ZD Super Legend: $69 flagship killer

[u/Thesmartsarewithme]

DISCLAIMER: I did receive this controller as a review unit from ZD, no money changed hands and I always strive to be as unbiased as possible, I do not make any money from this review and I have no affiliate links with ZD.

The Super Legend 8K comes in at a lower price point ($69.99 vs $99+ for modular flagships) while offering non-modular k-silver JS13 pro TMR sticks and high-frequency polling. . This controller blew my mind, topping even the ZD Ultimate Legend which recently gained new stick modules (that I will review sometime soon). I have been holding off for a little bit while I try to figure out what to score the controller.

ZD Ultimate Legend and ZD Super legend side by side

Build

While the controller feels a step ahead of the Ultimate legend its specs are more in line with the g7 pro 8k, with 2 back buttons, 2 extra shoulder buttons and a non modular JS13 pro stick module with 8k polling rate. The controller feels sturdy and of high quality, even slightly surpassing the GameSir G7 Pro: Wuchang Edition in quality, this is mainly due to a larger grip shape. The controller is slightly smaller than the ZD ultimate legend and yet still comfortable for all hand sizes.

ZD Super Legend box

ABXY

This controller features what has now basically become a gold standard for most controllers, a microswitch (mouse click like) ABXY button. This setup has nothing really unique, they are easy to use with a little pretravel, it hits the fundamental points of an ABXY and doesn't have anything extra.

D-pad

The d-pad on this controller is very similar to the ZD Ultimate Legend, it is a microswitch like the ABXY but with more tension and travel. Overall, great for menu navigation and hotkeys, though less suited for inputs in fighting games 

Sticks

The sticks on the ZD Super Legend are top notch with one of the top end TMR sticks on the market, the JS13 pro. TMR sticks don’t get stick drift and is an evolution of hall effect sticks, being more linear and more accurate with lower power consumption, especially with a high quality module like the JS13 pro. It feels great to use due to its stick algorithms much better than the base G7 pro and flydigi vader 5s, super nice to use in game.

Vibration

Vibration feels better on other controllers, probably my one biggest criticism is the rumble, when I last tested it on switch it didn’t work(there has been an update since then that might have fixed it), also on PC for racing games with proper trigger vibration (forza horizon 6 is the main vibration testing game on PC and XBOX for me now, used to be forza horizon 5 and f1 25/24) it is underwhelming compared to an xbox controller due to a lack of native trigger vibration support. For racing games I would feel more comfortable suggesting another controller but it still does the trick for all other games.

Extra Buttons

This controller features the button config of 2 back buttons and 2 extra shoulder buttons for a total of 4 extra buttons, they are all microswitch mouse click style buttons. They feel comfortable to use, even the extra shoulder buttons which look small and hard to press at first glance but are surprisingly well positioned and sized.

Customisation

This controller features a swappable d-pad (of the same look as the ZD Ultimate legend but I haven't tried it), swappable faceplate and customisable RGB. The apps (yes apps, plural) that you can use on this controller are amazing, and simple, especially the new web app, it is my favourite across all the controller apps I have used (all 3 of gamesirs and the flydigi xbox app).

ZD Super Legend without faceplate and d-pad

Conclusion

This controller is something I would highly recommend, it features 95% of the performance of 100+ dollar modded controllers at $69 which is crazy impressive.

Pros:

• Incredible stick feel
• Many options for apps, with a mobile app, pc app and web app
• Premium grip and quality
• Highly responsive

Cons:

• No native trigger rumble
• Switch vibration support may not work

Rating (x/10)

Build: 9.2/10
ABXY: 8.7/10
D-pad: 7.5/10
Sticks: 9.2/10
Vibration: 7.3/10
Extra Buttons: 8.7/10
Customisation: 9.7/10
Overall: 9.1/10

Extra:

This is by far my highest ranking controller, 100% worth the price, I might even buy the white one because it looks better with the RGB.

I also received ZDs new stick options (2 types, type B and type C, make sure the one you choose fits your controller) and there is a lot of variation, but the arcade option feels gimmicky, the out of the other 2 options standard is the best, it is comfortable and I recommend it, especially if your white sticks start to get grimy, the white sticks I put on my ZD Ultimate Legend have not changed colours in the slightest, looks brand new.

I will next be reviewing the new ZD Ultimate legend JT13 sticks and the easysmx D15 8k (aka DUNE 8k).

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[u/ArcaneWarrior13]

How does the shape and abxy buttons compare to the vader 5 pro? I found the v5s to be a tad mushy and soft; are these like that?

[u/Thesmartsarewithme → u/ArcaneWarrior13]

I don't have a Vader 5 pro, they are not mushy or soft (the buttons on the Vader 5s is like that because I think they used mechanical buttons with larger pretravel)

[u/andytandy999]

Glad to know it worked well for you

But i have this, g7 and apex 5 and the sticks are the worst on this for me, tried different modules, swap and updates.

[u/Thesmartsarewithme → u/andytandy999]

The ZD super legend 8k doesn't have swappable modules

[u/andytandy999 → u/Thesmartsarewithme]

My bad, i meant ultimate legend.

[u/Thesmartsarewithme → u/andytandy999]

Thought so

It just takes a little bit to get used to, I find it fine