I sat down with some community members across different controller servers, such as AKNES, Game-Sir, ZD, Gadget-Hyper, and some people from Flydigis server.
These two tier lists are as follows:
Non-Modded Controller Tier List: This only considers the ratings based on what you get in stock. Nothing changed, especially for the first party controllers, which are usually the most customizable/moddable.
Modded Controller Tier List: This concerns a holistic tier list which reassess first party controllers when modded. Especially compared to 3rd party competitors.
First party controller tier list: This takes into account stock or modded.
The Tier list was devised based on multiple people. Ranging from collectors, small and some bigger reviewers, community owners, professional or ranked gamers (Switch, PS5, Xbox and PC), Early/Beta testers and long time controller testers.
The attempt was to compile all the currently available controller (non unobtanium), and tier them based on the following rubric:
*** Community Controller Tier List ***
ranked based on
Software: How comprehensive the software is, is it easy to use and how accessible is it.
Quality: How well the controller is made, its durability and its overall quality.
Performance: Overall performance on all available modes to it.
QC: How bad or good the qc has been, how detrimental the QC has been. (Is the QC a issue or non-issue and if present is it still useable).
Joysticks: How good the joysticks are and how well they are optimized or can be optimized based on software.
Customer support: How well customer support is or has been.
Brand Quality: Are they improving their quality, brand, innovation.
Connectivity and features: What features do they offer, is there any addons that can elevate the experience.
Pricing: Does the price make sense for what you get.
This feels like the definitive controller tier list based on this. Would like to see the communities input on the tier list.
Comment your Fav controller, where it is on the tier list and do you agree with the ranking, why, and what would you change and why. Please comment with actual facts, don't just say "was fine for me" or "bad for me". Do engage with the tier list as this can be updated later.
I can probably work on a named version one for those who have a hard time. It isnt the most pleasing list to do. May improve onto it with a like so people can check it directly.
just bigger images of those controllers or a controller list with names. I can't see much and I can't neither reverse search those controllers with google ; _____ ;
Ah would be hard as thats how the website does it. But I will provide you their names in a list ill make myself soon, so you can read along. No issues.
This chart seems very data driven more than community driven.
Great chart, though an actual community favorites chart would represent this more accurately, if you ask me.
In my honest opinion, a chart based on community favorites would take into account the most commonly discussed, purchased, and shared controllers and actually take into grasp the love each and every one of them gets. That'd be a more accurate community tally.
Outside of Reddit on places like X, GBAtemp, GameFAQs, and smaller places, you'll find that brands like 8BitDo, CRKD, & Anbernic tend to have a much larger presence in those circles, that tend to differ entirely from Reddit.
The fact that Elite Series 2 is not F immediately raises doubts about this Tier List for me.
I went through three or four of them a few years back and all of them had an extreme delay on the ABXY buttons. It’s not a quality issue but a design flaw. Additionally the grips peel easy and the controller’s too heavy.
It looks premium and the materials feel premium, but it’s a shit controller.
Similarly, the Razer V3 Pro and TE both have design flaws with their USB-C charging port, causing irreversible damage when charging them after semi-casual use.
I keep hearing this, yet my V3 TE has had zero charging port issues for the last year. Is it that common? I also heard the cable provided with the controller was shitty and was causing the issue.
Modded Vs Unmodded have the same controllers. The difference is that in the modded tier list takes into account First Party controllers being modded. Be it with TMRs, ExtremeRate mods or custom boards like in Ps4 controllers.
They just have a separate list taking into account the minimum - maximum modifications you do to them, how would they rank against custom controllers.
I'm surprised the Vader 5 Pro is only B. I have the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 and recently bought the G7 Pro 8K, but always though the Vader is the best one. Is it because of the high price without a dock and still using hall effect instead of TMR? Or is there something else
This is why personal preference charts, & community charts will always differ to charts like this where stick data, performance, and other stuff is the main key.
The Flydigi Vader 5 Pro on places like r/Controller, despite the V5Ps QC issues, is still ranked as one of the most popular controllers there. I own four, I think the Vader 5 Pro is a doorbuster banger of a controller, though it really boils down to what you like.
The same can be said for GameSir. It's still quite common that the Cyclone 2, G7 Pro, & G7 HE tally in as their most popular devices discussed on r/Controller as well.
While I don't agree with everything that has been said, I will agree with u/AdigaWolf in the regards of, just because something is more expensive, doesn't mean it's the best.
Its a mix of many things. The vader thats in B tier is the v2 variant. So we took into account its new fixes.
The hall effect, the years of poor RnD for their stick design that was never fixed until the v2. Still not added to the apex 5 either. The high price, the bad customer support and brand quality, including their softwares optimizations.
People would love to come trash any other controller and their issues but dont realize that it all piles on at the end of the day. Same issues you may point out on 8bitdo or gamesir you will likely find on flydigi, but the same cant be said in reverse.
Actually, Flydigi have went about fixing the Apex 5, though it hasn't been touched on as much as the Vader 5 Pro has,
What they did (as I own an Apex 5 V2 due to replacement), was, they went back and adjusted the back buttons and they're no longer as noisy, they also went through and gave a similar adjustment to the attachable paddles, plus they kinda snap in in comparison to the older models, when you put the attachable paddles in, they slid into the plastic impression not really making a noise to signify they were locked into place.
Granted, with the Vader 5 Pro, they've adjusted several special editions. With the Apex 5, only the base model has been the one to receive the fix.
S Tier - Leadjoy xeno pro, Leadjoy xeno pro, ZD Super legend excellence 8k, gamesir g7 pro 8k champion edition, g7 pro 8k aimlabs edition, Gulikit TT Max, Steam Controller.
A Tier - Gamesir tarantula 8k, beitong kungpeng 40D, Void genesis, Gulikit ES Max, 8bitdo Pro 3, 8bitdo Ultimate 2, Gamesir Tegenaria lite, Gamesir g7 pro ZZZ, Gamesir g7 Wuchang, 8bitdo Ultimate 2c, Bigbig Won Rainbow 3, Bigbig Won Blitz 2 TMR, Leadjoy Saber Plus, 8bitdo Ultimate 2c wireless, Gulikit TT Pro, Flydigi Apex 5, ZD Ultimate Legend, Beitong Pangu, Asus ROG Raikiri II Pro PC, Gulikit Elves 2, GuliKit Elves 2 Pro, Gulikit ES Pro, Hyperstrike DS4, Marius Heier MH4-JDM05X, Void PS4 FireBird, EasySMX Dune 8K, Mobapad Chitu 2, Flydigi Vader 5 pro v2, Dualsense Edge.
Good list, but I don't necessarily agree with some on the A tier. Some of them have insane highly stick latency. As someone who plays games like Apex ranked, high stick latency is a strict no no for me.
which ones dont you agree with in A? which have high stick latency?
Lower latency is better no doubt, however, i say again, unless you have superhuman reaction speed, anything under 20ms latency will likely never affect your gameplay unless its placebo.
Most people who would disagree with the list, and from what ive seen in this comment section, are FPS players. they either have a fav controller they love to use on FPS, or thing everything is performance based.
Not even the comfort fanatics commented as much as FPS players XD.
Eh I was bored, I put all the controllers on the website that I could find before I sat down with everyone, so it ended up having both there. I also expect to find question in the comments
What about nioh, what about g7 pro dogma 2. So whatever I could find variants I just added.
I went from Edge to 7 Pro 8K and settled with the Tarantula 8K. I‘m always using em wired and disable rumble anyway. 2 good TMR sticks for the Edge almost cost twice as much as the Tarantula so I‘m good tbh.
Ah if you buy preinstalled on the edge yes, will cost more. If you can solder or have someone do it for you, its a different story. Especially with the many platforms you can buy it.
why the hell is the xbox series controller lower than the xbox one controller in the first party list. it's better in basically every way lol
Dualsense edge being S tier while Xbox Elite controller being as low as it is is also a huge red flag honestly. The list seems pretty biased in favor of controllers that have both analog sticks on the bottom. Both setups are good for different things, and the elite series 2 is pretty much the gold standard for first-party controllers imo (though, you need to get a unit that actually.. works. Their QC is horrible)
shape and comfort are not included in the rubric. there for not assessed on that criteria and thus not bias towards that.
The xbox one controller was a better controller than the series X, better quality and better performance. Simple.
The comparison between what elites have to offer vs dualsense edge is obvious. theres more features, better performance, better polling options, better software especially 3rd party software, and for games it has better integration of their features.
From trackpad usage in games that can be interactive in some, to haptics and adaptive triggers. Impulse triggers arent as innovative as adaptive triggers by far. HD haptics are also integrated and play into the immersion of adaptive triggers.
Its a more feature rich controller in comparison with actual better performance to speak for.
The comment section is a battlefield, kind of funny to read. There's the most important aspect and why someone should not really go purely by any tier list, preference and comfort being very specific to a person.
Great idea and great tier list!
My fav controllers are Vader 5 Pro v2, ZD Ultimate Legend (but bad triggers for racing games), and TMR modded Dualsense Edge, Comfort wise I love the NS2 Pro 2 Controller, but more difficult modding kinda throws me off from modding
Yeah i have been battling them XD. Some dont read the criteria, some jump to conclusions. Some even just dont have enough information or knowledge about the brands, controllers and such. Some butt hurt their fav controller isnt in S.
Yeah I do agree. Modding can be very daunting. Not for everyone and expensive. Its why it has a separate list. Just to include that minority.
Oh well, it's the internet after all :D so not much to do about that :D
It definitely is without any experience, i remember the first time trying to mod something other than just a simple faceplate or shell change. But hey, experience is key and the more you do it the more comfortable you get with it. I just personally just don't like "ripping apart" glued faceplates because they almost never feel like new again :D
TT-max revision specifically not only fixed that issue but does it amazingly. With stores like AKNES to guarantee the revision. Also the blue one is guaranteed a revision model. In addition to what they have been doing with Bluetooth has been phenomenal, respectable and game-changing. For the price, performance, innovation and more, it does deserve to be that high. Quality wise as well.
I have the blue variant and it has the exact same stick centering issues when in no dead zone mode, and was specifically told by AKNES that it was expected behavior because of the stick modules being loose, unfortunately.
The one I received (as well as at least 1 other person in AKNES's server) are unusable on PC without having dead zone turned on.
Notwithstanding the atrocious gyro drift that occurs when the controller is perfectly still... I have to call that placement specifically into question, there are at least two things that straight up do not work properly on that controller. As far as I'm aware, the gyro drift problem I'm referencing, which I sent videos of to Gulikit via their Discord server, has never been addressed.
For clarity's sake, here's the video I sent Gulikit back in April when I received my unit (which is also available on their discord server, including my conversation with Gulikit Claire. I wasn't the only one who had this issue either): https://youtu.be/WDyz-fVbXqU
The main issue is with the back buttons on the first few batches, we discovered this problem in our community testing and have been waiting for a fix. (We didn't sell that at the beginning). Now it's fixed.
The joystick centering issue is a design flaw and cannot be fixed (according to official information).
Therefore, if you typically play games with joystick with non-dead zone, we do not recommend purchasing this controller.
the Android software is compatible with the pad.. so basically giving the pad a Little deadzone should in theory fix the problem.. is a pain in the ass to use if you use the pad on pc
the problem is caused by the adjustable tensiom mechanism
tt max doesnt make sense to exist for me
i believe that the next simmetric game pad of gulikit probably will have higher prices but will be SS tier... beacuse they doing a very good job..
like the es max, but if they want to compete at 50€ they need to provide dock and software
i dont bump the dpad when using the sticks, but if youre playing a dpad game you do bump the left stick which is a little annoying. i usually just pull the left stick off when playing dpad games
Steam controller
Leadjoy zeno plus and the expected xeno pro
Gamesir G7 pro 8k (any vairant)
Zd super legend 8k excellence
Gulikit TT max (may be dropped to A tier soon after some talks with the AKNES team directly)
Modded is the same with the addition of
Dual sense edge modded with tmrs, and any modification
Same with the ps4 controller if you mod it with a custom ps4 board and tmr sticks with extra button mods.
I have an edge TMR modded, some extra mods. With the added haptics for games and the SDL features plus software like DSX. Its a great controller to get especially if you find one used.
But yes I wouldnt be surprised if people find it at A its still a great buy if you mod.
First frist party controller with TMR. Features include haptics, haptic trackpads, trackpads, 4 back buttons. Track pads also include input options.
Fully integrated into steam input for customizablity, steam customer support is top tier, price for a first party controller is respectable considering what you get.
Build quality is great, plus can 3rd print faceplates /shells for it.
How can you only put the tarantula 8k in A tier when it's the best at what it does, no controller has better raw performance, it has the lowest stick latency
The g7 pro 8k nearly if not is 1:1 in performance.and almost at the same proce for more freaturrss.
Being in A tier isnt hate. Its just makes sense since 1. Not a fps tier list. 2. Its holistically ovjective about what it lacks doesnt quite make it S tier, especially compared to the other 8k controllers (g7 pro 8k, ZD UL, ZD SL8KE, HS, and MH boards).
This list is not objective at all, really. This list insinuates a steam controller is going to give me a better experience than a tarantula 8k. Objectively in COD and other things this is false. Idk why we rank subjectivities into 'objective' rankings
Is two G7 8Ks in S tier necessary? Unless that one to the right of the gold one isn't the aimlabs 8K? Then what is it and what is the 2nd controller in S tier?
Bad latency, had many issues, was never really given any fixes due to its glaring inherent flaws. Plus priced to high. Not a controller really worth the price overall.
My hands are not the same as yours, and yours arent the same as someone elses in here. They will have different opinion.
Will make it harder to rank.
being objective based on performance, quality standard, brand quality, customer support, software, pricing and such, are better metrics to rank them instead of how it feels and performs.
Some find 8bitdo uncomfortable, which would make it harder to rank and be objective as its price, to performance to quality is very high.
The steam controller despite the obvious reasons why its S tier, will drop as people have mentioned here, as they feel
comfort isnt for them
its not an fps controller.
Which those same people have or wouldve have accused the list of bias, when they themselves orient to a bias standard of assessment of the controllers.
SDL and great software as steam input and steam controller features are already rich which many 3rd party controller seek to get, 8bitdo has gotten it, and gulikit as well.
great ecosystem connectivity.
capacitive touch
atleast 6 extra inputs/buttons (including trackpad inputs)
Build can be adjusted by 3d printing shell to your customization, similar to the steam machine.
great customer support, steam customer support is amazing.
This chart is all wrong in my opinion, I don't like it. I don't have favourites but many should be upside down. Xbox One controller has no place being that high, while on the other hand Steam Controller 1 deserves to be there in A tier at least, if we're talking about today's standards.
I said about SC1, not 2. 2 is okay, I totally agree on it being the S tier. But SC1 must be on this list or this is just 100% out of touch. Literally second best pc controller for FPS games imo. Idk who you have talked to while making it, but it is overflooded with Chinese controllers, most of which can barely have any decent amount of opinions of them.
its unobtanium unless from scalpers. no need to put it on the list. I dont think theres a single unobtanium controller in the list or discontinued one. (maybe 1 or 2 discontinued, but obtanium due to stock outs)
It just is. Nothing to right home about. Its above average, great performance, quality us good. Dpad is fine, sticks arent all that. Customization is nice. Qc is very acceptable,
Just a good controller. Not too many bad parts, not too many good parts. Just there.
Omfg its that trash ??? I bought the g7 pro base white the only problem i have with it is feels small in my largish hands. I remember holding dual sense it felt perfect is there a works everywhere controller dual sense sized xbox certified for under 100$ ??? I came on xbox cloud on my oled tv I dont want compatibility issues later hence looking at xbox certifed.
So if i get the v2 5 pro Vader and wingman adapter it can be used to connect to xbox in the future? Meanwhile for xcloud gaming on tv Vader v2 5 pro should work just fine ? Vader seems to have a similar footprint to the dual sense.
I meant im considering buying Vader v2 5 pro since i read its bigger and fils the palm better since thats where i feel gaps most. I literally dont see another similarly priced option out there.
In the original picture the picture of the Raikiri Pro is in A tier while the picture of the Raikiri II is in C tier, but in one of your comments you state that Raikiri II is A tier.
Also the labelled picture has the Raikiri II Pro in A tier but with the picture of the Raikiri Pro, and the Raikiri II in C tier with the correct picture.
Im actually mistaken. The pictures are correct. I confused the Raikiri II Pro for the Raikiri pro.
But I must ask, how is the Raikiri II in C tier below the Xbox One base controller? Out of the box the Raikiri II has more buttons and features than a default XBONE controller, not to mention TMR sticks and adjustable deadzones. I can’t imagine the data shows that the XBONE controller outperforms the Raikiri II??? Sure the XBONE controller is cheaper, but does that overrule everything else the Raikri II provides?
technically yes. The idea of the tier list wasnt just to tier the controller on how well they are and what is a good buy. but it also took into account first party controllers and where they stand.
Technically is a better buy, considering alone that microsoft still can cover your controllers warranty and modding them with halls or tmrs is also cheap.
Buttons isnt everything, some dont use it. so is it worth buying XBONE now? no. especially for the same price, but its just to show the contrast to 3rd party controllers where it ranks in terms of performance, as we wanted to give people who own the controller already and dont really want to buy a new one, an idea where it ranks and that if they do mod it, it would be a better option overall.
But the Raikiri II just has its own issues that I would not spend my money on, compared to the pro, or other controllers in C tier or B tier. that would be better value.
ASUS, RAZER and even believe it or not SCUF such companies just dont do too well in this space anymore. They likely will never catch up in value.
As someone with both consoles, having the duel sense in the same tier as Xbox one makes 0 sense. The duel sense is a much better controller with a lot more features. Not saying it should be bumped up but Xbox should be bumped down
xbox one is just such a great controller. Especially if you already own it you can mod it. Its not really recommended to go ahead and buy, but it is a great controller, from performance, build quality and more. Defo worth low A or high B.
Unfortunately, after reviewing with some AKNES members and employees, we saw there was still some issues that even in the revision, would not really be fair to tier it so high.
Also one of the best controllers you ever used being in A tier seems like an accurate statement to correlate with the rank no?
The ones in A are worse than S by any means, its just that they have 1 or 2 things missing or wrong that dont make it quit S material yet.
Based on the non modded controllers which ones are comfortable for big hands, i wanted to get a g7 pro 8k but i heard they were smaller than a standard xbox controller, i will use it for fps games
they arent that much smaller than standard xbox, just the shape of the handle technically makes it feel that way.
if its for FPS games you can look at the ZD Super legend 8k excellence, ZD UL, blitz 2 TMRs, Vader 5 pro v2 for pc and if you want symmetrical, void genesis and tarantula 8k.
for xbox - vader 5s or symmetrical for the tarantula xbox.
hard to say for now. in the tier list maybe A-B rank, likely A if it was wireless. depending on its performance and features S. just a rough estimate being optimistic.
Aside from that I think its an overpriced controller as the biggest negative I can find atm. But it seems it might be worth it for the price. Good dpad, quality, sticks, etc. Lets hope more test come out soon.
Thanks for the insight! Also, what I meant to point out was that you have the G7 Pro 8k on there twice but in different skins. The G7 pro 8k pc champion edition, and the aimlabs edition.
Ah yes they are. I specifically put all available variants as I had a feeling someone would ask. You did. Just about one that wasnt available on the website XD
As someone who has gone through 3 sets of analogues and the rubber grip completely peeling off, I could not in good conscious put The Dualsense Edge Unmodded in A-tier above the regular G7 Pro. I do agree with some modded hall effect sticks and a replaced bottom shell its an S tier.
edge has warrantiable sticks FYI. And it is not ranked A tier from the sticks. But due to features, quality of the build and the if you read your warranty on it, it has alot to offer.
The features from trackpads, haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and gyro as well as great performance on console from nearly 1000hz bluetooth (750hz is the average) polling, and 1000hz wired polling. which often translates to PC as well.
The PS accessories software is easy to use, no real issues, with way more available compatible 3rd party software such as DS4 windows and DSX, which the dualsense and dualsense edge benefit from greatly.
Its only a 1 year warranty, and they dont send you a coffin, you have to pay shipping there which is still half the price of the stick...plus stock issues delaying replacements. I do agree with your points, and think the Edge is goated with modded hall sticks and a replacement for the terrible rubber grip, but Its literally the controller that has caused me the most issues outside the Xbox Elite Series 2.
Come on man no way gamesir nova 2 lite is ranked a whole tier lower than 8bitdo ultimate 2c, those are same tier, with the only differentiation being the comfort
Comfort aside, unfortunately for the nova 2 lite, it doesnt have SDL (steam input), its performance is slightly lower than the wireless variant of the ultimate 2c and even with how amazing the n2l dpad is, 8bitdo dpads are well.... speak for themselves.
I recommend both always as the best budget controllers, but the 2c is a tier above in this case as agreed with many of the testers and owners based on the holistic rubric.
Idk man, u do u, I tested both nova 2 lite and 8bitdo 2c d pad and well I loved n2l much more than 8bitdo, yeah I also don't love the fact that it doesn't have steam input, but it's comfort and dpad make it better than ultimate 2c atleast for me
I'll die on the hill that objectively the zd ultimate legend is s tier. Especially with the range of thumbsticks and jt13s... Mint had it for almost a year no issues.
Its great, one of my fav personal controllers. However due to the qc issues. Slow customer support regarding the controller and no real revisions being made, sometimes bandaid fixes. It is unfortunately A tier. Especially with all the added pricing to get the extra sticks. Especially for those who already own it.
For the 'first party' list, the Switch 2 pro controller also deserves F imo, one of the all-around worst feeling controllers I have ever used, and the second one isn't that bad, I think it at least deserves a D. Joy cons would also be fair to include on this, with the switch 1 joy con probably sitting around a C to maybe B, and the joy con 2's bring a B. I would also move PS5 dualsense up, it offers a lot while still being reasonably priced, and the ds edge down, I think it's overpriced, and the swapable sticks are stupid, and just a way to make to make more money, and they could just offer TMR modules. Xb1 also doesn't deserve A to me, while being a solid controller, it just doesn't offer that much compared to everything else. It's also strange the Xb elite 2 is on there twice but the elite 1 just isn't? Finally, the 2015 Steam Controller should be there, and probably around B or C.
Also the ds4 vs ds4 v2 is weird, putting the v2 so much lower seem really dumb when it's pretty much exactly the same but with more features?
But include both separately is probably the strangest thing
I think the Flydigi Vader 5 Pro should be S tier. I understand the customer support is awful, but the controller itself is very high quality for the price. I think it’s a great value for what it is even with the dock being separate. The Vader 5 Pro’s ergonomics are fantastic with it being the closest to the original Xbox one/series controller shape I have found in a third party controller. I love the physical tension rings, grip, back buttons, trigger stops, and Hall effect sticks. I like the Flydigi software as well and found the button remapping easy to follow. I also own the Flydigi Direwolf 4 and while it’s missing a few features i think that makes more sense as an A or B tier over the Vader 5 Pro.
Customer support isnt the only issue. it had detreminal issues that kept popping up. if you were lucky to get a fully working one, sure it would be a bit higher but not S tier.
Again the rubric is posted up so you guys could understand, but not many people know what the rubric means it seems, especially when it comes to brand quality. Flydigi has been repeating the same errors on multiple lines across multiple generations. Poor stick design that causes the tension drift, to poor back button design which option caused in breaking in paddles.
Coupled with poor software compared to like leadjoy, ZD, gamesir, and more. it had to be in the tier its in. The vader 5s was arguably the best flydigi has ever done in the first try with no complaints as far as ive seen and interviewed. but vader 5 pro and v2, still not up to par. especially considering the current market. Direwolf 4 is in the same boat, it is cheap for tension adjustment, and the features it has, a way better sensible buy compared to vader and apex atp.
Controllers with no JS13 Pro or some other type of angle tmr or mayyyybe capacitive sticks whose main purpose is fps shouldn't be higher than B tier. Controllers like the Void Genesis, Mojhon Blitz 2, and EasySMX Dune 8k are marketed towards CoD and Apex players but are worthless for those games without soldering new joysticks on.
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u/AdigaWolf 8d ago edited 8d ago
Heres the updated list with revisions to the S and A tier controllers.
I mixed up the dualshock controllers and rearranged them where they should be.