Let's talk pricing since it is no doubt what most people here would want to know more about. The standard Xbox One wireless controller in black has an MSRP of $60 and can be had for $52 as I write this, and there are some color options for the entire controller as a first-party offering for around the same price. Xbox Design Labs allows for more customization, including on a per-part basis akin to SCUF, starting at $70 and going up to ~$93, and then there's the Xbox Elite currently in the series 2 iteration that costs $180. The SCUF equivalent to that is the SCUF Elite, also beginning at $180 and offering more customization options than Microsoft. The SCUF Prestige is comparable to the Xbox Elite, but with plastic instead of the metal parts and no directional bias D-pad option. It starts at $160 and goes from there, but the limited time deal they currently have going gives you a good reason to bump the controller all the way up to $190 for a potential saving of nearly $30 depending on how you configure the controller ($219.55 seems to be maximum before the code). For more context, my sample as configured would cost $201.70 before the discount code. If you don't mind the layout of the Xbox controller over that of the DualShock 4, the SCUF Prestige offers more for the money relative to the SCUF Impact with its included accessories for a nominal price increase.
Unlike Sony without a first-party offering that comes close to the functionality configurations allowed by the SCUF offerings at this time, Microsoft has one, but it still had to license SCUF IP to use on the XBOX Elite controller. Over 100 granted patents and another potential 50+ in the making are no doubt what attracted CORSAIR to SCUF Gaming, with the new parent company wanting to make a grand entry into the global gaming market as part of a strategy that involves mobile gaming laptops (Origin PC), game controllers (SCUF), and game streaming (Elgato).
Having familiarity with the Xbox 360 and Xbox One controllers already meant that transitioning over to the SCUF Prestige for this review was a piece of cake. My fingers getting used to the paddles on this controller shape lead to a few hiccups at the beginning, however. But having used the SCUF Impact before meant I soon had a good time catching up on my Steam backlog with the SCUF Prestige. The innovative paddle system is an integral part of my user experience now, but I can definitely see how this may not be the case for others. The grip on the back and the thumbsticks are underrated, and the removable thumbsticks and control pad offering combined with the customizable triggers is the cherry on top of that giant cake flavored with the various colors and finishes that go into making this controller more unique than most other offerings on the market. It is still an expensive controller, especially when you can go for the Microsoft Xbox Elite as well, but Microsoft not offering customizability to this degree still makes the SCUF Prestige worth checking out if you are in the market, especially as the SCUF Elite seems to almost always be out of stock.
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