I, like a lot of you, have used the bog-standard Xbox Wi-fi Controller for a lot of moons. And I, like a lot of you, have realised that it is virtually good so far as $50 price of controller-based enjoyable goes.
Nonetheless, there is a wealth of controller choices accessible nowadays, 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 supplies, it is now acquired some severe competitors when you begin elevating the finances. The Razer Wolverine V3 Professional is simply such a competitor, a wi-fi, luxurious machine with its eyes firmly set on the most effective controller spot.
Our reviewer Kizito Katawonga gave it a rating of 92%, a very spectacular consequence for any piece of {hardware}. By our scoring system, meaning it is an excellent 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 Collection 2 prices $180. Microsoft’s excessive finish machine has lengthy reigned supreme as the highest premium choose 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 a very good mechanism, and the Razer is totally lined in them. The triggers have a swishy, sculpted “sweep” that takes somewhat 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 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 true 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} group chat when he seen it within the advertising and marketing copy.
Foolish identify apart, I can report that they are each squishy but clicky in an immensely pleasing method. Nonetheless, whereas I used to be fortunately squeezing triggers and clicking buttons straight from the field, I actually did not suppose I might discover the Razer underneath gaming duress. In spite of everything, if you’re deep in fight your mind is engaged on so many alternative issues without delay, 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 a very good signal when testing a peripheral.
It is all of the resistance you see, from these glorious face buttons, to the Corridor impact thumbsticks, to the triggers. There is a sense of weight to nearly all the things the Razer does, and that little bit of additional really feel actually does make gaming with this controller a pleasing, hand-tingly delight.
A lot so, each time I’m 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 kind of fashionable joints that hundreds you up with pickles, cheese, and sharp onions. Each are nice, however if you happen to had the choice you’d go for the latter, would not you?
So none of this actually adjustments my opinion of the usual Xbox Wi-fi controller general. It is nonetheless an excellent gaming machine, and for $50 you will not discover any higher. I’ve owned three of them, and I nonetheless use them repeatedly 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’m going to with out considering twice. It is my private choose for the most effective piece of {hardware} I’ve utilized in 2024, and given simply how a lot nice package 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.
