8Bitdo Ultimate C Wired Controller for Xbox with Hall Effect Joysticks and Triggers, RGB Lighting Fire Ring, Compatible with Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10/11- Officially Licensed (Dark Green)

I picked up this controller to replace an aging DualShock 4 I'd been using with my PC since I both prefer the Xbox form factor and I kept running into compatibility issues with the DS4 I couldn't be bothered to solve with 3rd party software.Packaging:The controller is well packaged though not "premium" insofar as it doesn't include a carry case or any additional accessories such as thumbstick top replacements. However, it is securely packaged and does include a 1 month free trial of Xbox GamePass Ultimate ($20 value) which is a nice touch. The included USB-C cable is color matched, well constructed, and plenty long enough to be routed to the back of my PC while still allowing for ample slack.Initial Impressions:The controller is solidly built and reasonably light in hand without feeling cheap. There was some minor friction squeak at the top of the travel on the left thumbstick. Some rotation back and forth at the problem spot seems to have removed whatever residue or irregularity was causing the issue though.As advertised the thumb sticks and triggers are hall effect. They are smooth, and adjustment in Steam allows the thumb sticks to have effectively no dead zone. Other than one issue with the triggers (detailed below) I think they feel and perform admirably.It should be noted that the actual color of the controller body is considerably lighter than the product pictures indicate. Whereas the images show a darker forest green the controller body is primarily more of a sage green with darker forest green buttons. I do not mind this, but it is something to point out as these images are official from 8BitDo, and it also appears darker on their website than it is in person.Lighting:This will be to each person's taste. There is no RGB "cycle", or single color "pulse/breathe" as is commonly seen on other RGB products. You basically have a number of set colors within three modes (plus off). Two of the three modes ('Rainbow Ring' and 'Light-tracing') can have their brightness set on a per-color basis with an automatic memory function so they do not have to be set every time the controller is turned on. The 'Fire Ring' mode cannot have its brightness decreased, but you can control the speed of the circling contrast color for each of the available preset options.If the controller is left idle it will cycle your set color on and off in about a 1-2 second cadence. This can be distracting, so you may want to just turn the lighting off entirely when not in use.Software:The software for this controller does not provide any ability to customize lighting, remap buttons, or assign macros. The only functionality is to update the controller's firmware. Given that remapping can typically be done via Steam or in games I am not very concerned with this.Issues:Other than the aforementioned thumbstick squeak which resolved quickly I have encountered two issues. Of the two, I was able to resolve one myself.Issue 1 (resolved): Triggers did not initially register as analogI noticed when testing the controller in Steam that the triggers were only registering their max value about halfway through their travel. There was no progression of input value which indicated that their function may only be digital rather than analog. After research and contacting 8BitDo support I managed to resolve it by entering calibration mode and actuating the triggers. After doing this I checked again in Steam, and it appears to be working correctly.Issue 2 (unresolved): Controller does not turn on unless manually unplugged and plugged back inI noticed this after restarting my PC and then pressing the Xbox button to turn the controller on. It would not wake, and necessitated unplugging the USB C from the controller and plugging it back in. After that, it functioned fine. This is a minor annoyance in my opinion but if the USB-C port fails prematurely from this process as indicated by some reviews then I will amend my review.Final thoughts:This is a decent quality controller for the price point. If you are looking for wireless functionality or deeper customization this will not suit your needs. However, for my use case it works almost perfectly. Time will tell if it is also durable. If not: I may seek out other options. Be sure to update the firmware then calibrate both the thumb sticks and triggers before use.

Good and responsive control. The build quality and the feel of the buttons are great! For the price this is a great controller!

Great customer service.I guess it is a "feature" but the joysticks are not soldered on so they come off super easily.I lost one within the first hour.Considering how quickly the joysticks come off and get lost, I would hope they would have a link to get replacements.Plus, they should come with extras. Not sure of why they made detachable if they did not include replacements.I would not get again due to the quickly lost joysticks.Stylish.Functional.Love the detachable USB cord. Easy to add a shorter/longer cord as needed.Great bang for the buck.Need to include and sell replacement joysticks... or solder them on so they do not get lost.Cannot use until I get replacement joysticks so currently collecting dust.

[Edit: In the time that this review was being uploaded, I managed to find a fix. I had to enter the stick calibration mode by holding LB+RB+View+Menu until the Xbox button blinks, but instead of calibrating the sticks, you have to press the triggers. Then, upon exiting the calibration (by holding the same buttons again), the triggers should work like normal again. This was an annoying experience, and I was a day from returning it. Now that I've had it for a few more days, I'd like to note some changes I've already noticed with the controller. On the first day of owning it, I noticed that one trigger felt slightly grainy when pressing, hinting that they didn't lubricate it enough. Then, after a few days, I noticed the right stick is slightly looser when moving from the center position. Call it break in, but I don't see it holding up well for competitive play, which, for me personally, this shape doesn't work well for. It's a great casual controller and is very aesthetically pleasing. The durability of the sticks and triggers is debatable, but I'm still keeping it for casual play or when I want to play 360 games on the Xbox.]Long story short, I loved this controller for the few days it worked for me, but unfortunately, there are some significant software bugs in this controller that I can't seem to reverse.I was looking at YouTube comments for this controller, and someone in the comments said you can hold the view+menu buttons to disable the trigger dead zones, so I tried it, and it worked, but now I can't undo it. I tried reseting by holding start/menu and the power button, but nothing, than I held the star button that controls the light, and that did seemingly reset the controller, but it still didn't fix the triggers. I also downloaded the software app, hoping there would be a way to reset the controller there, but to my surprise, the pc and xbox app have almost zero functionality beyond doing a firmware update. I tried the update for the heck of it, and ironically, it broke the feature it specifically said it would fix lol.I've been fed up with stick drift for years, this controller was really a breath of fresh air, and allowed me to play stalker 2 in its weird state, but apparently holding down two buttons can completely, irreversibly change the controller. I guess I'd recommend it, beyond those issues. It feels surprisingly premium in the hand, the vibration motors are very good, if not better than the original xbox controller, the lighting is very pleasing and offcourse the hall effect sensors are great. If I were to give some feedback on the controller:1. Don't support button combos that irreversibly change the controller2. Increase the distance that the triggers move before bottoming out3. Don't release updates that introduce the issue you said you fixed4. Include all button combos and methods to reset, in the manual