PowerA Moga XP-Ultra Wireless Controller review

These are the Moga XP-Extremely wi-fi controller specs:

Whereas the XP-Extremely is way from the most cost effective controller round you actually can’t fault its characteristic set. Chief amongst them is its cross-platform compatibility (being “the primary licensed wi-fi controller for Xbox Sequence X|S and Xbox One,” in keeping with PowerA), enabling it for use on Xbox, PC, Android, and suitable good TVs. To this finish, it additionally features a one-month trial to Recreation Move Final.

Versatility actually is the XP-Extremely’s calling card, as it may be bodily configured in 4 other ways. Firstly, you possibly can mount or dismount the included Gaming Clip that makes it doable to connect your telephone (for handheld cloud gaming or, if you happen to’re feeling frisky, some in-your-face streaming).

You can even take away the hand grip – the “handles” of the controller that sit in your palms – for a dealing with expertise extra like 16-bit controllers discovered on the SNES and Genesis. You’ll nonetheless retain rumble options both approach, as twin rumble motors are current in each the grip part and the mini-pad.

The grip additionally possesses a pair of mappable buttons, AGL and AGR, located on the rear the place they are often activated by your center or ring fingers. The principle pad, in the meantime, features a Share button in addition to a battery standing button – the latter with 4 LEDs so you possibly can immediately see how a lot juice is left in your pad so that you’re by no means caught brief mid-game.

Excessive reward has to go to the general modularity of this controller. Numerous thought has gone into the design and, general, the thought has been good. We love the truth that you possibly can shrink the pad down for various use circumstances, particularly because you don’t lose rumble while you achieve this.

The XP-Extremely feels satisfyingly chunky with out straying into Duke territory, although it undoubtedly packs extra heft than an ordinary Xbox pad. And whereas most inputs are the place you’d anticipate them on a Microsoft pad, the View and Menu buttons are positioned abnormally excessive whereas the Xbox button is unusually low (in actual fact, their relative positions are successfully swapped).

The highest of the analog sticks are pleasingly deep and textured, and the plate-like D-Pad is flatter and extra input-accurate. Nevertheless, like all of the inputs on the controller, it has a lot much less journey – which, relying on what you’re urgent and what you’re enjoying, can drastically have an effect on issues each positively and negatively (extra on this beneath).

The Gaming Clip to mount your telephone may be very sturdy, not like a few of the cheaper and flimsier equipment you discover on third-party controllers, and fortunately sits a smartphone with out concern of something coming free. Clearly, this top-heaviness will have an effect on the steadiness, however you possibly can angle your telephone to reduce this.

If you need a controller that duplicates the expertise of a first-party pad, this isn’t it. The XP-Extremely does some issues that we want Microsoft pads may do but in addition does others that we’re glad they don’t.

Having the ability to detach the grip and play with the smaller mini-pad appears and feels unusual at first, however can come into its personal relying on what you’re utilizing the controller for. Children with smaller palms, for instance, could get on nice with the mini-pad. And anybody who grew up utilizing NES or SNES controllers will really feel proper at dwelling after a half hour or so. And if you happen to’re somebody who usually makes use of the Xbox controller as a distant for issues like Netflix, you’ll be glad for a flatter gadget that doesn’t slip and nudge the shoulder buttons when you’re watching one thing.

On the identical time, the Xbox controller is thought to be the best of all time as a result of the ergonomics are near-perfect. So eradicating the grip feels actually bizarre. And regardless of how used to enjoying with out them you get, in some unspecified time in the future (often while you miss a buzzer beater in NBA 2K or a headshot in Halo) you possibly can’t assist however really feel it’s as a result of your palms had been making micro-adjustments for the grip not being the place it’s presupposed to be.

The D-Pad is superior for some issues, and terrible for others. As huge Tetris followers, that is our go-to controller for Tetris Impact as a result of it is rather trustworthy – no unintended diagonal slides right here. Nevertheless, the shortage of journey makes it really feel too stiff for just about anything – and that lack of journey is mirrored within the analog sticks and face buttons, making refined inputs really feel very completely different than they do on commonplace pads.

The inverted placement of the View / Menu and Xbox buttons is an actual head-scratcher, too. Whereas we’re glad that there’s no big glowing “X” blinding us once we play in the dead of night (changed by a small, separate LED to point connection), the variety of occasions we hit the Share button and took a screenshot as a substitute of going dwelling was a bit of annoying. As was lifting a thumb to leap right into a menu and shedding treasured moments whereas having to seek for it.

A minor frustration we observed is that it takes about two seconds after the controller wakes up and connects (with a strong LED indicating a handshake) for inputs to truly register. That is significantly noticeable utilizing apps like YouTube when your pad has gone to sleep and also you attempt to wake it up earlier than the subsequent video auto-plays!

• Sure: If you need a controller that works throughout completely different platforms
• Sure: If you need a wi-fi controller with an extended battery life
• No: The controls aren’t as seamless as with the official Xbox controller

We actually just like the modularity provided by the XP-Extremely. Enjoying retro video games with the mini-pad is a blast, and having a sturdy approach to mount a telephone for cloud gaming (and even watching a TV present whereas enjoying one thing sluggish) is good. The battery life is nice and, for some video games, we love the D-Pad.

For others, nevertheless, the D-Pad is a ache – and between the shortage of journey and the unnatural positioning of secondary buttons, it is a controller that can take your palms a bit of time to adapt to. After they do, it is a very highly effective and versatile pad – nevertheless it by no means feels fairly pretty much as good as a first-party one.

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