Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

**UPDATE, 2 YEARS LATER** So, I should have updated this earlier, but my original Elite controller, the one that I assumed was going to be so durable and great and last years? Nope, that didn't happen. After a year it developed stick drift in the left stick, for which I have spent a lot of time researching ways to fix, with no luck. Also at the same time, the gray rubber grips started peeling off. Cool. So that first one, useless. I decided to buy a new one, which lasted me until now, just over a year again, and now this one the tiny little green buttons that the paddles depress have broken. They just lodged in in the middle of a game, and they won't come out at all now. I could hear something rattling in there, shook the controller a bit, and a few broken black pieces fell out. So now P1 and P2 paddle buttons (the same black plastic piece must have been behind both of them) are completely nonfunctional. Two Elites in a little over two years, $300, and done. Thanks for the great durable design Microsoft! *UPDATE* Really surprised by the impact the tall thumbsticks have had in every game I've played. It's so much easier to make small steering inputs in Forza or small aiming inputs for sniping in FPS. I didn't realize how incredibly useful they'd be. Now that I've seen the light, frankly I'm a bit surprised that all Xbox controllers sold don't come with the tall thumbsticks as standard. This one feature really ups your game just by itself. Try it yourself and see! *** The rubber grips on this controller feel fantastic, although I wonder how they'll hold up to dirt and palm sweat a year or two down the line. The metal on the paddles and faceted dish d-pad is cool to the touch and gives the controller a very premium feel and solid weight, although it's disappointing that the triggers and shoulder buttons are merely plastic painted silver. I'm still getting used to the paddles, and so far have only tried them in Forza 6 to shift gears (which they are great for) but I see a lot of potential in the paddles as they give you a higher degree of control and give all your other fingers a job now where they had nothing to do before. To me, most of the value in the controller will be in finding new use case scenarios for the paddles. One huge knock on the paddles though; if you grab the controller the wrong way it can be too easy to dislodge them and they go clattering to the floor. They don't dislodge when you squeeze in the intended direction, but brushing them the other way too easily dislodges them. You do learn how to handle the controller to minimize this, but at this level of engineering some sort of sturdier locking mechanism for the paddles really should have been implemented. The hair trigger locks are very cool for shooters, when activated they limit the travel of the trigger so it will reset more quickly and you can fire off more shots in a shorter period of time. The interchangeable thumbsticks are fantastic, and all of them click satisfyingly and magnetically into place. The longest thumbsticks offer the most precision, and the faceted dish D-pad and the shortest thumbsticks will be fantastic for fighting games that will employ their unique capabilities best. The USB cable feels quite premium and indestructible due to the braided nylon. Darn thing must be 6-8 feet long stretched out, which is helpful. Everything about this controller feels like it's been engineered to be more durable to withstand the test of time and abuse. On top of all this, you can actually customize your button layout to the game you're playing using the controller app on your Xbox. You can even modify the level and locations of force feedback in the app. The button mapping is so useful and so overdue on Xbox. It would be great if Microsoft in a future software update also updated the cheaper standard XB1 controllers with the capability to change button layout as well. So yeah, it's expensive, But if there's one thing you want to drop the money on its the tactile interface to the game you're trying to play. I've always believed in buying upgraded custom keyboards and mice for my computers because that's how I interact with the machine, and I think having an upgraded custom (and customizeable) controller is just as important. And because this thing is engineered to be so durable, it'll definitely live a few years longer than a regular controller will, which I think inherently gives it more value.