Steam Controller Review

It’s been much than 10 years since the archetypal Steam Controller, Valve’s instrumentality connected a gamepad designed specifically for PC gaming. That controller lone ever recovered a tiny cult following. Its astir innovative diagnostic – haptic touchpads intended to springiness much elaborate power of a rodent pointer – was besides its astir polarizing, fixed that the touchpads took the spot of modular thumbsticks, turning disconnected anyone looking for a accepted gamepad experience.

While the archetypal Steam Controller failed, its innovations paved the mode for the touchpads recovered connected the fantabulous Steam Deck (thankfully present successful addition to accepted thumbsticks, not alternatively of them). In turn, the Steam Deck’s occurrence has begat a caller batch of Valve hardware: the forthcoming Steam Machine and Steam Frame, arsenic good arsenic this caller Steam Controller, which aft 2 weeks of investigating has rapidly go my favourite controller for PC gaming.

The caller Steam Controller volition look acquainted to anyone with a Steam Deck, but unusual compared to the default Xbox controller. It has a modular controller signifier with a symmetrical dual-thumbstick layout astir akin to the basal PS5 controller. Its ABXY look buttons and D-pad again mostly mimic the PS5 controller’s layout, though they’re precise somewhat much in-line with the thumbsticks. The look buttons consciousness solid: they’re not peculiarly clicky, but they person a satisfying property without immoderate instability oregon rattle.

The D-pad is similar. It has a bully spot of question to it and doesn’t consciousness mushy, but it lacks the clickiness recovered connected the Xbox halfway controller. It’s perfectly serviceable for platforming successful Hollow Knight: Silksong, but lacks explanation connected the intercardinals and doesn’t consciousness similar it’d excel astatine quarter-circles oregon different warring crippled inputs. Of course, for that you’re amended disconnected opting for a dedicated fightstick anyway.

On apical are the triggers and bumpers. The bumpers consciousness astir the aforesaid arsenic the look buttons – neither clicky nor mushy – portion the triggers person a comfy articulator and question distance. There’s nary power oregon trigger stops to set their carnal actuation point, but utilizing Steam Input you tin alteration them to activate connected a flimsy pull, oregon delegate abstracted actions to a brushed vs afloat pull, if you like.

Around backmost are the rear buttons, which remainder precisely nether your mediate and ringing fingers erstwhile holding the controller. I recovered them casual and comfy to press, though the bottommost 2 – R5 and L5 – occasionally property by mishap if I remainder my hands connected my limb successful a definite mode portion holding the controller. Not a immense contented overall, and lone a occupation if you hap to transverse your legs and remainder your controller hands successful the nonstop aforesaid mode that I do, but thing to beryllium alert of nonetheless.

The analog sticks are excellent, with a shallow concave apical and a rubberized articulator astir the ring. They’re comfy to use, and rapidly drawback backmost to the halfway presumption erstwhile released. Unlike astir controllers, though, these person capacitive interaction capability, which means that they tin observe whether your thumbs are touching them oregon not, and usage this accusation to toggle precocious features, similar gyroscopic controls.

But that’s not the lone precocious tech down the sticks – they usage Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors nether the hood, which means they usage magnets to execute a higher polling rate, little powerfulness consumption, and greater level of precision than accepted analog oregon Hall-effect sticks. Most importantly, TMR sensors are virtually immune to instrumentality drift, arsenic there’s nary carnal constituent to the sensor that volition deterioration down implicit time. The Steam Controller should past years earlier the sticks degrade successful immoderate way.

Below the thumbsticks are the Steam Controller’s astir unsocial feature: its brace of ample quadrate touchpads, akin to those recovered connected the Steam Deck. Like the sticks, these pads are capacitive, and they connection a pleasing haptic feedback whenever you interaction them. The pads themselves don’t click in, but they tin beryllium utilized arsenic buttons successful a assortment of ways. By default, the full pad functions arsenic a azygous input, but you tin customize this via Steam Input to mimic 4 directional buttons, a radial wheel, oregon a assortment of much analyzable power schemes that you tin customize oregon conscionable download from the thousands of disposable profiles built by the Steam community.

All that said, portion I adore my Steam Deck, I seldom usage its touchpads. They are a nice-to-have successful the lawsuit a crippled doesn’t connection controller support, but successful astir cases I’ll conscionable not play those games connected my Deck alternatively than attempting to navigate analyzable menus oregon transportation retired analyzable portion power via the touchpad.

The touchpads marque controlling the Windows desktop importantly easier.“

My acquisition with the Steam Controller’s touchpads has been the same. For the involvement of testing, I tried playing Crusader Kings 3 and Against the Storm with the Steam Controller, neither of which person built-in controller support. In some cases, the games were playable, but it’s not a precise businesslike oregon enjoyable experience, and I gave up successful vexation aft a fewer minutes, adjacent erstwhile employing 1 of the assemblage profiles already built for the Steam Deck.

Still, they’re a diagnostic I would alternatively person than not. If thing else, they marque controlling the Windows (or Mac oregon Linux) desktop importantly easier if you ever find yourself extracurricular of Big Picture Mode and don’t privation to scope for (or haven’t connected) a rodent and keyboard. That’s not a immense request erstwhile you’re sitting astatine a desk, but for sofa and TV setups, it’s critical.

Float Like a Console, Sting Like a PC

Rounding retired the beforehand of the Steam Controller are its 4 Start/Select-like buttons: View connected the near and Menu connected the right, Quick Access Menu down beneath betwixt the trackpads, and yet the ample Steam fastener dormant center. The Steam fastener has a assortment of functions that cascade depending connected if the adjacent measurement is already progressive oregon not. In different words, it turns the controller on, past launches oregon focuses Steam if it’s not already. If you’re already successful Steam, past it launches you into Big Picture Mode, achieving its last form, wherever it simply opens oregon closes the Steam menu. It’s a utile series of controls, meaning that different than turning connected your PC, you lone request to property the Steam fastener a fistful of times to determination from the Windows desktop into the controller-centric Big Picture Mode, upon which it’s casual to prime and motorboat a game. While it can’t footwear your PC (if it’s moving Windows, astatine least), it’s the closest the surviving country PC acquisition has travel yet to mimicking the easiness of getting into a crippled that comes from accepted consoles – and volition get adjacent person erstwhile the Steam Machine comes retired aboriginal this year.

The Steam Controller Puck serves arsenic some wireless transmitter and charging station.

Connectivity is handled by a tiny puck attached to a 5-foot USB cable, which connects magnetically to the backmost of the controller. It’s a tiny detail, but I admit the rubber grips connected the bottommost of the puck, which assistance support it anchored connected your table erstwhile not successful use. Similarly, determination the controller adjacent and the puck jumps up to connect with a satisfying snap. This made it casual to usage the controller “plugged in” erstwhile it needed to charge, and the puck’s USB cablegram is really a USB-C larboard that the cablegram plugs into, which means you tin swap it for a longer (or shorter) 1 if you like. Valve claims a 35 hr artillery life, and the easiness of connecting to the puck meant I ne'er came adjacent to moving adust portion investigating the controller. In the lawsuit you misplace the puck oregon privation to complaint oregon link without it, there’s besides a USB-C larboard connected apical of the controller wherever you’d expect it. You tin besides link aggregate Steam Controllers to a azygous puck, if you’re successful a multi-controller household.

The controller besides supports Bluetooth, though it takes a somewhat analyzable fastener operation (while the controller is powered off, clasp the B fastener and close bumper, past property and clasp the Steam fastener for 5 seconds) to participate Bluetooth pairing mode. I was capable to brace to my PC and telephone without issue, the second of which amazed maine erstwhile I was capable to usage the touchpad to power a rodent pointer, thing I’d ne'er seen before.

You past person to usage different fastener combo (A fastener positive close bumper and Steam button) to get backmost to puck mode (the controller remains successful Bluetooth mode otherwise, adjacent if you crook it disconnected and backmost on) and similar pairing successful the archetypal place, this indispensable beryllium done starting with the controller powered off. Thankfully you tin clasp the Steam fastener for 10 seconds to crook the controller off, but it’s wide a reasonably cumbersome process if you program connected swapping betwixt devices frequently.

While Steam is integral to the Steam Controller’s identity, and indispensable for setup and configuration, it’s not 100% indispensable for playing games. Once Steam Controller is acceptable up and connected, it works conscionable good with PC games from different launchers, though you won’t person entree to things similar Steam Input’s assemblage profiles. It’s imaginable immoderate of this is accessible if you adhd the games to Steam via the “add a non-Steam crippled to my library” workflow, but my lone non-Steam games are connected the Epic Games Store, and there’s not an casual mode to get those added to Steam, truthful I wasn’t capable to trial it myself.

To beryllium clear, the Steam Controller is not compatible with consoles. Just to see, I tried connecting it to my Switch 2, but it neither showed up arsenic an enactment for pairing via Bluetooth nor was recognized erstwhile plugged successful via USB. PS5 meantime volition fto you power menus if it’s plugged successful via USB, but stops moving erstwhile you get into a game, and Bluetooth doesn’t enactment astatine all. Valve is wide astir this, but I was inactive hoping that the controller’s wide Bluetooth connectivity would let it to nexus up with the Switch oregon PS5 similar it did my phone.

$99 is an fantabulous terms for the level of features you get here.“

The Steam Controller costs $99, which is an fantabulous terms for the level of features you get here. There isn’t a hard explanation of what makes a “Pro” controller, but the modular hallmarks recovered connected galore see customizable controls of immoderate kind, backmost buttons, better-than-usual instrumentality oregon fastener sensors, swappable parts, and different precocious power options not recovered connected the default console controllers. The Steam Controller checks astir of those boxes – with the summation of its unsocial touchpads – portion costing importantly little than high-end controllers similar the Xbox Elite oregon the Dualsense Edge.

While determination are cheaper controllers retired determination with immoderate high-end features, similar the $40 PowerA Advantage, they often chopped corners elsewhere, typically being wired-only oregon lacking successful rumble. The Steam Controller, meanwhile, is arsenic full-featured arsenic they come. It doesn’t connection every high-end controller enactment – notably missing are short-throw trigger stops, the quality to swap retired parts, and its look buttons are simply perfectly good alternatively than being peculiarly outstanding – but it has top-notch thumbsticks, outstanding haptics, and those touchpads you can’t find anyplace else.

Bo Moore is IGN's Senior Manager of Tech. You tin find him online @usebomswisely.