If there’s one thing I love, it’s a fancy controller that gives me more options than I know what to do with. Thankfully, Xbox understands this intrinsic human need (possibly instinctual, dating back to our ape-like ancestors making controllers with a lot of features out of rocks and twigs). Wanting to offer us more customization than ever before and following the success of their 2015 Xbox Elite Wireless Controller, they’ve one-upped themselves to provide the sequel in the Elite Series 2.
The world’s most advanced controller
Xbox is touting this as “the world’s most advanced controller”, which is a pretty huge claim to make. Though they definitely seem to be backing it up, promising 30 new features that Xbox and gaming fans want the most. The controller will also work not just with the Xbox One, but also Windows PC’s and any other platforms that support Xbox controllers, meaning you can enjoy your incredibly fancy 30 new features in more places.
The Elite Series 2 goes out of its way to make sure players can play exactly how they want. For example, the control sticks offer three (three!) different settings for thumbstick resistance, so if you long for the days of your Xbox 360 controller feel, you can set it to that. Or, perhaps you’re the modern type who wants the Xbox One experience. They got you covered. There’s also a shorter hair trigger lock setting, allowing you to shoot faster and make sure things die faster in-game. You want to kill that guy that keeps sniping you real fast? Again, Xbox has got you. Xbox has got you so good so that if you change the settings once, it will keep it memorized so you don’t need to constantly be changing settings using the Xbox Accessories app.
But maybe you’re not the kind of person who cares about adding those sweet, sweet milliseconds to your killing of enemies. Maybe you think to yourself ‘this is cool, but I want my controller to look cool’. Well, for starters, the controller looks incredibly cool so right out the gate you’re good there. But the controller also offers interchangeable thumbsticks and paddle shapes, as well as 3 separate profiles able to be created and stored for your personal controller settings. In case you have one of those annoying family members or friends that loves messing with your perfectly crafted experience. There’s also LED lights that indicate which profile is selected, so you can make sure said family/friend isn’t messing with your profile.
Speaking of profiles, in conjunction with the Xbox Accessories app you can do all kinds of cool things with the controller. There’s limitless options to remap your buttons, triggers, bumpers and paddles. There’s the option to include voice commands in that mapping so all you have to do is say ‘take screenshot’ and guess what? It takes a screenshot! There’s also plenty of options to connect your controller to your Xbox controller compatible system of choice. Wireless. Bluetooth. USB-C. It’s all there.
But here’s probably my absolute favourite part. If there’s one thing that always gets my goat about wireless devices, it’s that the battery always runs out right at that critical moment, but Xbox is promising up to 40 hours of battery life per charge. That’s a lot of gaming hours, with a long-life, high-capacity battery promising years of use at its full capacity.
And, perhaps most importantly to top all this off? You get a fancy carry-case so you can safely take your Elite Series 2 controller with you to show off to others without damaging it. Also you can probably fit some snacks in there, I’m not sure, it’s not part of the press release but I’m always looking for new snack storage.
So what comes in the box?
The Elite Series 2 doesn’t skimp on the extras. In the box, you’ll get the previously mentioned carry-case, a set of 6 thumbsticks (2 standard, 2 classic, 1 tall and 1 wide), a set of 4 paddles (2 medium, 2 thin), a set of 2 D-pads (standard and faceted), a thumbstick-adjustment tool, a charging dock and a braided USB-C cable! As well as your fancy new controller, of course. That’s a lot of neat stuff to play with!
I want this, how do I get it?
The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 will hit our shores on November 4th 2019 with a retail price of $249.95AUD. And, the best part is, you can preorder it right now from EB Games, JB Hifi and the Microsoft store!
