I justified the stupid cost to myself because it can also simultaneously pair with my Steam Deck and the paddles will work with all of my old games that I had to use the rear buttons for in the control mappings.
I’ve wanted one of these for the longest time, but everywhere I read reviews, the build quality just isn’t there, with multiple hardware issues.
This article does a good job on summing up my hesitation: https://www.33rdsquare.com/is-elite-series-2-durability/
Hopefully yours doesn’t get hit by these issues!
Honestly I’ve a the V1 from launch till the V2 came out no issues. I’ve had V2 since launch and no issues. Seems to be a crap shoot on if your controller breaks down or not. Or a lot of people are waay too rough with their controllers.
I’ve bought 2 now. First was returned due to stick drift, the one I have now has probably a couple thousand hours of use.
Every now and then the right bumper starts being glitchy so I open it up and clean it. So far that’s working. I did use contact cleaner (very generously) once and discovered that it causes this rubber piece that’s in there to stretch and deform, so don’t do that.
You can buy replacement parts for them now, so that helps.
Build quality issues are the reason I never got the V1 and why I’ve yet to get a V2. It also feels weird to buy such an expensive controller that doesn’t at least have hall effect sticks. I’m sure the controllers work fine for plenty of people, but I have pretty bad luck with controllers, so I’d rather not risk it.
I didn’t know there were supposed to be issues, they are all I use and I have gotten my friends and family to design theirs for birthday or christmas presents. We all use them quite a bit, like hundreds of batteries gone through each control, and they still seem as good as new.
People are talking about reliability issues with the Elite controller which is what the OP ordered. The regular controllers like you seem to mention are generally considered to work well.
Isn’t the elite the one you design? Pretty sure the Elite is what I am talking about.
No. The Elite is a (much) higher priced controller with extra features compared to the one that comes with the console. Both the Elite and the regular controller are sold in normal versions by many retailers. And both the Elite and the regular controller can be ordered in a custom design via the Design Lab.
You mentioned that your Design Lab controller(s) use regular batteries. That means they are regular controllers with a custom design. One feature of the Elite controller is that it has a built-in rechargeable battery (you can’t use AA’s with it).
Ah ok, I figured any of the ones with the metal pieces were elites. I didn’t know there was a big difference in build quality between both the custom controllers.
The elite controller is the one that has the paddles on the back and costs $180USD when it’s not on sale.
Ah ok, I figured any of the ones with the metal pieces were elites. I didn’t know there was a big difference in build quality between both the custom controllers.
My daughter helped me design one. It arrived last week.
Pics or didn’t happen!
Looks nice!