User Experience

The previous page covered all the software customization options with the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, but there are plenty of hardware options, too. The provided replacement thumbsticks are part of this, wherein you can simply pull off the stock thumbsticks to examine the metal retention mechanism underneath. Physical slots and guides help with the connection, as do magnets at the bottom so the thumbsticks don't come loose. Using a replacement thumbstick is as simple as pushing it in place, and seen above are two different ones, including the taller thumbstick. Noticed that cross-point stem in the middle of the retention slider? This is where the adjustment tool comes into play, as you can rotate the stem clockwise or anti-clockwise to choose between three sensitivity levels. Xbox does a really good job discussing it all in the provided manual, and in even more detail on the support website.


The faceted directional pad that comes pre-installed on the controller has elicited some.. strong.. opinions. Some detest it, and it's a good thing then that Microsoft provides the so-called standard D-pad as a replacement. As with the thumbsticks, simply lift up the faceted D-pad to reveal a mold similar to what was used in the carry case. More magnets are used here, and then swap over to the standard D-pad if that's more to your jam. I personally like the faceted one with the nice wide base that is complemented by the recessed housing underneath and the angles marked out on the periphery.


There are three hard stops for the left and right triggers, with an associated slider button for each. The default nets you the most travel possible. If you want triggers to be quite trigger-y, you can set it to the least travel, which gives you a couple of millimeters of travel at most. This no doubt is where fans of the PlayStation DualSense will relish the built-in analog feedback that has been put to good use in some game titles already.


There's not much to say about the rest—it all work as expected with the face buttons in particular being quite tactile but also no different from what has been the case for a few years already now. The additional LEDs on the face plate indicate which profile you are on, and the profile button switches between the three stored on the device. The 3.5 mm jack makes adding a microphone or headset to the controller an option, as does the Xbox expansion port alongside. As expected, the Bluetooth-pairing button is on the back, with the actual transceiver right behind it facing the source. For an updated Xbox Elite Series 3, my wish list would include removable triggers of varying lengths as well as removable face buttons, maybe with a textured surface or more concave set depending on the use case. While I am at it, offer additional first-party design and color options for those who don't want to go the third-party route with add-on or replacement panels.


The biggest differentiator to the standard controllers, and the main IP license taken from SCUF, comes in the form of four paddle sticks on the back. These are assigned to the face buttons (XYAB), but can of course be changed using the software program as seen earlier. The paddles are just to provide a larger surface area to click into the smaller buttons underneath, and their positioning is great ergonomically as well. When you simply can't use the face buttons with your thumb and index fingers elsewhere, use your other fingers on the back for quicker actions.


Here is a look at the replacement thumbsticks and D-pad in action. The latter alone makes this seem far more like the Xbox One controller at a first glance. The various software and hardware customization options are what you are paying for, however, and those will ultimately last the test of time as this has since launch. We don't get the onboard re-mapping as with SCUF, so you absolutely need the software to do this, but if you get past the Windows store and permission issues, it is a far more user-friendly approach than what SCUF adopted with the Prestige.

Customization aspects aside, the Xbox Elite Series 2 is still at its heart an Xbox wireless controller. Pairing it with a PC as a Bluetooth device is straightforward as it is natively recognized as an Xbox controller by Windows 10, and there are drivers if it does not. This means all games that support a game pad will support it natively on Windows, which is the biggest advantage of the Xbox controller for PC gaming over the DualSense. Battery life is excellent compared to the DualShock 4 at least, but that is again more of a Microsoft vs. Sony, with my testing giving 32–35 hours on average per charge depending on the rumble settings and LED brightness, and a full charge taking ~2 hours depending on the power output of your USB port. Microsoft rates battery life at up to 40 hours, and Bluetooth connectivity was absolutely fine on two PCs I've tried. The controller weighs ~350 g as it comes out of the box, which is a nice weight to hold on to and feels solid, especially when you realize there are four vibration motors inside that contribute to the weight. Speaking of which, haptic feedback or sound of the right main motor actually was not as good as for the left one that performed as expected.

People who have used analog controllers already know the advantage of analog control over movement. This is especially true in racing games—gone are the jerky on/off inputs for acceleration in particular, with much smoother input as well as finer control with turning. While controllers are also more typically used in third-person games purely because of the mouse advantage in first-person games, there are situations where having analog control over movement in FPS games can be useful, a typical example being stealth sections where AI behavior is often tied to the character's movement speed, which is translated into "noise." There is not a whole lot more to say here since you either already want a controller for the PC or not, and only for the former set is the Xbox Elite Series 2 relevant.