With the controller market already quite full with variations and colours it is nice to see innovation still happening. I have been allowed to test and review the GameSir G7 SE. This is a lightweight wired controller that is a brilliant white with 2 anti-friction teal rings around the analog sticks. Probably due to its light weight the G7 looks slightly smaller than standard controllers but comparing them they are actually the same size.

Texturally speaking the grip feels very familiar with the matte finish on top and the grip finish underneath to hold your hands in place. The trigger buttons and the bumper buttons feel good to press and match the original controllers as do the main 4 buttons. The start and menu buttons have been placed higher so they are on either side of the slightly protruding Xbox Jewel button with the share button underneath which takes a little getting used to.

The D-pad is an old-school cross design which is very responsive. I know people have their preference on which D-pad they like but I am a fan of the cross D-pad as it leaves no room for deviation when it comes to diagonal pressing. The analog sticks however are a bit of a sticking point for me. They look fine and have a decent grip on the top and there is no stick drift or issues even after several hours of play. My issue comes with the squeaking that comes when you push the stick fully in one direction as it rubs against the anti-friction glide ring. I played a lot of FIFA with this controller and when I was pushing the stick hard right or left when running the stick would rub and make a squeaking sound which felt a bit uncomfortable physically and audibly. It’s strange as the right stick feels much different as it feels slightly looser but it doesn’t squeak.

The extra features this controller comes with are a program button which sits in between the D-pad and the right analog stick. This button has 2 purposes; the first is that it can be used in conjunction with the D-pad to control headset volume and audio balancing. Holding the program button down and pressing up or down controls the volume whereas pressing left and right allow you to lean more towards the game audio or party chat audio. This is a nice touch to amend these settings on the fly rather than have to fiddle with the Xbox menu. It also has a mute button at the bottom of the controller for a tactical cough which is also a nice touch.

The second feature of the program button is to map the 2 quick latch buttons on the back. These buttons can be customised to map any other button for an easier push. I am not a big fan of the paddles that come with the elite controllers so I much prefer buttons but unfortunately, I didn’t quite get on with these. Like the Elite controllers, it looks like you can only map one button press to the quick latch button whereas other 3^rd party controllers allow you to map multiple buttons to one. I also had trouble mapping the analog stick press button to one of the custom buttons which I feel is probably one of the most commonly mapped buttons but that just might be me doing it incorrectly. My other issue is that the position of these quick latch buttons sits far too close to where my middle finger rests at the back so accidental pressing become too much of an issue. However, they have added a lock slider next to the buttons which will lock the buttons in place so they can’t be used which I needed to do as it was becoming frustrating.

                I know that there is a general feeling that the heavier controllers feel more powerful or robust to hold but this controller gave me a different feeling. I liked the lighter feel in my hands and the controller still feels very robust and grips nicely. It comes with a 3m cable so that should be plenty for most people’s setups. Having the battery low messages have been a pain whilst playing live recently so I am starting to warm to wired controllers.

Conclusion

The GameSir G7 SE is a neat lightweight robust controller. It feels nice in the hands and feels just as good to play with as stand and elite controllers with a comfortable grip. I appreciate their attempt at adding the anti-gripping ring to the analog sticks but I do not like the squeaking it causes. The customisable buttons are always nice to have but I am not keen on their placement. The quick access features for the headset are a nice touch so there are definitely some positives to this controller which comes at a reasonable price.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post GameSir G7 SE Controller Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

We’re in a bit of a controller renaissance lately. There are a literal wealth of options for players of all skills, budgets, and preferences. PowerA have always been one of the best go to options, and their latest effort – the MOGA XP Ultra – take their top quality build design and brings in some smart, and very welcome, additions, for a reasonable price.

The headline here is the wireless connectivity. We’re starting to see more in the way of third party options being granted access to the Xbox Wireless Protocol, and the XP Ultra is one such device. Not only that, but it can be connected via Bluetooth to PC and Mobile, the latter of which is strongly recommended thanks to yet more of the XP Ultra’s unique features – it’s modular design.

The transformative controller has three options available out of the box; regular play on Xbox consoles (either wireless or wired) is the base here, but we’re able to unclip the grips entirely, leaving us with something reminiscent of a SNES pad. This small form factor keeps everything accessible (bar the included rear buttons on the grips) and is excellent for smaller hands. It’s especially handy if you just want to take a small controller on the road to play on your phone, or just need something a little lighter. We will say for our bigger hands this did prove a bit of a cramp at times, and we found ourselves reaching for the grips for 95% of the time we’ve been playing, but the little ones at home found it easy enough to play with without much issue.

The third option involves the included clip. You may already have one of the gaming clips at home, with PowerA’s MOGA Mobile gaming clip seeing use in the past in this house after we were given some at XO19. Where this differs though is that rather than wrapping around the controller fully, it instead clips in to a dedicated slot on the back of the XP Ultra. It’s a firm clip too, and we find it the better option thanks to being slightly more balanced. We can adjust the angle at two points and the lock holds our phone nicely indeed, even within its case. And while it’s fully possible, we did find having the grip on without the grips a little too top heavy for long sessions, but again, this was easily solved by clipping the grips back on.

Being wireless the XP Ultra requires power, and we’re happy to see an included rechargeable battery. While we’ve made mention of our preference for AA’s in the past, the fact this is designed as much for on the go use as at home means a built in battery is actually a better choice here in our eyes. It’ll last up to 60 hours too reportedly, though we clearly don’t play as many games as we think seeing as we’ve yet to charge it beyond initially topping up the battery out of the box over the last two weeks. In fact, there’s a built in battery indicator that has only lost one of its four notches in this time.

It’s all well and good having these fancy features, but if it’s not nice to use then it’s all for now. Thankfully, the XP Ultra has proved to be a solid controller all round. It’s not going to compete with the top tier premium pads out there, but it’s also a fair bit cheaper too, coming in at around £125. This is still a pricey unit, but for what we get this feels like a pretty fair price to us.

The buttons and triggers are all perfectly good, responsive and tactile without resorting to being too loud and clicky. The sticks have a nice grip to them a well, while the d-pad is a hybrid-style affair that is serviceable enough. The now mandatory back buttons are here and accounted for, encased as non-removable buttons on the grip handles. There are only two, but they are nicely placed and easy to use. And despite having a built in battery, the XP Ultra somehow feels very light in the hand even when fully assembled.

Our only minor gripe with the feel of the controller has to do with the very nature of it – the way the grips are designed to detach leaves a ridge that encompasses the controller. In play this isn’t much of an issue, but compare to the smooth nature of other pads it can feel a little ‘edgy’ especially near the B button. And while the toggle switch to detach the grips is solid and won’t be accidently knocked, it only latches in on the middle part of the controller which can let the actual grips have a very small amount of wiggle if you’re getting especially into the action. It’s been perfectly fine so far of course, but we could see especially animated sessions pushing this connection to its limit.

Conclusion

Otherwise, this is an excellent controller from PowerA. Comfy to use, and with the trio of ways to play as well as the built in long battery life it’s proven a worthy companion in my daily gaming sessions.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post PowerA MOGA XP Ultra Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

As someone who works from home and spends all day in front of a monitor, there’s no doubt that comfort is one of my top priorities. It would be a shame to develop back problems before I even reach my early 30s. (Only 23 by the way) Previously I only used a cheap office chair on Amazon but let me tell you something, The Ewin Champion Series has changed not only the way I work but also the way I game.

Packaging

In terms of packaging the Ewin Champion Series Chair, it came how I expected it—a plain cardboard box, with the logo on the side. I will say the box did have some weight to it, so if you planning on lugging this upstairs it might be best to have someone with you. Personally, I put the chair together first then carried it. Inside each of the parts came individually wrapped in bubble wrap.

Assembly

Assembling the chair itself was a pretty straightforward process, that is if you built a chair before. Now I’ve had my fair share in assembling gaming chairs before so I knew where the pieces were supposed to go and whats what. If I didn’t have that knowledge though, it would’ve been a hassle. The manual showcases the different types of chairs that Ewin offers including the variety of colors they can come in. In terms of how to actually put together the chair, it seems more like a quick summary with a picture of the part. The picture also seems generic as the instructions were for a different chair that wasn’t mine. Additionally, everything is on one page with red arrows pointing at what to look at next. Like I previously said if you had no knowledge then putting this chair together would take some time. For me, it took about 30-40 minutes.

What’s nice about the assembly process is that the screws came pre-attached to the chair. so you didn’t have to keep looking back at the directions to figure out what screw goes where. You can simply remove the screw, attach the desired part, and put the screw back into place. While I used a specialized screwdriver, the assembly kit does come with hex wrenches.

The Final Product

Once everything was put together I decided to give the chair a test run. The quality difference between the cheap chair I used from Amazon compared to the Ewin Championship Series is absolutely astounding. The chair of course was overall more comfy and easy on the old bum. The special 4D armrest can be changed to fit the perfect height. It actually comes with six different settings to be exact. The recline is one of my favorite features of the chair. From 85° to 155° It’s extremely versatile for me to have a chair where I can adjust my recline for when I’m doing business at the computer or online gaming with friends and it doubles as a rocker. I will say it does take a bit of effort to get it to work but once it does it’s amazing, especially since my last few chairs didn’t have this feature. The problems I did have with the chair were somewhat minor inconveniences. For instance, after only 2 days of use, I did find a bit of threading from the back of the chair. With all gaming chairs, there are cushions for both your lower back and of course your head. While the cushion for my lower back is nice I can’t say the same for my headrest. Now I’m 6 ft so maybe that has something to do with it but my cushion sits at the bottom of my neck. With the way that everything was assembled, it didn’t seem like I could adjust it to a more preferable position.

Conclusion

Of course, with this chair, there are some things that could’ve been better but this is a quality chair. From its overall comfort to its convenient and nice features, the Ewin Champion Series Chair is a great option for those who want a great starter gaming chair for an affordable price ($359).

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post Ewin Champion Series Chair Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

Premium controllers are far more prevalent in the current gaming age, with offerings available from both Xbox direct as well as multiple third party options. While we’ve checked out some excellent offerings over the years, today’s subject – the SCUF Instinct Pro – aims to be in class of its own. It’s pricey, but by golly it’s good.

SCUF are renowned for putting a lot of love into their controllers and the Instinct Pro shows why from before the purchase has even been made. Heading to their website allows us to simply buy a controller as is, but that little customise button is there to tempt those with a few extra quid in their pockets. Click it, and the world opens up.

From here we can choose from things like coloured or bespoke designed faceplates, as well as different colour schemes for basically every part of the controller; sticks, buttons, triggers, even the rings around the sticks can be changed to one of multiple colours. If you’ve ever tried the Xbox Design Lab you’ll be at home here, and SCUF offer almost as granular amounts detail. As you can see from the pictures on the page, we went for the Dimension faceplate, but there were many more we considered, including the awesome Illumination one.

Now let’s get it out of the way: by making the customisations in this section, the price is going to bump up. After starting at £190, our final tally was around £240, though we obviously need to caveat that with the fact we were given this for review purposes. That is a pricey controller, and we wondered whether any pad could justify such a high price. The old adage proves true though, and you get what you pay for.

From the first moment we held it we knew this was going to be good. It has an almost perfect weight balance, and the shape and feel is as good – if not slightly preferable – the official Xbox Elite pads. My poor Halo Infinite controller has been usurped at last! Obviously we’re keen on the finished look too (somehow it looks even better in person) but that feel is just excellent.

This praise needs to continue for when it’s in use too. The grips are just about right in terms of being grippy enough to hold without over doing it, and everything from the buttons to triggers and sticks feels perfect. Xbox has the best official design out there, but this SCUF effort finds ways to improve things just so, and we have been won over. We’re also a fan of the way hair triggers are implemented here, toggled on and off with a very tactile feeling switch just under our fingers. It’s easy to swap the trigger feel on the fly.

The sticks can be swapped out too, with the faceplate easily removable allowing us the option to just pop them off and put some new ones on. In the box we get two additional types to use, though more can be purchased should you need. We were granted an extra pack to check out, though we much preferred the standard feel, as we usually do.

An included USB-A to C cable allows us to play wired, or easily sync a controller to a console, though this is also possible in the standard method of wireless connectivity. Oh, did we forget to mention? The Instinct Pro is an Officially Supported wireless controller for Xbox, PC, and Mobile. That means we can Bluetooth it to our phones for some cloud gaming, but most importantly, we don’t have to have a wire trailing from the Xbox to play. We’re old enough to remember when wired was the only option, but it is nice to see third part controllers start to be allowed to use the proprietary Xbox Wireless Protocol. On the AA’s provided in the box we got a couple of weeks play out if it too, which equated to roughly 40-odd hours of play in wireless mode.

One small caveat that might deter some is that small fact; the Instinct Pro requires AA batteries to run. For us, this is actually preferable, being long time proponents of the ease of just swapping out rechargeable batteries, but there’s no denying for the price it’d have been a nice add to have some sort of built in option.

The only other small gripe – which is more of a personal preference – are the included back buttons. These are a now common feature, especially in third party options, and the Instinct Pro is no different, offering four customisable inputs. Where we’re not quite sold though is in the layout. Where we’ve gotten used to the Elite’s detachable flappy paddles, the Instinct Pro has four built in buttons, two per side. The inner of these two are nice and chunky, clicking in with a satisfying feel. The remaining two are positioned basically directly opposite to these, and this is where we need more time to get used to things. We found the easiest way was to use one finger to flick between them, using both the front and back of the fingertip. This is fine for the most part but should we need to press two at once it requires a bit of finger dexterity to achieve. Of course, we can just customise our way around this – we’re able to have up to three profiles saved on the controller, handy for swapping in and out of games – but we do prefer the official Elite’s way of doing things in the regard. Again, these are far from unusable though, and with more play we got more used to the change in style.

Conclusion

So overall, does the SCUF Instinct Pro justify its high-to-higher price tag, depending on what options you go for? For us, absolutely. Everything from the weight, feel, inputs, wireless inclusion, and customisation options make this controller easily recommended for those looking for something to up their game. As long as you’ve got the budget and don’t mind sticking with the AA crowd, Xbox controllers really don’t get much better than this.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post SCUF Instinct Pro Controller Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

The Lyra is a compact set, with a reduced sized keyboard and lightweight mouse included. Starting with the keyboard, and we’re used to mashing away on chunky mechanical keys, whereas this uses more laptop-style buttons. They are nicely responsive, only taking a small adjustment to our usual clattering affair to get words on a screen. You’ll need a flat surface (obviously) though we only mention it as our usual working table has a slight dip in it which caused the keyboard to flex slightly under the typing action (though again, we’re used to being a bit heavier handed).

Due to the reduced size we lose the number keypad on the side, as well as the ease of use buttons like Page Up/Down etc. There are keyboard shortcuts for everything naturally, though we must admit to being a bit stuck at the day job which makes heavy use of these buttons, meaning we found it easier to resort to our chunky keyboard instead.

For Xbox Tavern purposes though, the Lyra keyboard has been nothing but brilliant. Fat finger errors aside, we’ve written the last few reviews on it, as well as many private messages and emails with little issue. In fact, our old mechanical keyboard has been gathering dust completely these past few weeks such is our fondness of using the Lyra.

It also helps that the Lyra is a fully wireless keyboard. Not only that but we can actually have up to three devices assigned to its memory, easily swapped between by pressing the buttons at the top of the keyboard. One requires us to plug in the included (and very tiny) USB dongle, but the other two are simple Bluetooth connections. Getting back to the gaming for a moment, we actually left the dongle plugged into our Series S, ready for a quick round of Fortnite when the writing gets too much. In term of gaming ability the Lyra isn’t going to win many awards for control feel – dedicated gaming keyboard are a thing for a reason – but in a pinch games like the aforementioned Fortnite were perfectly playable.

We don’t even need to worry about the built in battery crapping out on us mid-sentence either, lasting a reported six months on a single charge. Obviously we can’t test this yet having only had it for a few weeks, but considering it only takes a reported two hours to charge this means when the times comes we’ll have very little in the way of inconvenience.

Much of the above can be echoed for the mouse too; Bluetooth on up to three devices, six month battery life, reduced size, and nice feel under the hand. It also comes with the slight caveat that the feature set outside of the above is reduced. There’s no side buttons for forward/back browsing, and not really much in the way of customising. DPI goes through 800/1200/1600, though the large jumps can make it hard to nail down a preference. We’ve left it set to 1600 which is slightly faster than we like, but the 1200 is far too slow for us. Still, that’s more personal preference really, and it wasn’t too big a deal for us to get used to the faster speed for the most part. It’s also designed in a way that allows for ambidextrous use, so lefties and righties will be just fine here.

Conclusion

 Overall, we’re pretty taken with the Trust Lyra keyboard and mouse set. It’s lightweight and compact enough to carry about with us, and has freed up the sole USB slot on our aging Surface, letting us type up all of the internet’s Best Gaming Reviews for you lovely lot. Whether you need something for work, or fancy trying your hand at this writing lark, this Lyra set is a solid starting point.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post Trust Lyra Keyboard & Mouse Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

The Gamesir T4 Kaleid is Gamesir’s latest foray into the world of controllers, with this one focusing on PC, AndroidTV 8.0 and up, and Nintendo Switch play. Yes, it unfortunately won’t work on the Xbox (even though it uses the Xbox button layout), but we’re happy to have something else to check out the PC Game Pass – or indeed Cloud Gaming – library with.

That one caveat out of the way, the T4 Kaleid is a surprisingly decent pad. It’s a little on the lighter side than we’re used to, but it’s far from uncomfortable to hold and use. Set up is easy too; just plug and play. When used on PC, there is a T4 Kaleid app that allows us to customise the buttons, lights, vibration, and sticks across three profiles. We didn’t have a great deal of success with this early on as nothing seemed to save properly, but we got there in the end.

Comfort is one thing, but if the feel while playing is off then that’s another matter. Thankfully, the T4 Kaleid is a pretty solid contender. It’s not going to challenge the best out there, but for what is a relatively cheap price (around £35 at time of writing) this punches above its weight in some areas.

For one thing, the now-almost-mandatory back buttons are present and correct. We only get two, but they are of course customisable and nicely placed to rest under our middle finger. They – as well as the rest of the face buttons – have a click to them, though a slight softness to so as to not sound like we’re sending a wartime SOS. The Hall Effect triggers are decent, offering full range of motion. We did find them to be a tad too light to the touch, but this could also be where we’re used to more intensive variants on Xbox with haptic feedback. The sticks work as expected and are thankfully concave rather than convex (most seem to taking this more sensible approach now).

Despite not working on an Xbox, these have clearly been looking at that design for inspiration and it pays off well. Even as far as the grips are concerned, there’s a nice matt-texture finish to the underside, letting us grip this that much easier. The transparent case feels incredibly sturdy too despite the cheap price tag. It’s survived a few drops and bumps in the few weeks we’ve had it with no sign of wear or tear at all.

In terms of playing our PC/Xbox Cloud gaming options, this has proven to be a decent stand in to our Elite or regular Series pad. It lacks some of the punch of the Xbox controllers in terms of feedback but on the whole we’ve enjoyed using it. When paired with a Switch or certain PC games things get even better as the T4 Kaleid even includes motion control. Playing our go to test game Fortnite saw us get the benefit of both worlds – we’ve a proper decent control layout to play with, but also that motion aiming for fine tuning shots. Even better, we can get a slight edge on Xbox players even when playing on Cloud Gaming as the motion controls are supported there too. Xbox and motion controls…poor Kinect was before it’s time!

Our main gripes with the come in the forms of the D-Pad feeling a little squishy, and the short 2m USB-C cable included. Even in our relatively snug set up we need a 3m at least, so the Switch got yanked off the stand more than once during play. It is detachable, though be sure the check the housing on any replacement cable as we’ve found most of ours that we have lying around wouldn’t fit the opening on the controller.

 We’re also not entirely clear on the Android side of things. Plugging it into our Samsung phone for some cloud gaming yielded no luck, though there is inconsistent messaging about it being for AndroidTV rather than phones, which is not clear until we got into the manual (and even then it’s still not fully obvious). There are other 100% functioning pads out there if you’re looking for something for your phone, so just bear that in mind.

Conclusion

All in all though, the Gamesir T4 Kaleid is a decently priced entry into controller market, with the downsides easily outweighed by the ups. It has a good feel to it, the snazzy transparent body looks cool and feels sturdy, and outside of the D-pad the actual use of the T4 Kaleid feels pretty damn close to its more expensive counterparts (and we even get some sneaky motion control thrown in on PC and Xbox games).

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post Gamesir T4 Kaleid Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

PowerA are well known for providing some top-tier peripheral support on Xbox – we’ve even been lucky enough to check out several of their wares ourselves over the years. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks playing with the newly released Fusion Pro 3, a souped-up wired pad that offers more than enough to justify its asking price and then some – in fact, it comes close to having us retire our Xbox Elite Series 2 pad were it not for that one fine detail.

Let’s get it out of the way; the Fusion Pro 3 is wired. You’ll likely know if that’s a deal breaker for you already, though we’d urge you to reconsider that thought. While wireless has become standard, if you’re in a position to go old school and tether up – kids/pets/large rooms notwithstanding  – there’s very little else that we can find to complain about here.

First off, the Fusion Pro 3 is an incredibly comfortable pad to hold. We’ve pretty much exclusively used it for the last few weeks, but anytime we’ve picked up our Elite Series 2 we’ve almost been put off by how heavy it is in comparison. Of course, the Elite pads are built with the highest premium quality in mind (as well as an in-built battery)  hence the extra weight, but it wasn’t long before we were looking to go back to the Fusion Pro 3.

It’s not just weight either. The ergonomics of the pad are fantastic, easily rivalling the official pads in shape and feel, while the slightly textured grips offer that extra bit of support when playing. Almost every input on the pad has just the right amount of give without feeling to cheap or clacky too. The only buttons we found mild issue with were the capture button – it’s slightly too small and close to the Guide button – and the back button assign input. Here, we found ourselves occasionally accidently clicking it in in the midst of a game, only to notice our back buttons had stopped working.

Yes, back buttons. A staple of the premium pads and included here to great effect. We get four customisable buttons, and while we’ve always preferred the Elite way of doing these (flappy paddles that can be removed) the Fusion Pro 3’s are probably the best implementation since those came to market. The buttons are chunky but also perfectly placed, and, thanks to the aforementioned button we occasionally hit, can be customised on the fly, no need to go to a separate app to assign inputs. This does have the slight downside that we can’t set up several profiles, but realistically we never really swap out this on the Elite all that often, so it’s not a big issue.

We can also set the triggers to one of three locked positions, with the lowest turning them into super quick hair triggers. This is also easily done by sliding the switch on each side, and is great for shooters especially.

Headphone support is catered for too, with the Fusion Pro 3 having the company’s signature mute/volume switch directly above the headphone jack. A simple click in mutes the mic – noted by the button turning red – while short flicks left and right turn the volume up and down. This didn’t work when we had a wireless headset attached, but wired ones worked exactly as they should.

The aforementioned cable comes in at 3 metres, and for our set-up was more than adequate. Our console is above to screen to the right, so occasionally we’d see it sway into view, but those with more sensible placement of the Xbox will barely even notice it’s there. It even has a cool Velcro tie to wrap the cable up after playing, and can be detached and even replaced with a longer one should the need arise.

Special mention must got to the vibration motors in the Fusion Pro 3 – they are super strong, with the bus taking off in Fortnite giving our hands a good shake and a half. This was true even in easier moments, such as combat in The Last Case of Benedict Fox, though for our money we like a good bit of rumble in our controllers so this is a win in our eyes.

We were sent the unit with the black pattern, with customisation a possibility as the front face plate is simply magnetised on. A quick flick from the bottom allows us to remove it and potentially change it out. We can also replace the analogue sticks, with them simply clicking on and off. Within the box we get two extra styles of stick (one convex, one slightly taller). We preferred to keep the standard sticks on, though the fact they’re included is yet another bonus. We also get a sturdy case to keep it in, which can house the extra sticks as well as the USB-C cable. Granted, this didn’t get much use these last few weeks, but again, it’s another premium touch that makes that roughly $80 price tag all the more worthwhile.

Conclusion

Simply put, if you’re in the market for an extra controller – or a replacement for your day to day gaming – then as long as you can handle a single cable, the Fusion Pro 3is one of our favourite pads we’ve checked out so far. It’s packing features far more expensive pads have, as well as comfort and button feel to stand toe to toe with them. The third party peripheral market continues to impress, and PowerA stand to be the players to beat in the controller realm with the Fusion Pro 3.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post PowerA Fusion Pro 3 Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

Conclusion

After a couple of weeks with the DEPGI Xbox Series S Portable Monitor I can safely say I’m a fan. Whether it’s bringing my Xbox Series S to another room, side by side with my computer, or maybe even outside (not recommended in bright sunlight), this thing is convenient. Without the need for finding extra plugs or display this screen stays on my Series S and folds down nicely when not in use. While the price can be seen as expensive you are paying for that nice convenience factor. If you are in the market specifically for a portable monitor that fits on an Xbox Series S … consider this one.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post DEPGI Xbox Series S Portable Monitor Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

We’ve been able to check out a good selection of Gamesir‘s Xbox-focused output over the years. The latest on the docket is the X2 Pro cloud gaming controller. Can it stand shoulder to shoulder to some of the already excellent options out there?

Initial impressions are good. Opening the box, we find a really solid feeling case that houses the unit. There’s a little bit of give to the outer shell, but we get the impression that the X2 is going to be perfectly protected in this for every day use. A week of travel in our backpack proved that to be true so far, and including this in the box is definitely one of the better points of the X2 package.

Opening it up, we find the X2 strapped in with a surprisingly strong velcro strip across the middle; great for preventing accidental drops as we open it up. Above, we find a (tiny) USB-A/C cable and various manuals/stickers. The presentation across the board is great, and being able to store both the X2 and some earbuds/cables in one place is very handy indeed.

Once we’d removed the X2 from it’s sturdy case, we found it to be somewhat lighter than we expected. It’s a pretty svelte unit when not holding our phone. The most obvious comparison is the Switch in terms of feel and weight, though naturally this isn’t quite as solid a construction due to the nature of needing to be more malleable.

Our Samsung A32 (without its case) fits nicely into the X2. The rubberised backing helps hold it in place, and it is connected to the phone via a built-in USB-C connector on the right side of the opening. We were initially hesitant about this choice for fear of easily snapping this off but Gamesir have wisely chosen to have it be a flexible connection; there’s almost 45° of travel, allowing us to easily insert and remove the phone. This also means the X2 is powered by our phone’s battery rather than it’s own power supply. Handily, new-ish models of phones can be charged using the passthrough port. We can plug a USB-C cable in on the right underside while playing to charge as we play. This is great at home obviously, but also a good idea for on the road (providing we have a portable charger and cable too). It doesn’t appear to drain the battery much faster while playing though, so this ends up being a neat extra rather than a requirement.

We’re not super keen however on the general feel of the X2 when playing. The overall size and shape of the unit is fine, but we found our hands resorting to a bit of a claw after longer playtimes. A slightly bigger chassis around the palms might have helped here, but we couldn’t help but find a little discomfort after a while.

Which is a shame as the actual button/trigger feel is pretty good. The triggers have a decent travel on them, and buttons are nice and clicky in use. Even the analogue sticks here are respectable, though the main reason we found for that claw grip comes in when using the right stick for longer periods for us.

Checking out the recent release of Goldeneye (at last) and Fortnite worked well until the hand cramps came in, though titles like Hi-Fi Rush and Age of Empires II felt much better to play with their more limited need to use the right stick constantly. The rest of the controller is fairly comfortable to use, it’s just that bottom right corner that lets this side down. Well, and the additional back buttons.

Like a lot of it’s peers, the X2 also has a couple of buttons on the rear that can be mapped to any of the other buttons on the pad. We’re always happy to see these – but here, they are all but useless due to their placement. Granted there’s not much room for change without a whole redesign, but we found them incredibly difficult to reach while still having a good grip on the device, to the point that we simply ignored them altogether. Smaller hands might fare better of course, but even our average-sized hands struggled to make the most of their inclusion.

Conclusion

All of which is to say, the Gamesir X2 Pro is a bit of a mixed bag. They’ve nailed several aspects – button feel, connection ease, pass through charging, the included case – but these are let down but an awkward design that renders it uncomfortable to hold after longer sessions (especially if playing something that requires a lot of right analogue stick action), and those back buttons all but pointless. For just shy of £80, you’re better off looking at something along the lines of the similarly priced Nacon MG-X Pro, or if budget allows the PowerA XP7-X, though if you can deal with the issues raised then this is otherwise a decent mobile controller.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

The post Gamesir X2 Pro Review appeared first on Xbox Tavern.

Coming in at £29.99, the GXT 981 Redex is on the lower end of the price ranges for a decent gaming focused mouse. That doesn’t mean that we’re missing out on quality, although naturally far more expensive types add in all sort of extra buttons to play with. Here, we get the basic array of left/right click, wheel, DPI changer and the side back/forward buttons. More than enough for our purposes, and all are featured on a nicely form-factored mouse that sits snuggly under the hand. I’m actually surprised how nicely it fits my large hands seeing as I’ve found some smaller mice in the past to be uncomfortable to use for extended periods, but the GXT 981 Redex has been excellent all round.

Using the DPI button located next to the scroll wheel we can cycle between seven pre-sets, from 200 up to a ludicrous 10,000. Each are colour coded for ease of use (though you’ll know when you hit the 10k one…) and cycling thorough them takes barely a second. Plug this into your PC and the options increase much further. Here, we can not only set the DPI value to a custom amount for each pre-set using an easy slider-based display, but also the colour associated with it. I changed the second setting to orange and 1600 DPI which was just right for me, but you can get as granular as you want really.

The PC app also allows us to set up to five profiles should we need, as well as macro button sets and the style of RGB lighting in play too. For an entry level mouse the app has a surprising level of customisation available, though again far more pricey options will expand this further. For use on Xbox the GXT 981 Redex fits the bill just fine though.

The 1.8m wire on the GXT 981 Redex is a sturdy one, and something I think will hold up to daily use nicely. Connected via a chunky USB-A connection, set up is as simple as plug-n-play, with the app an optional download to get the most out of it.

My only gripe with the GXT 981 Redex is the lack of a side button for slowing the mouse down to a crawl at a press. This is something I’ve gotten used to on my day to day mouse and has been useful for really nailing those precise headshots or nit-picking in an RTS. Of course, that’s just something I’m used to having so I can’t knock this too much, but it would have been the icing on the cake here.

Conclusion

For an entry level gaming mouse, the GXT 981 Redex is a great effort from Trust. It feels great, is ultra-lightweight, and with the PC app can be customised to a surprising degree. Whether you’re gaming on PC or Xbox, this is a great choice.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

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