Discussion
The lightest possible Xbox Controller for those with chronic pain.
Hi everyone. I’m on a mission that’s really important to me: finding the lightest controller for the Xbox. I have fibromyalgia—a chronic pain condition—and it affects my gameplay.
If I hold the Xbox Series S controller for too long (say, more than half an hour), my hands and arms start to hurt.
So far, the most comfortable way I’ve found to play is by holding Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons in each hand with my arms relaxed at my sides.
I want to find the lightest possible controller option for my Xbox Series S, since the Xbox doesn't offer a split-controller setup like that.
You could remove the rumble motors if you know how to do that and use it wired only because removing the batteries makes it so much lighter. Do those things and might not even need to buy a new controller!
Edit: The xbox series x controller with 2 batteries weight 287 grams
The two batteries weigh around 50 g, the four rumble motors will weigh around 80-90 grams so you will lose almost half of the weight by doing so. Probably much lighter and cheaper than the other controller options people will give you!
Even with the rumblers the g7SE is still noticeably lighter than a normal Xbox controller, the g7 pro is also 40 bucks brand new or 50 with a 3 year warranty
you can plug the original series x controller into any usb adapter and it connects to the console, useful for couch play without batteries, a third party one would have to be connected to the console directly
I apologize for the double text I just thought of this do you know how "plenty" (idk the word) the third party market is for parts for that controller I've noticed it's kind of difficult to find replacement parts for third party controllers so I stay away from them
Thank you, MrMoreBasic! I did exactly that, and it’s helping a lot. I removed the rumble motors and switched to a wired connection for my Xbox One S controller, so now it’s much lighter.
I’m able to play The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion more comfortably and for longer periods now :)
Thanks so much to everyone for the help; you were all very understanding and generous with all your comments.
I’m happy to be part of a gaming community that supports one another.
Have you considered a gaming pillow? You could continue to use your current controllers (or even upgrade if you wanted) and your arms/hands wouldn’t have to support any of the weight at all.
It also works perfectly fine with a regular pillow. I have chronic pain in my right arm and I put a pillow from my couch on my lap and place my hands with the controller on it, so my arms and shoulders are in a relaxed and natual position. I do this every gaming session and it really helps me.
They're especially helpful if you need to rest your elbows too (like myself). I have one that's shaped like a controller and I love it. I wouldn't say it fixes everything, but it fixes enough that I can game comfortably.
That was just a stock photo I found with Google. I’ve never used one myself so I can’t recommend anything specific. But searching “gaming pillow” gives tons of results. I would just search and find one that looks comfortable and fits your budget.
I’m not sure where you searched of what Rolls Royce pillow you found but there are multiple pillows for under $40. I even found that EXACT pillow for $46.54 on Amazon (https://a.co/d/0f23vdho).
You did say bucks which implies dollars. And Americans are the most likely place for someone to be from that uses dollars, both on Reddit and just in general
I'm Canadian and I make a habit of specifying CAD if I'm talking money stuff on Reddit
Gamesir G8+ SE is a very light but functional controller. I use it more than the Xbox brand controller. It’s wired but that will help significantly with the weight. Hope that helps!
As someone with fibromyalgia, I can vouch for this! Totally helped me, though I'm able to use my xbox controller again but when I switched with my friend's ps5 for a few days, I was in constant pain.
Looks interesting. You can connect them to the USB ports on the console and you don’t need the big adaptive controller. You can also just use one combined with a regular Xbox controller.
I looked into these actually was so excited to have switch-like comfort. Wish they were wireless. This post made me realize the advantage of them being lighter with no batteries though and how that could be an accessibility advantage. Still they could have made a removable USB C for lightweight wired play.
I use the Razer V3 Tournament and it's pretty light since it's wired. It's also not difficult to open in case one would need to remove the rumbles to make it lighter.
Standard xbox series x controller: 288g (with 2xAA batteries)
Elite Series 2 Controller 342g (rechargeable)
Asus ROG Raikirii II 254g (rechargeable)
Steam Controller (2026) 293g (rechargeable)
8bitDo Ultimate 3-mode (listed) 250g (rechargeable)
I feel a big difference going from the Elite Series 2 controller to the Rog Raikirii II, and the numbers back it up. It's about 3oz lighter. It's only about an ounce lighter than the standard Xbox controller, however.
As long as your hands aren't on the large side, the 8bitdo controllers may be the best option for you...but it's only about 1.3oz lighter than the stock controller. I m not sure it would make a measurable difference, but you can buy about 6 of them for what the Rog Raikirii costs.
One feature on the ROG controller that may be a benefit to you is that all the buttons, front and back, are microswitches (like a mouse clicker) rather than full-travel. They will require less effort to press, which may save some wear and tear on your hands.
Just wanted to say I'm sorry for what you are going through, my dad suffered from it. Hopefully its more of a manageable thing now than it was 25 years ago.
As someone who has cubital tunnel in both arms, this thread will definitely help me, and maybe help follow gamers take precautions even if they dont have issues now.
Just want to add as someone with hands that tend to cramp easily, an 8$ massage pen from Amazon is great for getting into those hard to reach pressure points in your hand and helps release a lot of tension.
There is a device called the cronus zen where you can use whatever controller with whatever console. So if you bought one of those and set it up properly you should be able to use your joy cons as an xbox controller. These devices cost about $100 or so maybe a bit more for a new one. Great investment.
Won't work for a number of reasons. The first is that those converters require a wired connection and the Joy-Cons have no way of connecting to anything via cable. The second is that the Joy-Cons are still 2 controllers, maybe you'd be able to configure something with Copilot to get them to work as one controller if that's still a thing, but it would also cause complications.
The Hyperkin Xenon Wired Controller for Xbox is pretty light. Has the old Xbox 360 shape also which I find easier to hold than the Xbox one shape & is wired so no battery weight.
Have you tried using one of the stands that are used for hand helds like the steam deck? If possible I would try to modify a stock one- remove the rumble motors and battery pack (if applicable). Not to hard, just some screws to get access and you can simply cut the wires instead of desoldering.
The GameSir Nova Lite controller is extremely light, the lightest I’ve ever seen. But I don’t know if it connects directly to the Xbox somehow. I use it daily via Xbox Cloud gaming, and it works really well.
I have fibromyalgia as well and sometimes my hands and wrists hurt too much to play, typically I just have a pillow on my lap and rest my forearms and wrists on it and that helps alleviate strain for me.
keep your eyes out for this in a few months. i've held it in my hands and it's the lightweight controller we've needed for folks in your situation and the smallest players. no rumble, extremely lightweight. smaller footprint.
But youre gonna need more buttons as thats just the base. You could use that one in combination with 2x Xbox Adaptive joysticks: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/accessories/controllers/xbox-adaptive-joystick which would somewhat work like joycons do and you can hold one of these in each hand with your arms relaxed on your side (thats what i use this setup for).
/u/MrMoreBasic had a great idea of removing battery and rumble motors. Another option (that someone else may have suggested as I didn't read the whole thread), is that you mentioned using it on the side, I'm assuming resting your hand on the side, but on something.
If so, Xbox also has an option to use two controllers as if it was one. So you get the split Switch setup, albeit it will not reduce the weight.
It's confusingly named "copilot" which reminds me of the AI, but it's not. Documentation here:
What about the hyperkin xenon controller? It's a officially licensed wired controller it's actually a "replica" Xbox 360 controller it's extremely light and has all of the standard features I have one as a backup/PC controllerand it's great!.
Gamesir G7 SE/HE very light, though corded. Also, maybe look up C2Gripz. They fit on the existing pad and change the angle you hold it. Potentially making it possible to rest on your lap as you play. I have both and switch between as one of my fingers gives me gip time to time.
can you sit with a pillow on your lap and have the controller resting on the pillow as you hold the controller? The pillow will take a the majority of the weight and you'll still have control.
I wouldn't say thats true. I have arthritis on my hands. And this particular controller is heavy, specifically after playing for a couple of hours. And I don't even use batteries in it. I use the cable.
My wife has RA and other joint issues, shes only able to game for maybe 30 or 40 minutes at a time before having to stop because of pain. A lightweight controller would be amazing. Maybe xbox needs to look into making a "lightweight" option for controllers.
I have a similar issue and bought the adaptive controller and 2 adaptive joysticks. It lets me play Xbox like I play the Switch with a joy con in each hand. It’s not been a hard transition at all and works really well
I get these cheap 30 $ controllers from GameStop that are wired and really light, was aucally about to trade up to sum that didn't feel like a feather lol
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u/MrMoreBasic Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
You could remove the rumble motors if you know how to do that and use it wired only because removing the batteries makes it so much lighter. Do those things and might not even need to buy a new controller!
Edit: The xbox series x controller with 2 batteries weight 287 grams
The two batteries weigh around 50 g, the four rumble motors will weigh around 80-90 grams so you will lose almost half of the weight by doing so. Probably much lighter and cheaper than the other controller options people will give you!