I’ve obviously used the Xbox Elite controller a bunch of events over the years, but I never actually owned one. That’s why I was even more excited to get my hands on the new and improved Elite Controller Series 2, which landed on my desk this morning.
First impressions are great, the controller has a tonne of weight, as well as rubberised grip around the entire controller, which makes it comfortable to hold. there’s six interchangeable thumbsticks, four paddles, two d-pads and even an adjustment tool that lets you adjust how tight your analogue sticks are (I never even knew I needed this until now).
The most game-changing piece of tech included is in the case, and I didn’t even knew it existed before I opened it up. The Xbox Elite Controller 2 charges via USB C (we’re slowly getting to a point where most thing use USB C, thank god), and Microsoft has been nice enough to include a charging dock in the case.
Now, the actual dock itself is probably the nicest charging dock I’ve come across. it’s made of some kind of metal that has a great weight to it (similar to the controller), so if it’s sitting on your desk, taking your controller on and off (via the magnetic strip that the controller charges through) it won’t fling the dock off your desk.
However, it’s the fact that you can literally leave the dock in the case and charge your controller inside the case, that literally blew my mind. There’s a little rubber tab that flips up and low and behold, you can plug your USB C (it’s a long cable too) straight into the dock which will charge your controller. it sits nice and snug in there too, so there’s not a lot of room for error.
With the release of the Xbox Elite 2 controller, it feels like we’ve got a little taste of next-gen early. I can’t wait to see what Sony do with the DualShock 5. It seems like it’ll have some pretty cool features, but it better have a dock that can also act as a way of charging the controller via the case, or I’ll be disappointed.
The Xbox Elite 2 controller arrives in Australian stores on November 2nd.