Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 - Core (Blue)

The latest Xbox Controller, or as I like to call it, the “Mountain Goat of Gaming Gimmicks”, has all the conventional trimmings of a standard game controller. Buttons, check. Analog sticks, check. D-pad, check. But where it truly excels is in delivering a gaming experience that is as unpredictable as it is un-bleat-able.Aesthetically, the controller is a triumph of ergonomic engineering, boasting a design that’s reminiscent of a goat's hoofprint. It’s both an unconventional homage to our farmyard friends and a possible insight into what alien game designers think human hands look like.The 'X' button or as I've renamed it, 'The Baa Button', provides a rather unpredictable "enhancement" to your gaming experience. When pressed, it randomly lets out a realistic goat ... MoreThe latest Xbox Controller, or as I like to call it, the “Mountain Goat of Gaming Gimmicks”, has all the conventional trimmings of a standard game controller. Buttons, check. Analog sticks, check. D-pad, check. But where it truly excels is in delivering a gaming experience that is as unpredictable as it is un-bleat-able.Aesthetically, the controller is a triumph of ergonomic engineering, boasting a design that’s reminiscent of a goat's hoofprint. It’s both an unconventional homage to our farmyard friends and a possible insight into what alien game designers think human hands look like.The 'X' button or as I've renamed it, 'The Baa Button', provides a rather unpredictable "enhancement" to your gaming experience. When pressed, it randomly lets out a realistic goat bleat sound effect. Because, obviously, every good "X" button needs to emulate the call of a rambunctious ruminant, right?The analog sticks, or ‘Caprine Spinners’, have been reimagined to simulate the mischievous agility of a goat navigating a rocky mountain pass. Their random movements are a joy to witness as they unpredictably veer you off cliffs or spin you in circles. It's the perfect tool to experience the dizzying, uncontrollable world of a free-spirited goat.The Xbox controller's 'Anti-Slip Grip', modelled on the premise that 'what a mountain goat can climb, a human can hold', seems to be more in line with 'what a mountain goat can slip on, a gamer will drop.' Forget thumb calluses; this controller will gift you the grip strength of a professional rock climber.This Xbox controller also seems to have adopted the Goat Code of Feeding when it comes to batteries. Much like our furry friends, it chews through power sources with a gusto that's both impressive and alarming. Remember to stockpile batteries like hay bales during winter, lest you find yourself in a 'no juice' situation.In essence, the Xbox Controller has truly captured the unpredictable essence of the Capra aegagrus hircus (that's 'domestic goat' for the non-zoologists). If you’re on the hunt for a reliable gaming companion, this may not be your first choice. But if you're after an erratic and entertaining emulation of the thrilling life of a mountain goat, strap in and prepare for a wild ride with this latest Xbox Controller!

2 defective controllers back to back

I really wanted to like this controller but the design quality just hasn't been good as has all xbox controllers that has come out from the launch of Xbox One X/S to the current Series X/S. As a long time xbox user, you could tell right away the quality of controllers have diminished as soon as you hold one in your hand. I was really hoping the Elite Series would be different and I could justify paying the price tag.Unfortunately, I experienced similar problems as other reviews had stated not once but both times. On the original controller I purchased, the right trigger and Y button were unresponsive exactly %50 of the time. I brought it in and exchanged it for a new one. The second one seemed to be fine at first aside from the right bumper being unresponsive ... MoreI really wanted to like this controller but the design quality just hasn't been good as has all xbox controllers that has come out from the launch of Xbox One X/S to the current Series X/S. As a long time xbox user, you could tell right away the quality of controllers have diminished as soon as you hold one in your hand. I was really hoping the Elite Series would be different and I could justify paying the price tag.Unfortunately, I experienced similar problems as other reviews had stated not once but both times. On the original controller I purchased, the right trigger and Y button were unresponsive exactly %50 of the time. I brought it in and exchanged it for a new one. The second one seemed to be fine at first aside from the right bumper being unresponsive sometimes and the A button sticking every so often but after a month I started experiencing wireless connection issues. The middle xbox light on the controller would dim a little bit and disconnects from the xbox. Even though the controller is still powered on, the controller is completely unresponsive until the middle light is fully lit, which takes about 15-25 seconds each time. It only happened sporadically at first but now it'll keep happening unless I have the controller plugged in. Of course now it's past the return date and Microsoft stores are now non-existent so I can't go anywhere to exchange it again. I could go through the online warranty process but would likely receive another used/refurbished item in return. But at this point I don't know if I would even want another one.

Does Microsoft bother to QC at all?

The controller itself feels great and has everything I really want in a controller. The weight is nice, the battery life is massive compared to other controllers. The easy customization on PC is great, and I don't need to do much, if anything at all, to have it work on PC games. I had the original black one as well. Unfortunately the shoulder button no longer works. For background, I use my controllers on average 4 days out of a week and for anywhere from 3-12 hrs out of the day. I don't play any intensely competitive games.So why 1 star? Since day one I've never gotten a controller that has ALL of its parts functioning properly. I've received 6 controllers in the past 2-3 months going back and forth sending different core controllers back to Microsoft. Each time ... MoreThe controller itself feels great and has everything I really want in a controller. The weight is nice, the battery life is massive compared to other controllers. The easy customization on PC is great, and I don't need to do much, if anything at all, to have it work on PC games. I had the original black one as well. Unfortunately the shoulder button no longer works. For background, I use my controllers on average 4 days out of a week and for anywhere from 3-12 hrs out of the day. I don't play any intensely competitive games.So why 1 star? Since day one I've never gotten a controller that has ALL of its parts functioning properly. I've received 6 controllers in the past 2-3 months going back and forth sending different core controllers back to Microsoft. Each time I got a controller with different serial numbers. I was refused a refund and instead given a partial refund to keep the controller.1st controller: came with defects on the grips and the magnets for the back paddles were weak for some reason. I could easily flick one off during a gaming session. Big mistake sending this in because otherwise, all the other buttons were functional. Everything to come was just worse off.2nd controller: 1st day of use I would navigate a menu in games like Elden ring and it would move two spaces over. For whatever reason, bumpers would register double presses with a single press. I decided to play narrative/story centric games and discovered the A button also did this. Which, as you can imagine, made me skip a lot of dialogue I wanted to hear or read and was extremely frustrating.3rd controller: Hey bumpers work but now both the A and Y buttons were registering double presses with only single taps. Like the previous controller but worse now because how often the Y button is used as part menu navigation in the games I play. At least not skipping dialogue just meant pressing B instead of A.4th controller: Great now I have the opposite problem but with more buttons. All the ABXY buttons only registered if you pressed them exactly in the center. I could tap the buttons from the side and see them fully depress but it would not register an input. More prevalent with A button.5th controller: Everything was fine wired. But for some reason, over wireless/bluetooth, the A button would not register rapid presses like it did over wired connection. Tapping the button, say, 30 times as fast I could, it would register maybe 5 of them with a long pause of no registered inputs in the middle. Did not have this issue with previous ones and again, this did not happen while wired.6th controller: My current one and I will probably going to go for send it in AGAIN. This one, the left thumbstick will NOT click/depress if I angle it towards diagonal top left. Being that a lot of games use this as the run button, I often end up not being able to run if I happen to go that direction. I either have to pull back to click or press VERY hard to get it to register. This does not happen with any other direction. ON TOP OF THAT, the joysticks flick, badly. I'll run and let the stick go to make a character stop in game, only for them to stop and spasm out to try and do a sudden 180 degree turn. This is absolutely gamebreaking for games where I need to make minor quick movement adjustments to say, revive a teammate. More often than not, I'm fighting the flick because me doing a 180 degree turn makes me not face them which means I cant revive teammates. This did not happen with the previous ones. This is a disaster for games that use radial wheels for skill select because it will flick to opposite of what I pick.This is just absolutely ridiculous. Do any of these controllers go through QC? Does anyone bother to actually test them before slapping the OK sticker for them to be sold/given regardless whether or not it is new or refurbished? I would expect issues to pop up after playing for awhile. Not one day one for both new and refurbished controllers.Games played through ALL of these controllers: Persona 5, Fortnite, FF:Stranger of Paradise, Elden Ring, FFVII, Harvestella.

Doesn't feel cheaply made

WAY TOO often I have had to buy Xbox One controllers. Generally, Xbox 360 controllers I didn't have to replace and seemed to be a sturdier design, but it seems I'm lucky if an Xbox One controller lasts more than a year or two at best. Since this was on sale, I decided to try a little more expensive model and was intrigued by the additional buttons and profiles/programmability. I do feel they were a little cheap to not include the rear paddles for these new buttons but, since that's the only negative I’ve perceived thus far, I'm still going to give it a full five rating as I can't do a half star. It has been a solid controller thus far! The rechargeable battery has certainly pleased me with how long it lasted before I had to charge it for the first time. That's a ... MoreWAY TOO often I have had to buy Xbox One controllers. Generally, Xbox 360 controllers I didn't have to replace and seemed to be a sturdier design, but it seems I'm lucky if an Xbox One controller lasts more than a year or two at best. Since this was on sale, I decided to try a little more expensive model and was intrigued by the additional buttons and profiles/programmability. I do feel they were a little cheap to not include the rear paddles for these new buttons but, since that's the only negative I’ve perceived thus far, I'm still going to give it a full five rating as I can't do a half star. It has been a solid controller thus far! The rechargeable battery has certainly pleased me with how long it lasted before I had to charge it for the first time. That's a good thing because it didn't look like it had a typical user removable battery pack like Insignia's that I'm used to buying which definitely don't last as long per charge. Also, the main home button is a much better design where you don't have to press as deep for it to register. That is one of the first buttons to go bad for me--tends to get less responsive or feels like you have to press/hold harder or do multiple attempts to either get the home menu or power down options as the controller ages.

Feels good in the hands

I am not a professional gamer. I picked this up because they didn't have any other controllers in stock. I didn't think much of this controller until I played around with it a bit and started noticing subtleties of ability to configure that made my experience more reactive and more involved or immersive. I didn't know the thumbsticks were magnetic and I didn't know that you could turn them left or turn them right to tighten up or loosen up the control of the stick which is pretty cool. The ability to select the trigger depth for quicker reaction is fun although I found I kept going back to not putting any tension on the trigger because it was just more comfortable to me. My only complaint is the design of the controller itself I feel that the black nubby grip sides ... MoreI am not a professional gamer. I picked this up because they didn't have any other controllers in stock. I didn't think much of this controller until I played around with it a bit and started noticing subtleties of ability to configure that made my experience more reactive and more involved or immersive. I didn't know the thumbsticks were magnetic and I didn't know that you could turn them left or turn them right to tighten up or loosen up the control of the stick which is pretty cool. The ability to select the trigger depth for quicker reaction is fun although I found I kept going back to not putting any tension on the trigger because it was just more comfortable to me. My only complaint is the design of the controller itself I feel that the black nubby grip sides should be a little bit longer I find after a few hours of gaming that I don't like the grip compared to the PlayStation experience. I don't agree that the price point should be $200, I think 125 would suffice but I don't know. I didn't realize until I bought this that this is not a removable battery type wireless charger, it's a Lithium-Ion rechargeable so you get eight solid hours of gameplay off this thing without having to recharge it. Compared to having to put batteries in your controller every so often, I love this lithium ion battery option. PlayStation gives you that by default but again subtleties here.

Good Controller, Expected More

Overall, I really like this controller. It is high quality and has good adjustability/customization. It has been awesome to play on. However, do not get this mistaken for the Elite Series 2 controller. It’s not.The Elite Series 2 and the Elite Core are two different options, the Elite Core (this one) being the cheaper. This controller only comes with one d-pad, two joysticks, and NO paddles. The Elite Series 2 comes with six interchangeable options for joysticks, two d-pads, back paddles, a wireless charging case, and stand.Now, I understand that in order to make the Core cheaper than the Series 2 they had to cut some things out. But, I realllyyyy wish they did just a little bit more with the Core. It’s still a whopping $130 which is more than double the price of ... MoreOverall, I really like this controller. It is high quality and has good adjustability/customization. It has been awesome to play on. However, do not get this mistaken for the Elite Series 2 controller. It’s not.The Elite Series 2 and the Elite Core are two different options, the Elite Core (this one) being the cheaper. This controller only comes with one d-pad, two joysticks, and NO paddles. The Elite Series 2 comes with six interchangeable options for joysticks, two d-pads, back paddles, a wireless charging case, and stand.Now, I understand that in order to make the Core cheaper than the Series 2 they had to cut some things out. But, I realllyyyy wish they did just a little bit more with the Core. It’s still a whopping $130 which is more than double the price of a normal controller. Now luckily I got mine on sale for only $94, and for $94 dollars I’d say you’ll get your moneys worth.But seriously Microsoft, for $130 the least you can do is include some back paddles. That’s the whole reason I wanted an elite controller. Back paddles probably cost less than a dollar to manufacture so why not just throw them in. I understand not giving all of the fancy things, but paddles are what make an Elite controller Elite IMO. I ended up getting some after market back paddles and sticking them on, they work just fine.

Good option for PC players, paddles sold separatel

I play on PC and this is a great, comfortable controller with good weight to it.However, the extra paddles are sold separately. If you buy them you can use the Xbox software to create a profile and map the paddles to any button, however it does not look like you can mark them on their own, which would be amazing.The feel is definitely premium and there is some grip on the handles. Everything about the feel is fantastic, including the ability to modify the pressure required on your trigger buttons.Battery life has been great, though I tend to charge frequently anyway.Playing on PC I thought I'd be using the Bluetooth connectivity... however I've found that Bluetooth is not the most reliable in terms of registering quick inputs like in a fast pace video game ... MoreI play on PC and this is a great, comfortable controller with good weight to it.However, the extra paddles are sold separately. If you buy them you can use the Xbox software to create a profile and map the paddles to any button, however it does not look like you can mark them on their own, which would be amazing.The feel is definitely premium and there is some grip on the handles. Everything about the feel is fantastic, including the ability to modify the pressure required on your trigger buttons.Battery life has been great, though I tend to charge frequently anyway.Playing on PC I thought I'd be using the Bluetooth connectivity... however I've found that Bluetooth is not the most reliable in terms of registering quick inputs like in a fast pace video game as it would just miss button pressed entirely. Connecting the controller with a cable fixes the issue and everything operates perfectly, though. I think it's just an issue with Bluetooth as my keyboard does the same thing on Bluetooth mode.Overall, great controller to use on PC. It feels fantastic in the hand and operates great when wired. Bluetooth is a nice backup but the missed button pressed will definitely be noticed quickly.

If you’re looking for a Series 2 alternative….

To qualify this review, during the entire Xbox One cycle, I purchased 1 controller besides the stock controller. 1.Since purchasing my Xbox series S, I’ve gone through 3 standard controllers, 2 Wolverine chroma 2s. This controller is my 7th in 2 years.I’ve waited a month to see how it performs and so far it’s performed how I would expect a standard controller to perform.The weight is a bit heavier than a standard controller. Personally, I like heavier controllers so that’s not an issue.The feel of this controller is very close to the Recon Tech Special Edition from the Xbox 1 days. That is a huge positive for me. The grips and how it feels in your hands are perfect.One downside to this controller is the buttons. You would think that for a top tier ... MoreTo qualify this review, during the entire Xbox One cycle, I purchased 1 controller besides the stock controller. 1.Since purchasing my Xbox series S, I’ve gone through 3 standard controllers, 2 Wolverine chroma 2s. This controller is my 7th in 2 years.I’ve waited a month to see how it performs and so far it’s performed how I would expect a standard controller to perform.The weight is a bit heavier than a standard controller. Personally, I like heavier controllers so that’s not an issue.The feel of this controller is very close to the Recon Tech Special Edition from the Xbox 1 days. That is a huge positive for me. The grips and how it feels in your hands are perfect.One downside to this controller is the buttons. You would think that for a top tier controller that you’d have much better spring and pop in the action buttons…..these feel cheap. Like, when will they break?, ..cheap.I do like that the app to adjust the controller is seamless with the Xbox settings.I also like that you can get the best controller MS has to offer without having to waste money on the paddle kit in the more expensive bundle. I purchased the Core and a third party paddle kit and paid a combined $50 less than the Series 2.The biggest factor for me is the length of time this controller will last…and when aren’t there yet.On the plus side, there is a one year warranty once you register the controller with MS, despite Best Buy telling me that it was only 3 months like all standard controllers.

Legacy sticks! Must have for legacy players

Ever since controllers adapted to a second joystick I’ve been left out of enjoying a significant number of games because my brain became hardwired for “Legacy Sticks” after playing Goldeneye 64. This means the X axis for the left stick and the right stick are swapped. So the left stick walks forward and back but turns left and right. The right stick looks up and down but strafes left to right.Some of the bigger games like call of duty, halo, and a few others have always offered legacy but many others have not. Playing with default sticks simply isn’t an option because it gives me a migraine and makes me sick to my stomach after a little while.Then finally, this controller offers the simple but world opening option to swap the x axis for both sticks. All FPS ... MoreEver since controllers adapted to a second joystick I’ve been left out of enjoying a significant number of games because my brain became hardwired for “Legacy Sticks” after playing Goldeneye 64. This means the X axis for the left stick and the right stick are swapped. So the left stick walks forward and back but turns left and right. The right stick looks up and down but strafes left to right.Some of the bigger games like call of duty, halo, and a few others have always offered legacy but many others have not. Playing with default sticks simply isn’t an option because it gives me a migraine and makes me sick to my stomach after a little while.Then finally, this controller offers the simple but world opening option to swap the x axis for both sticks. All FPS games are now on the table for me and I can finally play games like Cyberpunk and FarCry. It can make driving and navigating menus a little wonky but thankfully switching to default controls is a breeze with the profile button.Aside from that, the rechargeable battery, quieter (but still noisy) dpad, and overall feel of the controller are excellent.This is hands down the best Xbox accessory I’ve owned. If you’re a legacy stick player, RUN to the store and get yourself one now. You’ll be stoked!To change select Left Stick, Primary, and then Swap X Axis. Enjoy!

Profound Controller

Gently cradled in my hands, the Microsoft Elite Series 2 controller became a subtle yet powerful rebellion against the enveloping void, underscoring Nietzsche's profound words: "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." Amidst the abyss of life’s complexities, the controller whispered of other worlds, other battles, where the oppressiveness of reality melted away into pixels and possibilities.The Elite Series 2, with its sculpted contours and customizable features, became more than a mere accessory; it evolved into a vessel of escape and self-discovery. The adaptive tension thumbsticks, responsive triggers, and immersive haptic feedback crafted an interactive tapestry where my actions, my choices, reigned supreme. Here, in the delicate push and pull of ... MoreGently cradled in my hands, the Microsoft Elite Series 2 controller became a subtle yet powerful rebellion against the enveloping void, underscoring Nietzsche's profound words: "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." Amidst the abyss of life’s complexities, the controller whispered of other worlds, other battles, where the oppressiveness of reality melted away into pixels and possibilities.The Elite Series 2, with its sculpted contours and customizable features, became more than a mere accessory; it evolved into a vessel of escape and self-discovery. The adaptive tension thumbsticks, responsive triggers, and immersive haptic feedback crafted an interactive tapestry where my actions, my choices, reigned supreme. Here, in the delicate push and pull of buttons and sticks, I found a semblance of control, a respite that gently nudged back against the looming despair.As I navigated through digital realms, the controller transformed into a conduit of experience, a tangible link between the real and virtual, the hopeful and the despondent. It was no longer merely a device but an extension of my being, affirming through every interaction that even amidst chaos, we possess the power to define our own existence, one pixelated adventure at a time.