It’s been just over 4 years since the first Elite Series controller was released for Xbox One and PC. A command that opted for quality, configuration and customization so that each player could adapt the command to his tastes.
Extra buttons, interchangeable parts and software to configure it from the console itself did the rest. Today it is still considered one of the best controllers on the market.
We jump forward four years, and as we will see in this review of Elite Series 2 for Xbox One and PC , Microsoft has done it again, further improving a controller that already seemed unbeatable. It is not a simple facelift with “two novelties”, it is a total revision of the best controller on the market that makes it even better. But let’s not rush.
The Elite Series 2 controller is based on the same premises: offer the necessary options to customize the control to the taste of each user . If you already had the first model, as soon as you open the box, the first thing you will see will be the remote control carrying case, where most of the elements go.
When opening the case, the experience is very similar to that of the first model: you will see the front of the remote, and just below four interchangeable mushrooms (with different heights, concave and convese…), an additional round crosshead, four levers to connect to the back of the controller…
After this first visual contact, a more in-depth inspection already reveals the first differences: textured handles, a profile button (which replaces the switch to switch between two profiles of the previous model) that correspond to a row with three LEDs, to visually indicate the profile that we have active.
When picking up the Elite Series 2, many other changes become more evident: the first and most important is that this new version no longer has a battery cover, but instead has a built-in battery (which we cannot remove) that provides a autonomy that oscillates between 30-40 hours. Not for this reason it is much heavier than the previous model.
In addition to the battery, the transport case hides a small contact charging base , which, connected to our Xbox One or PC with a USB cable, will allow the controller to be charged while we are not using it. But there is still more.
The back also hides new trigger limiters, new switches with three positions (instead of two on the previous model). The lowest position turns them into normal buttons, with hardly any travel (ideal for shooters), while the middle position limits their travel to half, and the highest allows full travel.
On the back we also find the slots to connect the four levers (for the P1-P4 buttons) and the connectors for contact charging, while in the upper area, the cable connection port has become USB-C. , the new standard. But don’t worry, the physical novelties of the command do not end here, far from it.
The sticks, as we have anticipated, include interchangeable mushrooms. But the novelty in this field is that, thanks to the small tool included in the case, we can adjust their tension, the force with which they return to the center , to the neutral zone. We can adjust the tension between three positions, depending on the genre we are going to play, or our tastes (strong tension, for example, can be especially interesting for fighting games… although it does not replace the sensations of playing with an arcade stick).
But, perhaps, the most important novelty of the Elite Series 2 , is just one that is not seen… and that the players had demanded the most. Like all other Xbox controllers, the Elite Series 2 is also Bluetooth enabled, allowing it to connect to virtually any compatible device wirelessly.
And if the hardware of the controller is full of adjustments and novelties, so is the configuration part via software through the Xbox One accessories application. Compared to the previous model, the Elite Series 2 for Xbox One and PC also allows new customization options and layers.
Thus, apart from being able to remap any button on the controller and give the rear levers the function of any button, other equally interesting options have been added. Now, we can assign practically any function of the system to a button, be it taking a screenshot or, as if it were a Kinect, activating a voice command.
And not only that: we can also assign to a button the so-called “Shift” or “FN” function of some keyboards, which when pressed together with another button, activates a new function for that button. All this, in addition, is applicable to the three profiles that we can save in the internal memory.
Regarding the profiles, this is not the only novelty: we can also save additional profiles in the cloud , so that we can exchange them whenever we feel like it, or when we want to change the game. Another detail that further expands the possibilities of command.
A set of options and possibilities that, although greatly extending the functionality of the controller, has a single “but”: the price. The Elite Series 2 costs 179.95 euros, a high price that, like that of other Pro controllers that we have recently analyzed, such as the eSwap Pro Controller, makes it within the reach of a few.
But even that does not prevent our opinion of the Xbox Elite Series 2 from deviating one millimeter: literally, it is the best controller on the market, both in terms of finishes and features. For this reason, if you have that money and want to play with the best controller for Xbox One and PC , have no doubt that you won’t find anything better .