Did you know Amazon makes game controllers now? I didn’t
either until I was in need of a new Xbox One controller and an AmazonBasics one
appeared at the top of the list. Priced at just $25 and with solid user
reviews, I took a chance and bought one. After using it for a while, I have to
say I’m pretty impressed. It feels good in the hand and works well but I think
the most important thing is that there wasn’t any transition period or “I gotta
get used to this” feeling like with most third party controllers. It was
immediately comfortable and felt like any other Xbox One controller I’ve ever
used. There are a couple of downsides – it’s wired and the longterm reliability
is questionable – but as of now I’m tempted to call it the best third-party pad
I’ve ever used. Continue reading for more details.
- Manufacturer – Amazon
- Pros – Feels good in the hand; works great; strong rumble; easy to get used to
- Cons – Wired; potential reliability issues
- Price - $25
Click to buy controller from Amazon.com |
A big issue with most third-party pads is that they never
feel as good as an official first-party pad. They’re always shaped weird or
have bad feeling buttons and always have a transition period where you try to
get used to them. I didn’t have that problem with the AmazonBasics Xbox One
pad. It isn’t exactly the same shape as an official pad – the grips are
slightly longer, the window and menu buttons are in a slightly different place,
and the back is thinner (since it doesn’t need space for batteries) – but all
of the important bits like the sticks and face buttons all feel and function
almost exactly like a first-party pad. The face buttons feel the same. The
sticks feel the same.
The only things that actually do feel a little different are
the bumper and trigger buttons. The bumpers are really clicky sounding and feel
kind of flimsy and the triggers don’t work quite as smoothly as on a
first-party pad. With that said, I got used to them pretty much immediately and
don’t have any complaints about their performance so far.
I tried out a wide range of games with the controller and
noted no differences in my performance with any of them. I played shooters and
sports and action games and a bunch of other genres and it performed well in
all of them. I also played a lot of Dark Souls 2 specifically to test how the
bumper buttons hold up and they seem fine, though it has only been a week. I
also played Forza specifically to test the haptic feedback in the triggers and
can report that it is nice and strong and feels just like a MS pad. The rumble
overall is nice and strong here, which is another thing most third-party pads
skimp out on.
My only real concern about the AmazonBasics Xbox One
controller is that the reliability may be an issue. There are a lot of user
reviews posted lately on Amazon stating that their controller started having
problems after a few days. Specifically people have complained about the
buttons not working and the 3.5mm headset jack (which I didn’t test at all,
sorry) dying. The good news is that it comes with a 1-year warranty and, since
it’s Amazon, will almost certainly be easy to get a refund / replacement if it
does die on you without too much hassle. As I said, I haven’t had any issues so
far, but I will update this review – and change the score if need be – if I do
run into any problems.
All in all, I’ve been pretty impressed with this Xbox
One controller from AmazonBasics. It feels good, functions well, and really
knocks it out of the park at the $25 price tag. It remains to be seen how well
it holds up – and I do seem to wear out Xbox One controllers faster than most
people -, but I’m happy with it so far. I’ve used a lot of third-party pads
over the years (I reviewed a ton of them for About.com back in the day) and can
easily say this AmazonBasics pad is right up there with the very best. The bar
isn’t exactly high for third-party pads, I know, but this one really seems
different. And it’s brilliantly priced at just $25 so you can’t really go
wrong.