Xbox Elite Series 2 Core Wireless Gaming Controller – White Series X|S, One, Windows PC, Android, and iOS

I bought a standard basic controller for Xbox from the custom laboratory. It was just basic custom. It wasn’t a fancy picture. It was just a red custom, soft touch plastic elite two controller but the right joystick didn’t press end and click. It was broken. I was a little bummed out because The controller is so nice. I had to be without it for a couple days till they sent me another one now that I’m using it. I really love it. I would never go back to a basic controller. It is light years better you wouldn’t think it by opening the package but when you actually start to play, you’re gonna notice the difference And I’m happy I stuck with Xbox in Microsoft because I can use the keypad on the controller on the set up, so I like it

Cost a lot but worth it. My fiance had so many controllers before and the all stop working quickly! Not this one! This one is more comfortable and feels natural in his hand.

i use this everyday. it is crazy high quality and everything works well and has held up fantastically. my ONLY complaint is that i play on the XBOX app on my PC and for whatever reason this controller will randomly disconnect on Bluetooth mode, i have to play corded in order to keep it connected continuously. I've updated the controller on my wife's XBOX and no luck.

I must admit that I had not fully appreciated the functionality of this controller until it ceased to function and I was forced to revert to the previous model, which highlighted a significant disparity in quality.

******UPDATE******05/13/25 I have sent it back twice more since my last post. Again, the RB button does not function. On 04/27/25, I spoke with Ridon about another replacement. I was sent an email requesting that I verify my shipping address: "Dear Michael, Thank you for reaching out regarding your Xbox controller concern. Since your device is still within the warranty period, we can proceed with a replacement request for you. To move forward, kindly provide your updated shipping address. Once we receive this information, we will document your request and initiate the replacement process." I replied within 10 minutes and did not receive a shipping label or any further correspondence. I sent another email on 05/03/25 and again did not receive a response (I verified with a MS employee that this is an email address that receives email). On 05/12/25, I requested another phone call so I could speak to somebody about my open case. I never received a call back. Today, 05/13/25, I requested a call again and did receive a call back. After I explained the issue and verified my information including a number I could be reached at if we were disconnected, the call was disconnected, and I never received a call back. That is the go-to move for Microsoft customer service. I might be able to understand if I was rude or angry in any way. I just explain the situation and ask how I can return for a replacement. I keep going down this path because I have to believe there will be one person that works for Xbox that will just replace the controller for a new, working one. Controller is great when working but I have sent it back 5 times for repair in 9 months. ******UPDATE***** 11/12/24 I received a replacement on 09/20/24. It worked for approximately a month before the RB button no longer functioned. (Had to press 5+ times for it to be registered). I have sent it back once again and haven't received the replacement yet. Honestly, I cannot wait until it has been a year since I purchased so it will be out of the Microsoft warranty and I will be able to use the Assurion warranty I purchased and just get refunded. My kid does say that when it works, it is great. The issue is that we haven't had a working one for more than a month and a half in the past five months. ****UPDATE**** 10/10/24 On 09/15/2024 I received my second replacement controller that did not function correctly. This time the headphone jack did not work along with the original issue of stick drift. I go through the arduous process of trying to talk with somebody and this person sounds like they are going to assist. They tell me they will send out a "new" controller as a replacement right away because of all of the issues I have had. All I have to do is give them my credit card number so that it can be charged in the chance that I do not return the unworking controller. I agreed to the $196.02 charge if I didn't return the controller. On 09/20/24, I received the new, unboxed controller and it worked. Within an hour, I sent the unworking controller back to Xbox with the provided shipping label. I received an email from Xbox later that day stating that it looks like I received the controller and requesting that I send the tracking number. i do so immediately. On 09/26/2024, I received an email that they had not received the controller and that if they did not receive the controller within a few days, I would be charged for the replacement. I attempted to call but I got disconnected (this happens 50% of the time, in my experience). I then sent another email with the tracking number again. I could see that the controller was delivered to El Paso on that very same day. Over the next week, I see a charge and a credit authorized on my credit card for 196.01. I assumed that they charged and realized they received the controller and then credited my account. Neither had posted. I checked my credit card yesterday and the charge had posted, and the credit disappeared. I have been attempting to get in contact with them for the past 40 minutes since customer service opened. I have been unable to request a phone call back. They appear to have a system issue. They have many issues. Sidenote. I called Chase last night to contest the charge. They were great. They, themselves, removed the charge. They just ate the charge. I am still working on this through Xbox because Chase shouldn't compensate me for Microsoft's thievery. My goal is to get refunded though Xbox for the product I returned and to have Chase recover their nice gesture. ****UPDATE**** 08/19/2024 I have not received any communication from Jefry (Microsoft) regarding my missing controller that I sent in under warranty. Jefry did assure me 3-4 times that he would contact me every 3 days with an update on the status of the lost controller. I called Microsoft today and went through the process of requesting customer service to call me. The call was estimated to be in approximately 22 minutes. 5 minutes later (I was in the shower) the phone rang and it was Microsoft. I was pleased until I got to wait on hold for 35 minutes before speaking to a person. Finally, an advocate (customer service agent) got on the line. I explained the entire situation again and she asked for the support request number. She asked that I wait a few minutes while she looked into the case. She got back on the line and stated that since the case was previously escalated that she was unable to access any information, but I should be assured that she will forward this information to Jefry (the "advocate" that was previously assisting me and the "advocate" that failed to keep me updated as promised multiple times) and Jefry will contact me either today or tomorrow. I asked if I could get a copy of what she is sending to Jefry so I have something if I were to need to call back. She stated that she was not permitted to send me a copy, but I should be assured that Jefry will contact me by tomorrow with an update. I kindly stated that I was sure that she did send this information to Jefry but she should not assure me that Jefry will follow through as he has already failed to do so previously. The conversation ended and I currently have 3 1/2 hours into trying to get a working controller for my son so he could have his birthday present back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I purchased the controller on June 15, 2024, and received June 22, 2024. During the first week my kid was complaining that the controller had "stick drift" (basically the controller stick would not recenter itself so there would be movement without touching the controller). I did not really think that was likely of the new controller and thought he may be just making excuses for not winning a game. I hear him complain about it off and on for the next month until he forced me to look at how bad it was on August 1, 2024. I observed the same thing that he was complaining about. I went online to look into this issue and saw that it may be fixed by recalibrating the controller. I did that and it did not fix the issue. There were many videos online on how to take a part the controller and replace a few parts, but I did not want to take that route because that would certainly void the warranty. The 30 day return window closed 9 days earlier on July 22, 2024 so I attempted to go through the regular warranty process (the warranty on Xbox controllers are usually 90 days but on Elite Series 2 the warranty was extended from 90 days to a year because of how many issues that were being reported about this controller). Microsoft contracts the warranty portion of the process to Asurion. Asurion is a company that you can purchase extended warranties for a variety of items. I have dealt with Asurion in the past and they have been easy to work with. I speak with the Asurion agent for over an hour to get this warranty process started and I receive a shipping label emailed to me. I pack up the item and have it at UPS within a half an hour. I can track that Microsoft received the controller on August 6, 2024. On August 7, 2024, I receive an email that states: "Your device has shipped, Great news. Your repaired or replaced device has left our service center and is on its way to the shipping address that you provided or the Microsoft-authorized location that you selected. You can track the status of your delivery. Tracking may take 24 to 48 hours to populate." The tracking number never updates with any information except for: "UPS doesn’t have possession of the package yet. Estimated delivery date will be available as soon as we get the package." It is now August 14, 2024, and I decide that I should call Microsoft to check on the status of this controller. I went through the process so that I may receive a call to speak to somebody. After a few minutes, I did receive a call that was immediately disconnected from their end. I go through the process again to request another call and did receive one a few minutes later. I verified a bit of information so he could look further into the issue. This is where I felt like it went off the tracks. The agent told me that he could see the item was shipped and should have been delivered. I stated that it had not been delivered and we compared tracking numbers. Then he stated that it was most likely an issue with UPS not updating their system. This went on for about ten minutes where he would ask for a few minutes to check on something and come back about miscommunication with UPS. Finally, the agent (who spoke extremely fast, and I had to restate for clarification) told me that he was going put in a "support request" and he would follow up with me every few days until he could determine the status of the controller (he would have somebody else contact UPS and the repair facility). I asked him what timeframe that a warranty claim usually took and he stated 15 days on the high end. I asked if I should expect my controller 15 days from when Microsoft received it on August 6, 2024 and he said it would be 15 days from today, August 14, 2024. I asked what would happen if I didn't receive the controller in 15 days and he stated that I should call back and inquire about it again but there wasn't a definite timeframe that could be stated because of unforeseen issues like communication with UPS. I then asked if the controller was repaired or replaced, and he didn't have that information. I told him that I had a different solution. I started by stating that I thought it wasn't appropriate to blame this on UPS. I told him that I was conducting my business with Microsoft and that if Microsoft has an issue with a company that they do business with then that should not be used as an excuse with their customers. I asked if a new or working controller could be sent immediately rather than my son waiting for their issues to be sorted, and he stated emphatically that would not be done. I contended that I did not want anything except for a working controller that I had purchased. I then questioned if a new controller as a replacement was out of line as my son had issues with this immediately and also logically that if the repair facility received the item on August 6, 2024, and sent an email saying that it was "repaired or replaced" early on August 7, 2024, that there was a good possibility that a new controller was sent out as a remedy because the turnaround time was so short. I also reiterated that I just wanted a working controller and that it did not have to be new. The agent restated that this could not be done and there wasn't a way to tell if a new or repaired item was sent. Maybe my expectations are too high. The amount of time I have put into getting a working controller for my son is not reasonable. I do think that a replacement being sent (new or used, just working) was not an unreasonable request given the Microsoft's failures to create a reliable product and to be able to adequately manage a warranty system so that the customer would not have to waste additional time following up on their purchase. Lesson learned.

Very nice controller, the grips on it feel good and the metal D-Pad is very sturdy and durable. The trigger distance changers on the back of it are very nice to use and help in shooter games like fortnite or call of duty, wish it would have came with the buttons to put on the back but the buttons are still usable without them its just awkward and slightly uncomfortable

I have a lot of controllers... and I'm on a mission of reviewing every controller I own. Today we'll be reviewing the Xbox Elite Series 2! Be warned, this will probably be a long one... The main reason I bought this controller, way back in 2019, is because I was raiding in FFXIV and I wanted the best possible PC controller to do it with. The adjustable tension on the sticks and the rear paddles were both attractive points to me and having primarily played with a standard Xbox One wireless controller, this was the most natural direction to go in my controller journey. I unfortunately had a lemon for my first one though - the triggers failed to register when engaging the trigger stops. I had to go to a Microsoft store to exchange it for a working one. This has unfortunately become a bit of a reputation for this controller, you may have to go through a lottery to get one that works. I'm happy to report though that the replacement I got back then still works, though I have had to manually replace two things. Features: The standout features on the Elite Series 2 that got me interested were.... - Adjustable Joystick Tension - Rear Paddles - Trigger Stops - 4 customizable profiles Two of the four ended up being very useful to me. The joystick tension allowed me to have a looser movement joystick with a stiffer camera joystick, which worked out ideally for me. The trigger stops reduced the fatigue of my index fingers after a raiding session since I didn't have to depress the trigger as far while using skills. Unfortunately the rear paddles ended up being a disappointment as you can really only map existing buttons to the triggers without using third party software (ReWASD), which I eventually ended up purchasing in order to set up macros. The profiles basically got ruined for me because of he same reason - they weren't really that useful to me without the ability to macro. Aside from that, the controller really has no standout features anymore. Times were different back then though and a lot of things seen in newer controllers like HE/TMR joysticks, microswitch face buttons, LCD screens, etc were not a thing. QC / Durability Concerns: My Elite 2 still functions today, but two things have broken down over time. 1) I had to solder a new right shoulder button switch in. Eventually it got to the point where you had to mash it for it to actuate, which wasn't practical... so I took the controller apart and got a kit to solder a new button in. In the process, I kind of ruined the right stick so the return tension is not correct anymore, but also.... 2) I had to replace a bulging battery. When the controller was taken apart, the battery was able to expand due to not being compressed, and when I went to reassemble the controller it would physically not go back together because of the battery bulge. Unfortunately, ebay was the only place I could find the replacement, but luckily it is not a soldered battery so replacement was easy. After my first one started having issues I bought a second one from another store... that one has a slightly lopsided dpad mount that I didn't notice at first or else I would have returned it... I could probably fix it if I take it apart but I don't think it's worth the effort. Again... controller lottery lol. Functionality: Aside from the concerns... if you get a good one, it will serve you well. I've never had a drift issue in nearly 5 years with the controller, and it went through a good 2 years of frequent FFXIV raiding which requires a lot of movement of both joysticks, as well as other games I picked up during the time such as Genshin Impact. All of the buttons aside from the right trigger never gave me an issue, and the joystick tension adjustment was great although limited. A staple of my controller reviews... the Tetris dpad test. I play games on Tetris at as fast of a pace as I can (I'm roughly a 1 minute sprinter in modern Tetris games) and see how many false hard drops I get. Xbox one style dpads have been some of my favorites for this test because they're very tactile and it's extremely hard to get a false hard drop in Tetris, so needless to say, this controller passes that test easily. I do find that the asymmetrical controller layout is less comfortable for me to play Tetris on though, so my go to controller for Tetris at the moment is an 8BitDo Pro 2. In Conclusion: Assuming you get a working one... the Xbox Elite Series 2 is still a good controller. If you are playing on an Xbox, it might still arguably be one of the best options for you... but at the end of the day, especially if you are on PC, it is a bit outdated now. Controller innovation has brought things like hall effect and TMR joysticks, which offer a reduced risk of drift. Companies like Flydigi are offering tension adjustments along with these modern joysticks, and completely custom macro ability with the rear buttons with their own software at a lower price with their Vader 4 Pro. Companies like 8BitDo are offering the Ultimate at a fraction of the price while only missing a little bit of the functionality. I'd argue today that there's no reason to buy this controller anymore unless you specifically are an Xbox gamer as so many good featured alternatives exist for PC now. I've realized it myself lately, but the days of third party options being cheap and inferior have ended.

I got this for playing games on Steam (pc). I am an avid gamer and have used many different controllers from GameCube to Xbox. My prior controller that I was using was an Xbox Scuff controller. It had worn down after 100+ hours of use: the RB and several paddles had broken. I got this new controller as a replacement. It has several key qualities that I like: 1.) The shaft of the sticks are metal. My prior controller used plastic for the shafts and they would slowly shred from use and leave dust behind. This created an issue where the dust would get into the controller and cause drift. (All controllers have stick drift. It’s where your controller will move your character onscreen without you doing anything. Games incorporate dead zones where the stick inputs are not read. Overtime, controllers get worse and worse drift that go above the dead zone thresholds causing drift.) I have not had any issues with drift on the new controller. 2.) Metal Paddles. These are levers under the controller that allow you to hit your A, B, X, etc… buttons so that you don’t need to move your fingers off of the sticks. Paddles are not included, but you can buy them separately. I highly recommend getting paddles. They make a big difference. My prior controller used plastic paddles that all eventually broke. These paddles are metal and won’t break. They are easy to put on and off. They are placed better for your fingers too. 3.) Adjustable hair triggers. Your RT and LT buttons can be adjusted so that you don’t go all the way down. This is helpful if you only need them to act as “buttons” rather than “triggers” and don’t need the full press down. I personally don’t restrict my triggers, but if you like to then that function exists here. On the back of the controller you can slide a button into 3 different positions to have them be unrestricted, partially restricted, and almost fully restricted. 4.) Braided type C cord. The controller is wireless, but you can use the cord it comes with to have a wired connection to your computer through any USB port. The braided cord feels high quality and is much better that the plastic incased cords. My prior controller used a micro USB connection on the controller which was a crappy connection that would disconnect all the time. The Type C connection is stable and never disconnects while I’m playing. 5.) Satellite D-pad. It looks a little silly but I like the feel of this d-pad better that the “plus” d-pad. Easy to rotate around all of the directions. Here are some of the cons so far: 1.) I got the blue one. The letters inside the A, B, X, Y buttons are blue. So it’s hard to read what button is which. I can see this being annoying for new players. This only bothers me when I go from using a Nintendo Pro controller to this one because they reverse the X and Y (also A and B). I always get them mixed up and I’ll look down at this controller looking for the X button, but it’s hard to see. 2.) Changing the buttons the paddles are linked to is more difficult on this controller than the Scuff controller. The Scuff controller had a much better solution. This one needs a separate app to do it. 3.) The face plate is more difficult to remove. Another minor gripe. Scuff does this better too where you can remove the face plate easily as it is held on with magnets. You probably will never need to do this, but it does help if you need to replace buttons or clean the inside. Overall, I would recommend this controller to a gamer who is looking for a step up from the basic Xbox controller. Definitely geared for a more competitive player. If you are a casual player, then you would be better off with a cheaper controller. Compared to the Scuff controller, I think this one is better overall. From a price standpoint, it is also better.