Xbox Special Edition Wireless Gaming Controller – Ghost Cipher Series X|S, One, Windows PC, Android, and iOS

Feels as sturdy as the original Wireless Controller I got with my Xbox One. Batteries come in the box. The instructions for pairing it with the Xbox One are very poor. Unreadable in fact. Googled the instructions for pairing and it wouldn’t work.Connected it to the Xbox with a USB cable and it paired immediately. Everything works like it should.

My husband loves this controller. He bought it to use on his computer. It arrived quickly and was easy to install. And it's an original controller, and it's at a good price.

Worked great, package was a little damaged when it arrived but the controller itself was fine. Only been a couple months and already have some stick drift but nothing major. Still usable. Mainly use it for Bo6 so take that as you will. Overall 8/10 though just cause of the damaged packaging and stick drift

Beautiful controller, love the blue color - wish they made a dark green translucent controller like from the original Xbox days. Battery life is excellent, I prefer to use AA batteries as they are easy to swap and don't have to worry about charging. Works great with both my Series X and my PC laptop.

I really love the design of the xbox controller. Feels great in your hands, everything is responsive, holds up well, except for the joysticks.The joysticks fail always, sometimes pretty quick other times it takes half a year or longer. Really this is a problem with any joysticks because they are moving parts, the potentiometers lose their conductivity with friction and produce unreliable outputs.I wouldn't be bothered by this, but the joysticks aren't made in a reparable way and they also aren't Hall effect sticks. If you could swap the potentiometers easily that would be great, I have several of these controllers that I don't want to take the time to desolder and repair, rather just buy a new one. If Microsoft replaces these with Hall effect sticks though I'd be content, hopefully they will be on their next model as they become more popular.Overall great controller, just doesn't hold up as well as I would hope.

The “core” controller is the latest iteration of the xbox controller and from a quick glance it can be difficult to spot a difference from the xbox one controller but there are some subtle ones.The core controller now sports a textile grip texture at the rear of the controller and at the top of the LT and RT triggers. I have never had an issue with slippage on my previous xbox one controller but the texture is a welcome addition and it is very subtle which didn’t cause any discomfort in my hands. The Dpad now sports a similar look to the old 360 design but despite this it thankfully works like a regular Dpad and seems to be much more “clicky” now. It’s responsive and will work fine on platformers and similar style games though it would not be my first preference for fighting games. The only other addition I could spot is the share button which I understand is to capture games clips and screens. The analog sticks feel the same to me and the controller still requires double AA batteries although a battery pack can be purchased separately.Annoyingly, unlike my previous xbox controllers I was not able to get this working via Bluetooth on Ubuntu but connection through USB works with no issues so I just use it like that. I have tested it on a Windows 11 machine and the Bluetooth connection works as expected. Just make sure to select the section under Bluetooth devices that specifically mentions xbox controllers.The version I purchased was the electric volt that sports a two tone colour variant with a Kermit style green at the front and plain white at the back. Initially I thought that white would have quickly become dirty but after a few months of usage this was thankfully not the case. The grip texture strangely does not collect grime buildup which is much appreciated although I wonder what sorcery did they conjure to make this possible?Even if you are primarily a mouse and keyboard player it’s always handy to have a controller in the event you stumble across a game that demands it and I don’t think you can go wrong with this controller which can be had for <50 dollars on sale. I think it’s a perfect pickup if you need a new controller or replacement BUT If you already have a working xbox one controller I don’t think it’s worth spending money for this as an “upgrade” unless of course you really need that share button functionality. Personally, I think the PS5 controller wins the competition this round with newer tech like haptic and audio feedback for games that support it and that support does seem to be growing but that controller is substantially more expensive. You can’t go wrong with either but the core controller is in a much more affordable position particularly at sales prices.

12/20/24: Update based on Black xBox Core Wireless Controller. Love it!! The red one is ugly and awful. You can't see the button markings because they're all red on black, who does this??? But the Black one is perfect. The button markings are different colors making them easy to distinguish if you're coming from a Nintendo Pro Controller. Would prefer all white button markings but this works well for me because at least I can see them while gaming.11/28/24: Early review that will be updated as my use reveals new things. Bought this controller because it was available and I could get it right away. I normally play with my Black Nintendo Pro Controller and it works everywhere I need it to on my Steam games. Got a fix / patch recently that kept me from using my boat and this controller, after I updated it, learned how to use it with the button configuration differences saved me. I'm playing again and happy.It performs well for now and I am cautiously optimistic based on the reviews, but I immediately ordered two in Black so I can move this one to emergency use only. Meanwhile I have a controller that works with my boat and Happy Thanksgiving to me. Playing my heart out since last night after setting it up. Buy direct from Amazon, sold and shipped, and you'll probably get a good one. I'll report back later.That said, what brainiac at Microsoft thought it would be a good idea to make a two tone controller with white, on the back yet. hello, dirty all the time, and yes, you don't see it, but it hurts my eyes which is why I play with black controllers. Very light sensitive here. Microsoft must not understand that there are other folks like me out there. Fine the design team needs to get out more.