You can adjust stick tension whenever you want. Very few controllers let you tweak stick tension, and no controller does it as simply as the Vader 5 Pro. Just rotate the ridged ring around each stick, feeling the bump of each increment, to make them tighter or looser. The result is instant and the gap between the loosest and tightest settings is so vast that you're almost guaranteed to find something that works for you. I adjusted it game to game, tightening it for more precise aiming in Marathon, and loosening it for the more laissez-faire flicks of EA FC 26. Crucially, the sticks felt accurate and reliable no matter the tension, snapping back to the center whenever I let go.

Its buttons are clicky and respond instantly. I love the face buttons' crisp sound and feel. They're quick to spam and scored highly in ShmupSpeed, but I never hit one accidentally. The bumpers feel sleek, the back buttons are well-positioned and satisfyingly crunchy to squeeze, and the D-Pad tension feels just about perfect for Celeste's precise platforming. The extra two face buttons are cheap and stiff – but they're still nice to have, and besides, there are six other remappable buttons to pick from.

You can remap eight extra programmable buttons. That's more than almost any other controller I've encountered, and opens up new possibilities, particularly for first-person shooters where your thumbs are trying to aim and smash the face buttons at the same time. For Marathon I assigned all the face buttons to the extra buttons on the back, so I could freely jump, reload, switch weapons or crouch while still aiming with my right thumb. I then used the extra bumper buttons to mimic clicking the controller sticks in. I left the two extra face buttons unassigned, but I'm sure you could find a clever use for them.

Its blistering connection to its USB dongle is as fast as a wire. Its Bluetooth connection is okay, but the included 2.4 GHz dongle gives you a wireless connection that feels instant. Gamepadla results show latencies of less than 5ms for buttons and sticks. That's seriously fast, and means you can play wirelessly without sacrificing performance.

Its quick-press trigger mode feels particularly rapid. Like with many good controllers, the Vader 5 Pro can toggle between regular triggers that you pull through an arc and a short-travel mode that feels like a click. The physical switch to swap between the two modes slides easily, and the quick-pull triggers have the same snappiness as a quality mouse button. I used them for Marathon, and felt like they sped up my trigger finger.

Its battery lasts for ages. Plenty of controllers, including some on this list, can't make it to 10 hours. The Vader 5 Pro lasted roughly 15-18 hours for me, and you could stretch that further if you turn off the customizable RGB strip on the bottom of the controller, or reduce vibration. Some users report up to 25 hours of use. It's enough to get you through multiple long sessions.

Flydigi's software is deep and intuitive. I didn't have high hopes when I loaded it and saw the Chinese characters labelling my different profiles – but beyond that I found a system that's easy to use. Adjusting the lighting, remapping the buttons, and tweaking the joystick sensitivity curve and deadzones is simple, and you can even individually customize the vibration for the grips and each trigger. I tinkered until I found a setup I liked, and I occasionally tweaked it as I moved between games.

It's not a budget controller, but it's solid value. For $80, you're getting something that feels as good and performs as well as devices that are double the price.

Its sticks are remarkable for a $50 pad. TMR tech is considered the gold standard for control sticks, and you won't find it on many controllers at this price. Gamesir's feel smooth, balanced, and responsive, with negligible centering error. I also love the thick, grippy ring atop the sticks to stop your thumb sliding off.

Face buttons feel premium, too. I enjoy the firm, sharp click they make. They're sensitive, spammable, and I never nudged them accidentally. They wiggle a little in place – something you won't find on the Vader 5 Pro, for example – but it's nothing dramatic, and never hurt me in-game. They actually feel better, to me, than those on the more expensive Gamesir G7 Pro, whose buttons occasionally squeaked as they rubbed against their casing.

A charging dock helps mitigate middling battery life. Again, few controllers at this price have a dock. The Cyclone 2 dock's barebones design means you have to place the controller in carefully, which is slightly annoying. But just by existing, it makes it more likely you'll charge the controller after a session – and that partially mitigates the average battery life of 6-10 hours. If you want to get as much juice out of it as possible, you can turn the RGB off and reduce the 1000Hz polling rate to 500Hz without taking any real noticeable hit in performance.

Its USB dongle connection is instant and reliable. I tested the GameSir in all three modes: wired, Bluetooth, and wireless via its USB dongle. The dongle is best – you'll find faster wireless connections on high-end pads, but the Cyclone 2 is still rapid, and I didn't notice any delay between my inputs and the in-game response. The dongle always recognised my controller instantly and the connection never dropped. Plus, I love how tiny the dongle is: you barely notice it sticking out of your PC or laptop, and you can store it in the charging dock for safekeeping.

Its crowd-pleasing shape will be comfortable for most people. Xbox's wireless controller is a tried and tested shape that fits most people, and the Cyclone 2's shape is nearly identical, down to the curve of the bumpers. I certainly found it comfortable to hold for hours at a time, no matter what genre I was playing, and my left thumb felt at home on its clicky D-Pad when playing Celeste. Whether you use one finger for the bumpers and triggers or two, you'll easily reach the two back buttons, one on each side of the controller.

GameSir's software all fits on one page. GameSir Connect controls the Cyclone 2, and I like that everything fits on a single screen. From there you can control RGB, change the polling rate, remap buttons, adjust the sticks and configure gyro controls. It's nothing revolutionary, but it feels streamlined.

Its adaptive triggers are a genuine delight. In certain games, the triggers automatically adjust their tension to match your in-game actions: it's basically Flydigi's attempt to capture the joy of the Dualsense controller's triggers, and it's the best implementation you'll find outside of Sony's pad. It works in around 100 games and I enjoyed it most in GTA 5, where it changed when I was driving a car – increasing the resistance under braking or acceleration – or shooting a shotgun, which gave me a snap of breakthrough tension to mimic the gun firing, and then lots of recoil vibration. It's not perfect, and setting it up in FlyDigi's software isn't the most intuitive, but it genuinely makes games more fun. If your game is unsupported, you can still customize the trigger tension around five presets.

Sticks spring back to the center, and you can adjust the tension. These are, by far, the sticks I enjoyed the most. Not only are they smooth and responsive, but they fairly race back to dead center with a taught twang when you stop pushing them. They sit at dead center, with virtually zero deviation – their centering error was the lowest of the pads I tested. I also loved watching the mechanism twirl beneath the transparent face plate. On top of all that, you can adjust the tension. I wish it was easier: you have to first remove the faceplate and then twiddle a pair of tiny screws, but it's the kind of thing you can do once and then, when they're perfect for you, never do again.

Buttons all feel fantastic, including the six remappable ones. The tension on the face buttons is just right: you're rewarded for a firm press with a clear click and fast bounce, allowing you to hit it rapidly all over again. Its six remappable inputs – two near the bumpers, four on the back – are expertly placed so that you can press them whenever you want, and I never felt I was straining or stretching my fingers. On the back you get two buttons and two paddles. They're sensitive, to the point where I accidentally hit them when I began using the Apex 5, but I quickly adjusted.

Battery life is practically unbeatable for a high-end pad. Yes, you'll get more from a standard Xbox controller or a Switch Pro – but for premium controllers connecting to a dongle, its 20-30 hours is about as good as it gets. To hit the higher end, you'll want to turn off its RGB and the mini display.

An eye-catching, futuristic aesthetic. I don't normally go in for RGB or transparent peripherals, but the Apex 5 is, in my eyes, a looker. Its transparent faceplate, splashes of blue and RGB notes feel futuristic and unique without being obnoxious. The built-in colour screen lends further chances for colour, and you can loop an animation of your choosing. Looks are subjective, of course, but I'm smitten. Its heavier weight makes it feel luxurious in your hands, too.

The digital display is handy for remapping buttons. It's not just for looks: it houses a detailed settings menu that feels almost as powerful as Flydigi's standalone app. You can switch between adaptive trigger modes, adjust vibration levels, and remap buttons here, rather than having to minimize your game and open separate software. The only catch is that the menu, at least in my model, was set to Chinese out of the box, but I figured out how to change languages without hassle.

You can dive into Flydigi's software for more customization. It's the same tool powering the Vader 5 Pro, and it's equally deep for the Apex 5. Setting up the adaptive controllers for specific games was a little glitchy, and a couple of times the list of games vanished entirely, requiring me to restart the app. But that was the only hiccup.

Go in with eyes open: some users report quality-control problems. Every controller has defects for some people, including high-end pads. The Apex 5 is no exception, and I'd estimate that complaints about its quality – including squeaky buttons and creaking body – are slightly more frequent than others at this price point. But they're still rare, and if money were no object it's the pad I'd pick.

It feels way better than $20 should. I remember growing up when $20 controllers would give up within weeks, bits falling off as their triggers groaned. The Ultimate 2C is different entirely: it feels like a well-built controller with comfortable curves that fill your palms. When I really try to twist it and warp it, I only get the measliest of creaks. It's reliable enough that some users keep it for years.

Its sturdy face buttons are reassuringly heavy. One of my main worries with budget pads is that mushy face buttons will quickly fail. 8BitDo's have some real heft to them, and depress with a weighty thud that gives me confidence they'll take a battering. It makes them a bit less spammable than other pads – my ShmupSpeed score was low – but on a budget pad, I take solid over fast every time.

Tight Hall Effect sticks shouldn't drift. Its sticks feel mobile: I had no problems aiming my gun, performing skill moves, or swinging the camera around on command. And because they're Hall Effect, rather than mechanical, they shouldn't succumb to "stick drift". That doesn't mean they won't loosen over time, though, and their centering error was towards the high end of what I tested. But that's expected given the price, and it's within the bounds of what's acceptable.

Its two extra buttons are easy to map. 8BitDo's software doesn't jive with the 2C wired, so you'll need to remap by holding down specific buttons on the controller itself. But that's fine, because it worked every time I tried it. The buttons themselves are just behind the bumpers, in a natural spot for your index fingers to find. I never accidentally pressed them – and they were there whenever I reached for them. Most budget pads won't have any extra buttons, so they feel like a bonus here.

I love its clicky bumpers. They felt alarmingly loud to begin with, and they felt too stiff to press rapidly. But they've grown on me: their weight is, like with the face buttons, reassuring. Plus, you don't actually need that much pressure to activate them, and when you combine that with the loud clicky noise you get bumpers that feel instantly responsive. I've caught myself idly clicking them, left and right, while waiting in menus a couple of times.

It's comfortable to use, even if you have bigger hands. It's smaller than most controllers in width and height, but its shape makes it feel larger. Its handles are more vertical, less slanted than most controllers, which means your thumbs angle upwards, away from each other, rather than across the controller towards each other. It therefore avoids feeling cramped. If you have very large hands you might struggle, particularly with the bumpers and triggers, but it felt good in mine.

It comes in multiple colors. It's a small detail, but I love the fact that you can pick the design you like, which I wouldn't expect for a $20 pad. I got the green-on-green, but if I could pick, I'd grab the blue pad with orange detailing.

The fastest Bluetooth connection I've found. Most of the wireless controllers I tested, including some budget options, came with a 2.4 GHz dongle for faster, more stable connection. The ES Pro doesn't, but my button presses felt instantaneous over Bluetooth. Its Gamepadla latency numbers are genuinely astounding: user tests show less than 5ms of latency, which is better than some dongles. My connection never dropped or stuttered, and I like that you don't have to worry about storing a dongle.

The battery lasts forever. Connecting via Bluetooth helps its 950 mAh last an awfully long time: Gulikit's claim of up to 30 hours matched my testing, although that'll drop if you're using lots of vibration and gyro controls. Unless you're playing all day, you realistically only need to charge it once a week.

TMR sticks are smooth and accurate. I have zero complaints about these sticks, which feel smooth, fast, and durable in my thumbs. Their centering error was lower than other budget pads, and you can customize their sensitivity on the pad itself by using the settings button – a lovely touch that I didn't see from other brands. I would've perhaps liked a little bit more of a ridge on top to keep my thumbs locked in place, but that's only a minor flaw and my thumbs never actually slipped off.

Its membrane buttons are quiet and tight. They're nothing special, and they didn't score particularly highly on my spamming ShmupSpeed test, but I like how they feel and sound. They respond to a light touch but still feel weighty when you press them down. They barely make any noise, too, which sets them apart from the other clicky mechanical buttons on this list and the heavy thunks of the 8BitDo Ultimate 2c wired.

Hall Effect triggers feel classy. The triggers on some budget pads I tested whacked against their housing when squeezed right down, but not here. Like the face buttons, the triggers are quiet and I love how they feel: their resistance means they don't just collapse under your fingers, so you can easily squeeze them partially if needed (if you don't want to fully sprint in EA FC 26, for example). Tiny textured dots lend some extra grip.

You can customize settings using button shortcuts. Gulikit has no software for the ES Pro, but thankfully you can tweak the settings through button combinations listed in the manual. You can, for example, switch between a four-direction and eight-direction D-pad by holding the settings button and pressing the D-Pad to the right. You can toggle the joystick deadzone, adjust stick sensitivity, and turn on a continuous fire "turbo" mode for every button. It's all intuitive, and worked whenever I tried it.

Its symmetrical design will be familiar to PlayStation users. This is slightly smaller than the Dualsense, but the sticks are perfectly positioned for both of your thumbs and it's still wide enough to fit bigger hands. The bumpy texture on the handles kept it locked in my grip. Symmetrical stick controllers are surprisingly rare, but this is a well-sized, comfortable interpretation of that layout.

Hall Effect triggers should last a long time. Having knackered two Dualsense controllers – the sticks on one, the right trigger on the other – I need something more durable. The triggers here are Hall Effect, which should do the trick, minimizing wear-and-tear over time. You can also toggle them to become short-pull clicky microswitches. My one complaint is that they're stubby, and a couple of times my fingers slipped off the end. But once I adjusted, it wasn't annoying.

Face button microswitches feel brilliant: GameSir really knows how to make satisfying face buttons. Their click is like a mouse button: fast to activate, quick to rebound, and I like the clack-clack feedback they give you, so you never have to second-guess whether you actually pressed them. They scored highly on ShmupSpeed, showing how easy they are to spam, but they don't feel light or flimsy. They're among the best I've tested.

TMR sticks are light, sensitive, and centered. Their centering error was low and when I let go, they raced back to the middle, stopping abruptly. They feel taught and solid, but quick enough that I could make flick shots in Marathon. This, alongside the TMR tech that powers them, gives me confidence they'll last a long time.

A bouncy D-Pad with clear directional inputs. The D-Pad is of the mechanical variety, so it clicks as you move it between the eight directional inputs. But it avoids feeling stiff, which some mechanical D-Pads do, and I felt like I could smoothly move my thumb around in a circle without it fighting me. It was light to press and responded to my inputs in Celeste instantly, rebounding quickly so that I could change direction whenever I wanted.

Two back buttons have a built-in lock to prevent accidental clicks. I don't love the heavier, thunking press of the two back buttons, but I do love that you can flick a slider that will lock them in place and prevent accidental presses. I could remap them easily in GameSir's software.

Seven more programmable inputs give you lots of options. You get four extra face buttons around the central Xbox logo and a three-button seesaw at the top of the controller. It feels fiddly: once you press one of the extra buttons near the bumper, it rocks to that side so you can't instantly switch to the other. But I can't imagine many scenarios when you'd be spamming more than one of these buttons at once, and the sheer number of inputs gives you options for making this controller feel like your own.

A long, braided cable with no latency. As you'd expect from a wired controller, I couldn't detect any delays between my inputs and the on-screen action. Its polling rate goes up to 1000Hz – much higher than a Dualsense and higher than the Xbox allows for. The 3-metre cable will stretch as far as you need it to, and seems durable. As I mentioned, you can pick the wireless version of this controller, and it's the same price. Just be wary of its higher latency (including through the wire, according to user tests submitted to Gamepadla).

Other PC Controllers I Tested

Xbox Wireless Controller: A classic. It's the shape that every other controller aspires to – but without Hall Effect components, extra buttons or a wireless dongle, I'd rather pick another pad.

Hyperkin The Competitor: This was so nearly my symmetrical pad pick. I like the bouncy D-Pad, the locks on the back buttons to stop you accidentally hitting them, and the smooth Hall Effect components. Ultimately, I just prefer the TMR sticks and the clicky face buttons of the GameSir Tarantula Pro.

PowerA Fusion Pro Wireless: An expensive pad with incredible RGB options and thumbsticks with adjustable height. But it can't compete with the feel or features of the Apex 5. Plus, its trigger locks feel ineffective and its bumpers are wafer-light.

PowerA Advantage Wired Controller: A solid budget pad but it's more expensive than the Ultimate 2C Wired, and for the same money you can get the wireless Gulikit ES Pro. I'm also not a fan of the hollow-feeling face buttons.

PowerA OPS v1: A well-loved budget wireless pad with a dongle for rapid connection. I thought it was merely fine, and that its stiff D-Pad and rattly shoulder buttons felt cheap.

8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wireless: Basically the same controller as the wired version, for a little bit more money. Both are excellent, but I prefer the value of the wired controller. And for a wireless budget option, the Gulikit ES Pro feels better in the hand and has less latency over Bluetooth.

8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless: An excellent wireless controller with four extra buttons, low latency, and TMR sticks. I don't love the face buttons, which feel a touch rattly, and I simply ended up preferring my top picks here.

8BitDo Pro 3: I love the retro aesthetic and the feel of its triggers, but found its stiff face buttons too hard to spam.

Drakong Challenger: I considered this solid wired controller for my best budget pick – but the 8BitDo Ultimate 2C wired is simply unbeatable value. Plus, it's a new pad, so its longevity is unknown.

Sony DualSense Controller: I love its adaptive triggers, but I've already had two of these break on me. The Hall Effect components on my top picks feel like a huge upgrade.

Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra: My runner up in the money-no-object category. Everything about it feels expensive and I love its clicky face buttons. But I'm baffled by its back button layout, and prefer the unique features on the Apex 5.

Turtle Beach Stealth Pivot: You can rotate the two face modules on this controller to reveal an arcade-style pad with extra face buttons. A neat party trick. Sadly, trying to use the regular sticks kept moving the modules, resulting in an annoying bumping and clicking that felt distracting.

Turtle Beach Victrix Pro BFG Reloaded: A similar concept to the Stealth Pivot, but you remove modules entirely to plug in new ones. It feels more solid than the Pivot, and I love its crunchy back buttons. If you want a flexible controller, you won't go wrong. But the standard face buttons feel a little lifeless – and for the money, I'd get the Apex 5.

Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller: I'm a sucker for the shape of Nintendo's pad – but its latency and lack of extra buttons make it hard to recommend against the PC competition.

Gulikit KK3 Max: Its wireless latency is simply too high for me to recommend.

Gulikit TT Pro/Max: These TMR controllers competed in the best symmetrical stick slot. Ultimately, though, I had too many problems with those sticks: they felt mushy and their centering error was higher than it should be for the price.

Flydigi Vader 5S: A wired version of the Vader 5 with fewer extra buttons. I like it a lot – but the wireless Cyclone 2 is more flexible.

GameSir G7 Pro: I loved this controller until my A button started squeaking. Basically, if I didn't hit it dead straight down it would rub against the shell of the controller. It was the only real flaw – but even without it I prefer the Vader 5 Pro for the tension-adjustable sticks.

GameSir G7 HE and SE Wired Controllers: The main difference between these is that the HE has mechanical face buttons, the SE membrane. I like both of them – but you can get the wireless Cyclone 2 for the same price.

GameSir Nova 2 Lite: Its dongle makes it more flexible than my best budget wireless pick, the Gulikit ES Pro, and if your PC doesn't have Bluetooth then consider this a back-up choice. Its face buttons are too stiff and its sticks a bit scratchy – but I like its clicky buttons and crisp back buttons.

Nacon Revolution X Unlimited: A chunky premium controller with top-tier components and a handy screen for remapping buttons. If you have massive hands and money to burn, I'd recommend it – but beware its overcomplicated software. One of the extra bumper buttons stuck for me, too.

Scuf Omega: A beautiful pad with symmetrical sticks, face buttons that are so crispy they almost feel fragile, and a satisfying clicky D-Pad. But it's incredibly expensive, and the paddles on the back are hard to press. Again, I prefer the Apex 5, which is much cheaper.

Scuf Valor Pro: A premium controller competing in the "money-no-object" category. It feels expensive, especially the sticks and triggers, and I like the volume wheels for game and voice chat either side of the headphone jack. Nit-picking, the face buttons are only fine and two of the back buttons are hard to press if, like me, you usually play with your index and middle fingers covering the bumper and trigger on top of the controller.

Steelseries Aeon Pro: A new high-end controller that feels like it's built for bigger hands. I love how all the components feel, particularly the metallic back paddles and the face buttons. Its main selling point is swappable batteries that you can charge separately for unlimited up time – a neat trick, but does add more moving parts to keep track of. It also has no dongle: to use it on PC wirelessly you have to plug the entire, cumbersome charging station in. That's a faff. Again, I'd pick the Apex 5.

Best PC Controllers FAQ

Should I use a controller or a keyboard and mouse?

It depends – on two factors.

The first is the genre of game. Some are more suited to controllers: typically, driving games, platformers, and side-scrollers feel better with controllers because of the freedom the sticks gives you and because a D-Pad is easier to control than the WASD keys. But first-person games, strategy games, and point-and-click adventures work better with the speed and precision of mouse movement – while MMOs and action RPGs need the extra buttons of a keyboard.

Third-person games – action games, shooters, open-world games like GTA – tend to fall somewhere in the middle. Most people prefer controllers for the freedom of movement, but some prefer the more accurate aim of a mouse, particularly in shooting-heavy games.

That brings us to the second and much more important factor: personal preference.

Everything I said above is a rough guide that's overridden by what feels best to you. Some people are simply better at aiming in a first-person shooter with a controller (many top Apex Legends players use controller, for example), or they like the haptic feedback of a controller, which mice can't offer. Others pick a keyboard and mouse for basically everything, even in genres that appear unsuitable.

Your setup might determine what's best. Controllers are easy to plug-and-play (or connect and play for wireless controllers) – a mouse requires more space on your desk and a decent mousepad.

The only real way to find out is to test for yourself. Be aware that if you're used to a controller then a keyboard and mouse might feel awkward at first, and vice versa. Stick with it a while, and see how you feel.

Can you play any PC game with a controller?

No. Many PC games support controllers, but not all. If you're playing on Steam, a game's store page tells you – other platforms might not, but a quick Google will. The PCGamingWiki lists the input methods that PC games support, including fan-made fixes where relevant.

Do all controllers work with PCs?

Every modern controller that I've encountered works on PC – including first-party Xbox, Sony and Nintendo controllers. Most platforms and games will recognise your controller automatically, and if they don't, you're guaranteed to find the solution with a quick Google.

Not every controller will work perfectly: the original Switch controller, for example, will only work via a wire, not Bluetooth. The Dualsense's audio-dependent haptic feedback will also only work while wired.

What's the deal with Hall Effect and TMR, and do they stop "stick drift"?

These two technologies differ slightly but work on the same principle: basically, pushing the joystick moves a magnet over a sensor, and the shift in magnetic field is translated into your on-screen movement.

Unlike traditional joysticks, Hall Effect and TMR don't require physical contact to work, because the magnet doesn't touch the sensor. No contact, no friction, no deterioration over time – which eliminates one of the main causes of "stick drift", when a control stick appears to pull to one side without you touching it.

That doesn't mean they'll last forever. Sticks can fail in other ways. The springs that snap the stick back to the middle may fail, for example. But they should last a lot longer.

As for which is better between Hall Effect and TMR – on paper, TMR sensors are, generally, more precise and use less power. But it's their implementation in a controller that's more important. My favorite control sticks, in the Flydigi Apex 5, are Hall Effect, but to me they feel better than any TMR sensor I've tried.

What is polling rate, and how does it affect latency?

Polling rate measures the number of times per second your controller sends information to your PC. It's measured in Hertz (Hz), with 1000Hz being 1000 times per second.

It matters, but probably not as much as you think.

If your controller is sending more information to your PC, then there's fewer opportunities for your machine to miss inputs before your display refreshes, and therefore less chance of you noticing a delay.

But polling rate is just one factor in latency. The way a controller processes your inputs is important, and varies between manufacturers. Your type of connection matters too, with wired generally being fastest.

You'll also need a high refresh-rate monitor to take advantage of higher polling rates: often, a monitor's refresh rate will be the limiting factor. For example, a 144Hz monitor will update 144 times a second, while your controller might be sending inputs 1000 times per second. Frame rate matters, too: a choppy game will feel laggy, no matter how good your controller.

What polling rate is good enough?

It's probably lower than you think. Xbox controllers operate at 125Hz – Sony's Dualsense at 250Hz. These will be good enough for most players. As you move up to 500Hz, eagle-eyed players in competitive games might notice a small difference. 1000Hz is the gold standard, 8000Hz is overkill.