I, like lots of you, have used the bog-standard Xbox Wi-fi Controller for a lot of moons. And I, like lots of you, have realised that it is virtually excellent so far as $50 value of controller-based enjoyable goes.
Nevertheless, there is a wealth of controller choices accessible lately, from the very low cost and really cheerful to the extremely premium. And whereas the Xbox Wi-fi stays the gold customary for the worth proposition it offers, it is now received some severe competitors when you begin elevating the funds. The Razer Wolverine V3 Professional is simply such a competitor, a wi-fi, luxurious system with its eyes firmly set on the most effective controller spot.
Our reviewer Kizito Katawonga gave it a rating of 92%, a very spectacular end result for any piece of {hardware}. By our scoring system, meaning it is an impressive product worthy of any gamer’s rig. And I am happy to say, after spending many hours with one myself—I could not agree extra.
Let’s begin with the unhealthy: It is $200. That is some huge cash for a controller, particularly when the Xbox Elite Sequence 2 prices $180. Microsoft’s excessive finish system has lengthy reigned supreme as the highest premium decide in our greatest PC controller information, and releasing a controller for $20 extra was a daring transfer on Razer’s half.
The factor is although, it feels each inch of it. I am a sucker for mechanism, and the Razer is totally coated in them. The triggers have a swishy, sculpted “sweep” that takes a bit of getting used to, however the spring motion beneath is clean and responsive. Two little switches on the again will be engaged with a clunk, sending a spring-based shiver by way of the body and locking them right into a clicky button mode with a cushioned, but distinctly constructive motion.
The shoulder buttons really feel equally nice. However the actual award right here has to go to the mecha-tactile face buttons, a time period so ridiculous it made our Nick apoplectic with rage within the {hardware} workforce chat when he seen it within the advertising and marketing copy.
Foolish title apart, I can report that they are each squishy but clicky in an immensely pleasing means. Nonetheless, whereas I used to be fortunately squeezing triggers and clicking buttons straight from the field, I truthfully did not suppose I might discover the Razer below gaming duress. In spite of everything, while you’re deep in fight your mind is engaged on so many various issues directly, sensation turns into an afterthought.
Not with the Wolverine V3 Professional although. I discover myself grinning like an fool each time I begin gaming with it, and that is at all times signal when testing a peripheral.
It is all of the resistance you see, from these wonderful face buttons, to the Corridor impact thumbsticks, to the triggers. There is a sense of weight to nearly every thing the Razer does, and that little bit of additional really feel actually does make gaming with this controller a nice, hand-tingly delight.
A lot so, each time I am going again to the Xbox Wi-fi controller, I miss it. That is such a wierd factor to kind, nevertheless it’s true. It is a bit just like the distinction between a cheap-but-fantastic quick meals burger, and a type of fashionable joints that hundreds you up with pickles, cheese, and sharp onions. Each are nice, however when you had the choice you’d go for the latter, would not you?
So none of this actually modifications my opinion of the usual Xbox Wi-fi controller general. It is nonetheless a superb gaming system, and for $50 you will not discover any higher. I’ve owned three of them, and I nonetheless use them often for native co-op classes with my companion.
However because the arrival of the Razer, if it is solo gaming time, that is the controller I am going to with out considering twice. It is my private decide for the most effective piece of {hardware} I’ve utilized in 2024, and given simply how a lot nice equipment I’ve used this yr, that is saying one thing. Effectively performed, Razer. You have ruined different controllers for me, and now I am locked in to utilizing premium gadgets till my dying days.
