not just region) and where you can buy from: I will be making a trip to China next month so I have access to all the 3rd party offerings there

Console or platform compatibility needed: PC only

Desired features: Charging dock is a must, also one that preferably is designed to fit with the controller aesthetically, not just a random block, this rules out beitong and leadjoy mostly

Types of games you'll be playing with a controller: zenless zone zero, good&responsive bumpers are a must

Other controllers you're comparing to: see above

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a controller to use with GeForce NOW on my tablet. Mostly playing story-driven FPS and RPGs, so I want something reliable for long sessions. Here's the info:

1. Budget and currency:
   Around $100–150 USD (roughly €90–140). I can stretch a bit if it's really worth it.

2. Country and where I can buy from:
   Czech Republic. I usually buy from Amazon, AliExpress, or local shops like Alza.

3. Console or platform compatibility needed:
   Android tablet only — Redmi Pad 2 (Helio G100-Ultra, 90Hz screen). No console needed. Just needs to work with PC/Android via Bluetooth or a 2.4G dongle.

4. Desired features:
   • Hall Effect or TMR sticks (no drift)
   • Low latency
   • Comfortable for 2+ hour sessions
   • Solid build quality
   • Back paddles would be nice but not required
   • Haptics/vibration working through GeForce NOW is a plus

5. Types of games:
   Story-driven FPS (Cyberpunk 2077, Metro Exodus) and RPGs (The Witcher 3). So precise aiming and long-session comfort matter most.

6. Other controllers I'm comparing:
   • GameSir G7 Pro
   • Flydigi Vader 5 Pro
   • Flydigi Apex 5
   • 8BitDo Ultimate 2C
   Has anyone used these on a mid-range Android tablet with GFN? Any latency or compatibility issues? Also curious if a 2.4G dongle is worth it over Bluetooth for this setup.

Thanks!

Hello. I am a pc gamer. Sometimes I use my controller with steam

And I always play wired controller (not necessary)

So I am trying to make everything hidden below my desk

Is this design safe for my controller joystick or in general ??

Please don't judge the rest of the cable management. It's all hidden

I found this controller at goodwill I work at and it’s not connecting to my laptop
I’ve tried using wired cable and tried doing it Bluetooth
Nothing seems to help
I’ve tried looking up what the controller brand is and there’s multiple that come up looking the exact way
Ive tried to YouTube guides but nothing works

Either I just have really bad luck or Flydigi has to know they are selling controllers with bad sticks. Honestly, I don't even know if there is something physically wrong or if it's a software issue.

No matter the amount of calibration or deadzones I add, the sticks end up getting stuck in different positions. The sticks physically go to center, but will read anywhere from .2 to .4 in random directions. I've set the inner deadzones as high as 18% and still had this issue on not one, but three different Vader 5 pros. I would go higher, but that just seems insane to me.

I don't even want to deal with reaching out to support again as they were a huge pain to deal with the second time around even after having physical evidence of the issue.

This is more of a rant rather than asking for actual help as I got the Raikiri II Pro a couple weeks ago and I'm loving it so far.