Controller Buying Discussion and Recommendations

[R4dioS1lence]

TL;DR: Does anyone here use the GameSir T4 Cyclone Pro on Elite Dangerous and/or other games? Mind sharing your experience, specially on XInput/DirectInput problems you might have had or not (on other games)? Other controllers for recommendation are fine too, except for Microsoft and PS ones, went through one too many of those.

As someone who still can't afford a HOTAS system, and I'm not sure whether I would be able to have fun with it, since I'm so used to common controllers now with years of muscle memory, I'm in the market for a controller sooner than I wanted. Went through 3 Xbox Series X controllers in about 4 years, and I'm getting sick of Microsoft hardware now. Had a Xbox 360 controller for 7 years that didn't failed me, I failed it and borked a button myself. Used the PS4 controller for a long time (wasn't playing the PS4 anymore, and using the controller wasn't going to cost me), dealing with the pain of Xinput and DirectInput conversion for several games, but still liking the gamepad. Lasted for a year until I needed another one because it started drifting and proper cleaning for electronics only made the problem worse. Next one lasted 6 months until the same problem happened, so I kissed Sony goodbye and went back to Microsoft (had a pair of mouse and keyboard from them that lasted almost 10 years until I bought the same again). Now Microsoft controllers became crap like that, and are failing every 1 year or so, so I'm writing them off too (and importing repair parts would be too expensive for me, since local ones are basically scams). And from what I've read about the Xbox Core, it's basically the same thing but higher quality, so if they want to overcharge by making the older one worse, they can eat that.

Looking into recommendations, GameSir seems to have some good ones with Hall Effect sticks and triggers (on some models), and the T4 Cyclone Pro even has motion controls (which could finally give me lateral thruster control since I don't bother using control overrides for that when landing). Still, it's a company I never heard about, and since they do have XBox licensed controllers, I know they have access to XInput but I don't know whether they use that on the T4 (it says it isn't XBox compatible, so my guess is they don't).

 

[Shurimal]

Can't comment on GameSir, but I recently bought 8BitDo Pro2 which has hall effect ministicks and triggers for use in certain games (though contrary to what many people claim, I find M&KB to work way better in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey) and for non-combat on-foot activities in E: D Odyssey. Lovely piece of hardware, the only slight problem I have with it is that the back buttons can only be set to mirror front buttons (or for turbo, swap and hold functions) or used for macros, not being discrete separate inputs. To be fair, allegedly it's because of some patent problems, and since I find the press down buttons on ministicks suboptimal (pressing down on ministicks only ever works without unintentional deflection when they're in the neutral position, making them useless in most situations) so mirroring these to the back buttons is a good solution for me.

Another little quirk is that the buttons are labeled in Nintendo layout, but the Windows profile defaults to Xbox layout. But you can remap them using the software or just ignore the labeling and rely on muscle memory if you're used to Xbox controller layout.

What I find interesting is that it comes with rechargeable li-ion battery, but you can also fit oldschool AA batteries and use it with these, which is great for when you want to use it wirelessly on-the-go or at a friend's place and run out juice without means or time to recharge—just borrow some AA-s from a TV remote or something and you're good to go. Also great for longevity, if the original li-ion battery dies you can just use rechargeable AA-s instead. I wish more gadgets did this instead of non-replaceable li-ion batteries.

 

[R4dioS1lence]

@Shurimal thanks for the feedback on the 8BitDo Pro2. Had found some stuff about it, with some praises too, but I'm too used to the offset analogs to switch back (also, the large shape of the XBox controllers works well with my large hands, and I wasn't sure if I would adapt to one that looks different). Aside from that, the battery being easily replaceable is great. This will be a nice feedback should anyone else look for it.

I ended up not going with the GameSir because I couldn't find anything on the Xinput/DirectInput and didn't find a lot of reviews on it. Ended up finding about the GuliKit KK3 Max, with both sticks and triggers using HAL sensors too, plus it did say on the tin it was XInput capable (even though it isn't XBox compatbile). After going through about 12 hours of different reviews and deep dives on it, ended up buying one, got it delivered (arrived), and started using it. I was afraid that switching to a different type of stick would throw me off, but the HAL sensors have about the same feel as a used potentiometer one, so the controller is really comfortable to use and doesn't feel odd in this department.

It also has the same 4 back buttons, but they use the same configuration (only repeat a function the other buttons has, not discrete inputs). I do believe most of the controllers are using it this way until the whole industry decides to update the XInput standard to cover extra inputs. Steam Deck kinda does it by being a bespoke hardware, so it would be nice if they went with it already (most likely all controllers just need a firmware update to accommodate that).

I'm still trying to find about the gyros and see if I can use them as inputs, but no luck so far. I've seen people mentioning that GuliKit has a software that you can use to configure the controller, but haven't found anything about it yet. Maybe at some point someone will release a custom driver to allow full use of the pad (gyros, extra buttons and all).

This one has an internal Li-po battery, so it doesn't have the ease of use and replacement that the 8BitDo Pro2 has, sadly. When the times comes to change it, I hope it's easy to perform maintenance.

The KK3 Max also has the Nintendo face button pattern, but it comes with a button extractor and a set of buttons for you to replace (it's a whole set because of the difference in height between the buttons). It was really easy to replace with the tool. The Start and Select buttons are way up, and being a nuisance for me. It will take time to get used to them, specially because there are two function buttons on the same place where the Start and Select should be (wish they had swapped places between them). I'll probably just map them to the back buttons along with the R3 and L3 and be done with them.

Main downside of it is that the wireless dongle for it has a high latency despite the high pooling rate of 1 kHz. While the XBox controllers have pooling rates of 125 Hz, the latency is about that. The KK3 also has low latency on a wired connection (also the same 125 Hz pooling rate), so it isn't so bad. Main problem was that any other controller that had low latency on wireless was costing upwards of USD $120, way out of my price range (the USD$ 80 on the KK3 Max already stretched my budget almost to double).

Still, way better circularity than both my cooked Xbox controller or even the backup one that I had (which is the whole selling point of the HAL sensor along with the lack of drifting). Funny thing is, the backup took 2 falls, and still works "fine" (sometimes it drifts from center). The cooked one never got dropped at all and was better cared for. On all 3 tests I was just circling the sticks clockwise and counterclockwise, then letting it rest at the end.

Backup XBox Series X Controller	Cooked XBox Series X Controller	GuliKit KK3 Max Controller

Leaving this here should anyone else be looking for info on those controllers.

 

[the100thmonkey]

I can't comment on the specific controller you reference, but I have a Gamesir X2 Type C for playing emulators on my phone on the bus to work. It's good quality, responsive and sturdy.

 

[Shurimal]

hanks for the feedback on the 8BitDo Pro2. Had found some stuff about it, with some praises too, but I'm too used to the offset analogs to switch back (also, the large shape of the XBox controllers works well with my large hands, and I wasn't sure if I would adapt to one that looks different). Aside from that, the battery being easily replaceable is great. This will be a nice feedback should anyone else look for it.

Well, 8BitDo has an Xbox style controller too--the Ultimate--which is also highly praised. I went for the pro because it's 20€ cheaper and being grown up playing FPS games on PC, not with a console, (it's the first controller I've had) I don't really have a strong preference for layout

 

[the100thmonkey]

I was talking with my wife about controllers today - she swears by 8BitDo. YMMV, of course.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

I'm not a controller wizard, but last year I bought an Xbox Elite Series 2 to replace the crappy Logitech F310 I had lying around, mainly for the ship stuff in Starfield, and to play Jedi Survivor with it. It's very expensive, but also very good. It came with a nice charging case, a decent USB cable and quite a few replacement knobs and bits in different sitzes (all buttons and knobs are magnetic and easy to replace to fit your preference). It also has those flappy pedals on the back. As I said, very expensive, but very good.