Pixel Dynamo reports on the apparent shortage of Xbox One Elite controllers just 5 days before its intended release.
"Your current -- and pricey -- Xbox Elite 2 Controller will not be able to take advantage of the new Share button and related functionality found on new Xbox controllers, including those that ship with the Xbox Series S & X," writes Stevivor's Steve Wright.
Why on earth would you want to use the button that maps everything as the share button anyway?
Amended class-action adds additional plaintiffs and specific mention of Elite Series 2
I was wondering if something was up with these controllers. I have a friend that had multiple Xbox controllers with drift issues ... Seemed like more than just bad luck
Thats weird, me and my friends have over 20+ controllers and none of them have drift. Not saying it can't happen but maybe it IS bad luck. I think it's mostly isolated to the Elite Series 2 being the newest controller.
20+ controllers? You ever wonder why you guys need so many controllers? Maybe it's because their build quality sucks.
This is a problem that occour in all controllers from all brands due to users making a lot on stress on analogue, some controllers are less resistance them other like the Switch, but that the way it is.
I never had this problem on any controller of any brand in my 32 years of gaming, on the other hand I know people that have this problem in every controller after 6 months.
I have close to 40 xbo/ps4 controllers and none of them have drift issues. I bought them all 2nd hand and you would think they should (with the way some wrench on the sticks) but thankfully they do not. My son's xbo has developed stick drift as well as one of his ds4 so I let him use a couple of my spares. Not the fancy ones though... just regular ones.
@seal, maybe this person collects controllers? I know I do.
Yeah, it seems to be more of an issue recently. It's like they deteriorate over time rather than being dodgy from the get-go.
Only had one out of my 5 drift this gen on Xbox. Annoyingly it is the custom controller I ordered.
I have 4 controllers one of them is an original from back in 2013 when the console was released which did eventually get some drift on the left stick after about 3 years all the others haven't including my Elite V2 and I do tend to put my controllers through the wringer. I have no idea why you have so many friends who seem to get this issue as none of my friends with Xboxes have reported it. Maybe anecdotal evidence from people you know is not used in law courts for a reason? However I do think that all console manufacturers should extend their warrantee for this, 90 days is pretty stingy for something like stick drift.
@ crazy
You must be crazy Xbox elite controllers are perfect and only lying fanboys find imaginary defects on them. My works perfect without any issues and I have 2 on each room. Said you know who here
I mean, there's a lawsuit against the Elite 2 controllers drifting. So its clearly something that happens. Did you ever think that you were lucky that the ones you have just don't have that issue?
@darkwingsoul I need to have issues to buy controllers? 😂 Yall are definitely some lonely virgins. Look at the agrees lmfao
I have extra controllers for when my friends come over to play videogames. Plus elite controller 2 and a design lab controller. Easily could have been more if I bought a few special edition ones.
I have this on two of my controllers. It seems like it happens over time tho, as mine worked fine for about 6 months.
I also had a drifter. I was pissed that they wouldn't do anything about it. I lived in Denmark then, which is notoriously know for absolute sh!t customer service.
Drift happens, no really. It is caused by a combination of ware and dirt. Every single one of my controllers develop drift. Without fail. To be fair, i am not kind to my controllers. They get used on the daily for 3-5 hours and 10-15 hour sessions are not too infrequent. Hands covered in chip residue, spills on and around them. TBH, I always get the 2 year add on warranty from Best Buy. Then trade them in when it starts happening. Trade for a new one.Then get a new warranty (40$ for Elite Controller, 20$ for normal) on that one, Rinse and repeat. I did this 5 time with the original Elite, with the last time paying the additional 30 bucks for the upgrade to V2. Still going strong.
I had one analogue stick brake, had no drift issues but went though quite a few, 3 with broken usbs, rubber came off first one.
Strangely third party ones dispite being crap were never broke
That's good, but an analog stick is a moving part and after a period of use they wear down no matter what gaming system the controller goes to.
Xbox: 1 out of 5
PS4: 1 out of 7 including 3 with shredded analog tops-my second release PS4 controllers have been good
Switch: 2 sets out of 2, can only play with a pro controller
Every single one of my DS4 controller's drift , I've accepted that this is just what happens.
I have. I've had a couple with stick drift. Only difference is, I didn't pay 100+ for them.
@ JAckBNimble you are so full of it. You don't even own Ps4 controllers. I mean just on one page of your commetn history.....
"Those days are long gone bro... these sonybois are much worse now"
"I have a feeling that over confident sonyboys are going to be blindsided next gen with all their expectations of ps5 and down playing of xsx."
I don't pretend to Xbox controllers. You shouldn't pretend to have all these DS4 controllers and they all have drift. You're full of it
that's because on PS4 you often won't notice it. I've had controllers that work perfectly fine then while playing some game I put the controller down and notice L3 is drifting. Sometimes simply clicking the analog in and rotating clears it up for good or for a while. But imo, from what I've experienced, it's pretty minimal and something that can be easily overlooked or go unnoticed.
As for the mention of triggers below. Sony has made changes to the triggers over the course of each DS4 generation. There's at least 3 generations of DS4s. The latest bolstering the trigger somewhat.
Two of my DS4 controllers got it - one I'm still using because it's too close to the release of the PS5 to invest in a new one.
I haven’t had any drift issues. My elite 1 controller grips did fall off-but it’s still playable.
Even my Switch is fine.
Can it be one of the assemblies that they contract out that makes them be the issue?
At this point I feel lucky.
Have a elite 1 and don’t have any issues whatsoever or any of my controllers. So far I’ve been lucky but I’ve had my switch have stick drift
Never had stick drift using 7 different Xbone controllers over the course of 5 years. Unless I screwed them up myself which I did once by leaving one upside down with some clothes on top of it.
Lucky you, I had drift on 2 out of my 4 ps4 controllers. Luckily is wasn’t on my scuf.
I been gaming for 25 years now and never even seen drift on any of my joypads, maybe some of us just ain't hashy gits with our controllers.
I get drift eventually every gen, its the racing games man, I love em, but the twitchy way I use the sticks must mess with em lol
I put at least 800 hours between those 7 xbone controllers and I bought several of them used off craigslist.
I have used 9 over the course of 4 years and all 9 have drift and I keep them all in plastic safety cases.
I now have over 40,000 controllers and I have them individually sealed in titanium cases now! Unfortunately they all have drift...
Why would you need to use 7 controllers? I've still got my launch PS4 pro controller and it's fine still now. 7 controllers? I am guessing a couple don't work which is why you have so many and use them all. I don't know, but 7? That seems crazy to me.
I also had 2 controllers that I use on the PC had this happen. I have a 3rd 360 controller that so far has been ok. When shit is made in China this is what you get. Since Microsoft is an American company these along with their consoles should be made in the USA. Nintendo as well, should all be made in Japan like they used to be not in shit China, fuck them.
I hate when people share their experience for the purpose of acting as if the issue can’t possibly exist for others. Sit your silly asses down somewhere and just be happy that you haven’t had an issue.
ive had a 360 controller drift years ago but all 360 pads after that inc xbox one versions theres been zero issues for me
I would guess the harder you are on your controllers the more likely you get stick drift . I haven’t had any problems with my DS4’s at all but I let my son borrow one for a weekend and he shredded the thumb grips but no drift . I haven’t shredded any of mine since launch, they look almost new . I haven’t played games much on Xbox since mid 360 era so. I did get drift on my Vita but it was my fault for sticking it my travel bag full of crap and I damaged the right stick . But I just replaced it and it’s fine now . The Nintendo stick drift happened on my first set of controllers over time and it’s strange because I don’t use them nearly as much as my PS controllers . I did have this issue with a 360 controller years ago but I’m not sure if it was design or overly rough use from my son . I have no experience with a XB1 controller so I can’t speak on it but it’s obvious some people had issues or there wouldn’t be a lawsuit but it very well could be some people are just to hard on their controllers like my son is or it could be a Nintendo thing with poorer design but I tend to lean toward hard use for most of these problems with all controllers .
Don't have drift on my xbox one controllers but what I have had on multiple controllers is the 3.5 jack messing up and not registering the headset. Like 5 or so so far 😡
these need to be designed where the user can easily unscrew the sticks and replace them for $5 bucks, or better fix it but na not gonna happen.
for me its the unresponsive D-pad of their controllers. i swear to god, sometimes it feels like i have to press it multiple times for it to work
Every controller will get drift eventually, parts wear down, some are made better than others, unless a real defect is found this will go nowhere.
All depends on the parts really, and how hard you are on the sticks, but its just bits of plastic metal and rubber, they all wear down eventually.
Here’s what you do: You take controller back and exchange it for another. I never once thought to take someone to court because something I bought didn’t work. Hey, everytime I microwave my hot pocket it craps all on the plate and doesn’t look like the picture on the box, I think I have a case!
All platforms have inconsistent controller issues. Hopefully next gen will improve minimum quality standards.
Is this drifting thing really that bad to justify suing MS over? Seems too excessive?
It depends what type of games u player. Fps gamers that play a ton online will have more problems. I've been through at least 9 xbox controllers. Playstation controllers 1 last as long as three xbox controllers with fps
You've been through at least 9 xbox controllers? I'm a Sony fan, but I just find it hard to believe you've gone through 9 xbox controllers. That seems crazy to me.
Yeah I'm a master on Overwatch and play a ton. I always get the warranty at best buy or switch them out at target. Because Sony is a Japanese country they will obviously make higher quality products same as with cars long lasting.
Series 2 are so hard to come across took me a month to find one in Walmart. I had to go to my neighboring state to buy mine btw, and right out the box I noticed the thumb stick drifts so it has nothing to do with wear & tear.
Most drift issues occur because people don't know how to use a controller. Hard press the sticks when it's not the way to handle them...
That's really painfull on a 150$ Elite controller... but you can find 0,50$ switch replacements on Amazon or two complete stick mechanisms of top quality for 9,99$ https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.clou...
Hi guys so I figured I'd jump in and clear up a couple of things on drift, PS4 vs Xbox controllers and the best way to avoid drift. (You don't have to take my advice. And this isn't a know it all post, just trying to help)
- PlayStation 4 and Xbox use the same joystick modules. You can buy a handful of them and you can use them for all controllers.
- Xbox Elites Series 1 were terribly built, the engineering/concept was amazing but:
*Rear grips failed consistently peeled from controller
*Bumper is made of cheap plastic and the part that fails is thin, cheap plastic
*Usb ports are not properly soldered - causes connection issues
- Drift is very common in these controllers, very
Now for the PlayStation 4 JDM Motherboards 001 - to JDM-055 - The pro controllers have the light up touchpad.
- The first generation of PlayStation 4 controllers were built pretty darn well but the motherboards were huge and the assembly was poor at times specifically the soldering
- Motherboards need a seprate ribbon to connect MB to the USB Port (bad design)
- Thumbsticks wore out very quickly
- The size of the motherboard decreased about 30% from the JDM 001 to the JDM 055 and therefore the internals completely changed newer ps4 controller parts are not interchangeable (excluding action buttons)
- Drift is equally as high as on the Elites
- Elite 2's have drift and a bumper failure mainly on the right which I'm still trying to come up with a solution for****
Nintendo Switch JoyCons are abused, so I don't think they fail at high of a rate as people are lead to believe. However they do fail and fail frequently.
The Elite Series 2 is hands down a superior controller to all others. Some of the aftermarket like the Astro and Scuf are nice but this conversation isn't about them. Again, these have drift too and the Elite 2 is $200+. Microsoft knew of this problem, how could they not? Open any forum and drift is a major topic. Did they intentionally out out a product that they knew was going to fail on their clients pretty quickly in certain circumstances? No. Should they repair them for free, yes. Having said that people send me controllers that I literally will not touch unless I have plastic gloves, it's disgusting.
Best way to avoid drift -
- Don't lie your remote down on the Joysticks for extended periods of time
- I'm in CO so dust is our enemy and it's yours too. Place your remote in a case when done.
- Be gentle with them when you can. Hey I game and there are rage moments so I understand. But think of your PC that PC has the same stuff on the inside and we place those and try not to move them around! If that makes sense.
Hope this helps, I could write another 20 pages on controllers but I have to get to work! Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I build custom controllers for a living and make a pretty good living. And of course this is all my experience yours may differ. I'm not advocating or pushing for one over the other just stating facts that I encounter on a daily basis.
Cheers,
Ryan
Hey Folks, I too had issues with my Elite 2. Had to send it back already once. Insurance is a MUST with this controller. Microsoft are not the best in the hardware world, which is probably why they wanted to purchase Logitech a couple of years back.
The controller I have definitely drifts, but they didn't give me a new one, they just repaired the one I had. IT was the left stick for me, kept drifting upwards without even moving the stick....too much money for that controller for it to screw up like this.
I have owned the Elite 1 and 2 and I had issues with each. With the Elite 1 had issues with the right bumper being loose/coming off. With the Elite 2 I have issues with left and right bumper not working properly and I have drift with the right stick. I am typically very easy on my controllers but I'm far from perfect and drop them on occasion, meaning between the 2 controllers I have dropped them 10 times or less. With the Elite 1 Msoft sent me a replacement for free because I have been a part of Xbox since the original. With the Elite 2 I bought it when it dropped and within 6 months I had issues and now their Support sucks. I hope this gets resolved quickly.
I’ve only had stick drift on one controller - an extra official MS XB360 controller I picked up. All other XB and PS and Nintendo controllers have been fine.
The Digital Foundry review of the Microsoft Elite Series 2, what we believe is the best Xbox and PC controller on the market.
Not from what I have seen..
Having button issues..
Have not heard about stick drift like in the original.
I would go to the forums instead of trusting a review.. especially about a Microsoft product.
To every shill trying to protect Microsoft with the “disagree” button..😂
https://www.windowscentral....
Most of the time people go to forums to complain instead of taking The time to praise. You'll have to weed through what is an issue affecting a small percentage of people or a wide spread problem. Doubt you even own one. My first gen elite is going strong.
Hopefully we don't see an elite pad for series x at launch or I'll be pissed at buying this and it's not compatible with the series x fully. I hear there is an extra button on series x controller
There is a "share" button. Other than that: Every Xbox One controller works on Xbox Series X.
Got mine on Day One and its been simply awesome!
Much more durable internals than the original, which you can see from any teardown of it on YouTube. Mine is the same condition as I got it and I've played regularly since release.
It's basically an improvement in every area compared to the original. Watch a teardown there's a few that point out all the differences and improvements inside it and don't fall for the people throwing negatives into the mix here. It's mainly Playstation fanboys who will put down anything Xbox related.
Yes A button has 'stuck' for some people on the first batch but it's not often and its fairly small scale. There's also a easy fix for it.
I have the series 2. I have had zero issues with it since launch. It's been great and you can tell that it's improved from the first version.
As an owner of the first one, I had to replace the bumpers (both bumpers are actually attached into a single piece of plastic which was not durable at all), as well as the grips on both the left and then eventually the right. Wasn't a huge issue, but it was like a car, the older it got the more issues it began to have. Replacement parts were limited, but repairing it was pretty simple. Not something I was fond of doing after paying a premium though.
“Optional” elite controller that is mainly used for eSport and competition. Yeah, if it is not for us then why it should exist right?
@nucky64: is that really overpriced? Depends on who you ask from. Overpriced to you? You are probably not the target customer then. Overpriced to competitive fps guy who invests hundreds or thousands of hours to fine-tune their game play? Hell no. Just check what is the market price of these special controllers. It is anything between around $130 - $200 at the moment.
These are extremely high quality controllers. You'd have to hold one to really understand the difference.
Problem is the shell and buttons are all high quality, but it all relies on the same quality board internally. You'd think with all that money they charge you would get tougher solders and internal toggles but on the 1st elite controller they weren't really any better than the regular controller. Hopefully thats different this time around.
Yup for maybe an extra 3 dollars worth of components on the pcb and maybe like 80 cents worth of extra plastic.
@PyroMessiah86
Somebody doesn't know how much components and material cost. These type of controllers existed before MS made theirs. They didnt spend any more than a few bucks, no matter what they say, coming up with this controller.
Well gee whiz. I'm sure I have some "components" and at least 80 cents worth of extra plastic laying around the house. I guess I can just make my own controller, huh?
sigh
I don’t care what anyone says, wayyy too much for a pad. The margin has to be through the roof. $125 max. To each their own, people spend on what they see value in. I fail to see that much value.
No they aim for people who is willing to buy. if they knew people would pay 500 they would charge that
Did you know logitech makes a gaming keyboard that cost $249 and a gaming mouse at $149? Guess what? The keyboard doesn't do anything special besides being specifically geared for competitive gaming. If you think $200 for an enthusiasts and competitive level Xbox gaming pad is too expensive, then it's not meant for you. However, the pricing is in line with other enthusiast/competitive gaming level products
I mean if you dabbled in the PC market you would see what's overpriced there. People spend all sorts of money on gaming keyboards, mice, monitors, etc. They all do something extra above a regular piece of hardware. These controllers go above and beyond a standard controller.
This controller isn't for you for sure.
There is some hardware out on PC which is significantly better than what you get with the standard style mouse or keyboard. It's not that games are unplayable with the lesser hardware, but if you spend a lot of time on some games, a good keyboard or mouse can really be a much better experience.
When I played WOW, I raided a lot, and I had a $150 mouse. I didn't buy it for the DPI, but because it was programmable and had hot key buttons where I could set up my rotation without having to move my hand across the keyboard, and I just cycled through a series of well placed number buttons on the side. It had extra ways to use the top buttons, and it improved my game play in Raids and my general enjoyment of the game.
Same with keyboards. Mechanical keybaords tend to be more responsive, which is good for games. Some have lighted keys which makes them easier to see if you play in the dark, and many of the good ones have larger buttons and layouts, and often they have their own set of hot keys to do what you could do with the mouse.
This controller is essentially the same thing, but the need for all those extra perks is more limited due to the input options being constrained to the default controller. But, being able to map say the directional keypad to the back buttons is really good in games which allow you to switch stuff up, especially in games where those switch may come during an action scene where taking your thumb off the left stick isn't ideal. Triggers tend to be more resposive, or at least feel better so it becomes more natural.
I wouldn't personally pay that much for a controller nowadays though. But, there is merit to why people are willing to spend that much money on them. I'm fine with the default controllers, but even I still have times where I wouldn't mind some of the features available on the higher end ones.
My last 2 kb/m setups were $200+. I can't type on them though, so I still need to switch the kb out for anything non-gaming.
If I can defend those kinds of purchases to my skeptical wife, these controllers are cake. I'm waiting for next gen to see if Series 3 offers anything else, or grab the Series 2 at a end-of-life discount.
One Logitech keyboard i had was hard to type text on at first. It was one of those semi-ergonomic ones. I liked it because the keys were bigger than normal keyboards. It took some getting used to, but eventually I was pretty proficient on it. If I hadn't also had a job where I typed a lot on more common keyboards, I think it might have been hard to go back.
I don't care what you say as you don't represent the whole gaming community. And what does margin has to do with anything? Special products are always sold at higher margin. It's not like companies put a certain fixed margin on top of their costs. That's called "cost plus" pricing and is almost always the worst possible way to do business. This product is using value based pricing, as it should. The price is in line with other products in this segment. There is A LOT of people who see value in this and will gladly pay $200. I know I would if I was a Xbox gamer. Unluckily Sony doesn't have anything like this in their lineup so I'm stuck with Razer and Scuf controllers instead.
The recharge on this one is quite long lasting. Longer than most play and charge packs etc.. so far
This has to be the ultimate controller for gaming. I would want one if it was a bit cheaper.
Does it have a gyro? No? My PS4 controller is still more useful and after 3 years the sticks and buttons still work as they should.
For almost 200 bucks, shit it better be a masterpiece. You know what else is a masterpiece... whispers...Playstation.. lol I'm just trying to get you exboxers fired up haha.
My series 1 is falling apart at the rubber seem after under 100 hours of use. No thank you,
I don't know about the elite, but the OG XBOX One controllers and the one I have for my X all work great.
I am new to Playstation 4 not having one since PS1. The PS4 controller is not nearly as good at least for me as the Xbox One controller. It's the PS4 button layout and stick layout with the lack of a Dpad that bothers me. Love my PS4 and having a blast, but really? No dpad? The button layout on my Switch pro Controller is more comfortable,
I absolutely love my Elite 2, and I do not own an XBOX. I only use it on PC, and I, of course, have the must-own app for it to customize the paddles and do way more than the stock Microsoft app.
YOU MUST GET reWASD. It's amazing. I usually put F12 and PrintScreen on two of the paddles for Steam and Nvidia screenshots. Usually something else for the other two paddles.
I have both controllers, they are pretty good. The ONLY issue that I can say which is a pain with the Elite 2, is that sometimes the controller un-syncs with the console thus making it not able to power it on. I have to power on the consoel manually and re-sync it.
This has happened a number of times for the Elite 2 already since I purchased it. That is also indicative of the xbox one controllers, they tend to un-sync with the console from time to time and for no apparent reason from what I can see. A bug that hasn't been addressed by M$.
Did they have to buy these controllers or did they get free ones for review purposes?
I'd hate to spend $200 on this, find out that IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT, and not being able to play with an ordinary controller ever again.
lol, I was just saying how none of the stores in my local area can garuantee me 1 at launch...I procrastinated thinking at that price I'd be able to walk in pick one up on my way home Tuesday, damm I was wrong. Gonna drive 'n go find me one...I got contacts.
i pre-ordered mines off of amazon forever ago...
when u have a bunch of gift card $ laying around you don't mind paying $32 for the controller.
If you hurry they have best buy preorders now. Just ordered mine said it will be here the 27th for extra $
Uh oh. Amazon UK still lists mine as due for delivery on Tuesday, so I'll just hope I don't receive any notification of a problem. I'm relying on this controller to address my "rubbish at games" problem.
why are people buying this? Do people honestly think it's going to make them better at games or something as from my view it's massively over priced.