As a lot of reviewers are saying, it feels very close to the Steam Deck controls. The trackpads are slightly different texture and a bit more refined (in a good way). The D-pad and face buttons feel good to me as a longtime gamer.
I’m used to the Xbox Elite 2 these days and this is quite a bit lighter in weight and feels more like plastic, but still solid enough (again, like the Deck). I do maybe prefer the 8-edged D-pad and I’ll probably miss the trigger stops, but gyro and trackpads and grip sense should more than make up for it.
Even more notes:
I often hate wireless gaming devices (e.g. mice) but this feels flawless. Inputs are very responsive, I’m not noticing any latency with the puck like I always seem to on bluetooth controllers. Yes I use my other controllers wired even if they have wireless.
I fired up Forza Horizon 4. Driving feels quite good overall. However I don’t enjoy the rumble.
Tried it on default (7 db), max (12 db), and low (4 db) so far.[CORRECTION: That’s haptics intensity. I don’t see an adjustment for rumble anywhere]. It feels very pulsey, like the little motors fire in 0.5 second butsts as I drift and powerslide, rather than rumbling continuously. It feels very similar when driving off-road, when those feel distinct on other controllers. It’s honestly kinda distracting. I strongly prefer the Elite 2 rumble (or hell regular Xbox 360) and never once thought those needed any adjustment.I came from an elite 2 too. I think I feel the same about the vibration motors. I think the OG 360s are worse than the steams, but the Elites honestly seem about perfect to me.
Also I haven’t measured it, but do the elites triggers feel much longer than the steam? I primarily use a controller to play FH5/motorsport and they feel shallower.