Gadgetory

hey guys this is Austin is this the future of game controllers valve usually does things differently in the steam controller is no exception pop open the box and you'll see the controller self and a few accessories like a USB cable included wireless dongle and double-a batteries the steam controller has a very different layout than you're probably used to we've got a single traditional stick and face buttons but to try pads up top everything about this controller takes a lot of getting used to even something as simple as having to face buttons on the bottom right feels totally backward the single control stick works well enough it has a grippy surface with a convex shape like the ps3 you'll see the traditional shoulder buttons and triggers on top and a pair of built-in paddles on the back this actually works really nicely although you'll probably have to remap these manually as most games assume you're using a 360 controller one thing I'm not a huge fan of is the feel in the hand the plastic feels a little cheap and it doesn't have the same reassuring half that the Xbox controller has the shape buries itself into your palms which feels fine but there's a fair bit of glossy plastic which gets coated in fingerprints almost immediately the weirdest thing by far though are the track pads that name isn't a coincidence it feels a lot like a laptop touch pad where you would normally find a thumb stick the other side is a giant d-pad which works fine although it's definitely not the most precise thing I've ever tried on the complete other end of the spectrum we've got the new Xbox one elite controller open this up and you're immediately greeted by a hard shell carrying pouch while this might be a little unnecessary for a normal controller it comes in handy for the elite as it's modular the thumb sticks and d-pad are interchangeable and all of your options fit inside the case one of the first things that jumped out to me is just how rock-solid it feels it has a satisfying cap and feels like it's up to some serious abuse flip the controller over and you'll find something else that makes the special customizable paddles these can be mapped to any of the normal buttons on the controller and you can pull them off easily thanks to magnets it's a really dope setup you'll also find a pair of bump stops for the triggers this allows you to shorten the Matt up travel independently which can be helpful for some types of games for the thumbsticks you have three options the standard sticks from the Xbox one controller a convex stick and the standard option that's much taller like the paddles these are magnetic which makes swapping them dead simple and they still feel solid while gaming you can mix and match these as much as you'd like which could lead to some interesting combos depending on what games you play the same goes for the d-pad you can use the normal style or a fasted version which feels a little mushy but makes a lot of sense for fighting it also has a switch to move between custom profiles along with the same headphone and headset jacks for the latest Xbox one controller the cool thing about the elite controller is that all this works not only on the Xbox one but also on Windows setting things up is simple just download the Xbox accessories app and you can load premade configurations or make your own you can really go in depth with this by remapping buttons and even adjusting the sensitivity of the triggers and sticks it's not all great news though the elite controller still comes with double-a batteries out of the box and while it works wirelessly with the Xbox you'll need to use the included cable or buy a wireless adapter to play on PC so when you put it all together how did the steam controller an Xbox elite stack up the steam controller is weird very weird not only does it have odd button placement but the touch pads just feel backwards the best way to use them is less like a laptop tri pad and more like a typical thumb stick which in theory works but in practice is incredibly hard to get used to with enough practice you could probably get good with the pads and they make sense for some traditional PC games that use a mouse and keyboard but for the most part it really feels like valve are trying to fix something that just isn't broken the Xbox elite on the other hand is the traditional controller taken to the extreme as its based on the Xbox one controller it feels familiar but they've tweaked the feel of the buttons and sticks this is a welcome change the panels can be helpful for when you want to keep both thumbs on the sticks and the bump stops are nice for quick reactions especially with shooting games there's really not much to complain about especially once you start customizing things it's a rock-solid controller the steam controller is a lot cheaper and while it try some new things it just doesn't make much sense when you can spend ten dollars more to get a normal Xbox one controller the elite on the other hand is about as premium as it gets Microsoft made what's one of the best controllers period but it comes with a steep $150 price tag to match so what do you guys think about these controllers let me know over on snapchat and I will catch you in the next one