The Steam Controller is Here (Review)

[David S_rpr1z3 Gauthier]

Valve's new Steam Controller is here after more than a decade! We dive into the upgraded trackpads, TMR joysticks, awesome battery life, and that innovative wireless charging puck. Is this the perfect living room PC controller, or does the $100 price tag push it out of contention against the competition like the Sony Dualsense, Xbox Controller or a Gamesir or Flydigi? Find out by watching every second of this video! If you look away I can’t say that the Babadook will get you, but I can’t NOT say it won’t either…

 

 

 

[ItTakes2ToMango]

1 hour ago, David S_rpr1z3 Gauthier said:

does the $100 price tag push it out of contention

yes

[ARandomPerson]

Is it just me or does there not exist a wireless Xbox controller with Hal effect or Tmr? At least one that is reasonably priced. Odd thing ive noticed for a couple years now

[KnoT]

12 minutes ago, ARandomPerson said:

Is it just me or does there not exist a wireless Xbox controller with Hal effect or Tmr? At least one that is reasonably priced. Odd thing ive noticed for a couple years now

flydigi vader 4 pro

[ARandomPerson]

12 minutes ago, KnoT said:

flydigi vader 4 pro

 

Quote

a wireless Xbox controller with Hal effect or Tmr?

 

[MarkPol88]

The price is... complicated.

Is it overpriced? Hell no, given the tech that is inside - you get two full touchpads, TMR sticks, and capacitive controls, three way connectivity etc.

But is this price an attractive offering? I personally do not thinks so. It is just a lot of money for single controller.

I am with David on this one: 60$? Bought day one.

80$? Maybe in the future.

100$? Yeah, hard no for now.

[ILRT]

On 4/27/2026 at 3:36 PM, ARandomPerson said:

Is it just me or does there not exist a wireless Xbox controller with Hal effect or Tmr? At least one that is reasonably priced. Odd thing ive noticed for a couple years now

8BitDo has multiple models for Xbox with TMR or Hall Effect joysticks. I don't know what you consider reasonably priced but the Ultimate C for Xbox is currently $28 at Amazon US ($35 without discount). (I was wrong the Ultimate C for Xbox doesn't connect wireless, context here)

[Mark Kaine]

28 minutes ago, MarkPol88 said:

am with David on this one: 60$? Bought day one.

80$? Maybe in the future.

100$? Yeah, hard no for

I will buy two!  (and so will gazillions of gaben lovers, thing will sell out in seconds...)

 

Spoiler

I will not buy it I use a Razer wolverine V2 ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

 

[Mark Kaine]

33 minutes ago, ILRT said:

8BitDo has multiple models for Xbox with TMR or Hall Effect joysticks. I don't know what you consider reasonably priced but the Ultimate C for Xbox is currently $28 at Amazon US ($35 without discount). 

Yup... They're cheap too ... Tried it, felt very cheap indeed!  

 

 

Edit: does anyone know if the steam controller 2 has back buttons or paddles, if so, how many? 

[ILRT]

8 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Yup... They're cheap too ... Tried it, felt very cheap indeed!  

 

 

Edit: does anyone know if the steam controller 2 has back buttons or paddles, if so, how many? 

It has 4 back buttons (plus the two capacitive grip sensors).

[porina]

What is its compatibility like when NOT running Steam? I get you might lose many of the more advanced functions, but would it work like say a regular Xbox controller?

[UnawareBlaire]

Do the trackpads work like a regular trackpad with gestures outside of games? My window manager can be navigated with trackpad gestures so that would make non gaming use really cool if it does.

 

Does this controller work completely when connecting to a streaming PC via something like Moonlight? Maybe if someone has a steam deck and uses moonlight could chime in and let me know how that works.

 

This review doesn't tell me much

 

EDIT: PCGamer notes that for games not on Steam you can add them as a non-steam game for best functionality if the third party launcher supports it, or you can create a custom Desktop layout that acts as your non steam game's controls. In Kingdom Come Deliverance this worked for them but could not get the back buttons to work

Edited April 27 by UnawareBlaire

[Mark Kaine]

8 minutes ago, UnawareBlaire said:

Do the trackpads work like a regular trackpad with gestures outside of games? My window manager can be navigated with trackpad gestures so that would make non gaming use really cool if it does.

It should you can control your PC with a regular controller through steam (albeit very clunky) so I don't see why steam controller couldn't.

[UnawareBlaire]

Another thing I want to know is does this controller work on Android in any capacity

[Ubersonic]

2 hours ago, ARandomPerson said:

 

 

In fairness you never specified you wanted console compatibility.  That one's on you.

[Quackers101]

ouch I really wanted to like the steam controllers, if there is a cheaper pack for 2/4 controllers might be nice or if they make a simple version with the space for an addon. else it seems to pay more for certain features than an overall controller and feel? decent or good back triggers can mean so much for the games you want to play with an controller (like racing or some shooters). might avoid it, if it will keep at 100 dollars per controller (not including the puck) and might not be as plug and play compared to xbox. also if having big hands or big fingers, how close the sticks are to each other or far for smaller hands, if doing "stick heavy games".

[AbsoluteWoo]

100$ for a controller that doesn't fit in the hand well, has sticks that you can barely reach have makes your thumbs touch if you do, and is missing some of the next-gen features like adaptive triggers?

 

Like sure I get the touch-pads are cool, and the wireless puck/charger is a great idea, but 100$ for me is just a straight up no. And it doesn't bode well for the price of the Frame and Machine.

[bluehawk]

Talking about repairability would love to see how easy it would be to replace the battery if needed.

[anothertealtiger]

4 hours ago, MarkPol88 said:

The price is... complicated.

Is it overpriced? Hell no, given the tech that is inside - you get two full touchpads, TMR sticks, and capacitive controls, three way connectivity etc.

But is this price an attractive offering? I personally do not thinks so. It is just a lot of money for single controller.

I am with David on this one: 60$? Bought day one.

80$? Maybe in the future.

100$? Yeah, hard no for now.

I think if you didn't specifically want a "Steam Controller follow-up" it's practically impossible to justify the 100 over anything else. But for folks like me? No this is legit the hardware I've been waiting for full stop. 100 for this, for me, is actually instabuy territory still.

 

4 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

I will buy two!  (and so will gazillions of gaben lovers, thing will sell out in seconds...)

 

100% correct. I'm genuinely not looking forward to may 4th because star wars I'm once again going to be fighting for a purchase just like the time Valve Index had a restock. Which, funny enough, also dropped at 1PM. 

 

 

I'm not mentally prepared for round 2.

[Quackers101]

yes the repairability can add 20-50% more value to the product, like 60 dollar xbox but with weak buttons that is easier to jam or quality reduction, while with steam controllers you can likely just replace/fix it on your own or create a new controller case? the bad thing about the pads is price + some weight and reduced feel, as its maybe one of other reasons they made the controller light plastic but also in turn feel cheap? depending on the steam input future, this can also add a lot of value, but if it breaks in some xbox or playstation titles where you might want to use a controller, then it can start to suck, even though that is not really on them. although it would be cool if people are allowed to accept analytics for controller use, and able to adjust controller type + input to suggest recommended settings (like an algorithm trying to find out what people prefer for said games).

 

then again 1 controller for 2 hands, and there is only so much space, weight and shapes, that makes me want to see if only 1 pad is enough, or a mix. also seems like you need different board if going to use that type of sticks in a different shape.

 

while they would not do this, makes me wonder about an steam input mouse, like keys and/or touch pad on a mouse as a stick replacement or scrollwheel replacement? (if focus on big or small mouse).

Edited April 28 by Quackers101

[ARandomPerson]

6 hours ago, Ubersonic said:

In fairness you never specified you wanted console compatibility.  That one's on you.

🫩

 

(rant about marketing naming enclosed:)

Spoiler

“Console Compatible Wireless Xbox Controller” and “Wireless Xbox Controller” should be seen as the same tbh.
They SHOULD also be seen separately from controllers with XInput that only work with windows and not the console that Xbox controllers ARE named for.

 

Alot of it is probably marketing by sellers (Since there ARE wireless 3rd party Console compatible controllers, just none Ive found so far with no possible stick drift issues) which is why it’s triply frustrating.

 

THEN there are controllers that are wired compatible but not WIRELESS compatible which makes sorting through possibilities a slog.

 

this type of issue is not present with PlayStation or Nintendo Controllers and it bugs the ever loving hell out of me.

Anyways,

8 hours ago, ILRT said:

8BitDo has multiple models for Xbox with TMR or Hall Effect joysticks. I don't know what you consider reasonably priced but the Ultimate C for Xbox is currently $28 at Amazon US ($35 without discount). 

I feel dumb for saying this. But naming schemes have been confusing lately (see rant above), so is the included dongle compatible with an Xbox console?

like could I plug in the dongle into the console and expect it to work?

[Uttamattamakin]

As for the price of this or anything really consider what you can get for 100 dollars.  

IS this controller going to give more utility than 1 barrel of WTI crude... much less two tanks of gasoline?  How about the price of a load of groceries for a week?  That food is about $100.  Clearly, this controller is not as important as the basics, without which one cannot live. 

On the other hand, unlike other things you can spend $100 on that seem way more utilitarian and important, this controller could last a decade.  I still have the original steam controller and it's rock solid even now.  For me this is an item won't run out and get this summer, but maybe I'm waiting until I've got lots of savings. 

[Bramimond]

It's unfortunate about the awful D-pad. Ever since using the one from the Saturn I can not go back. Similarly, it's a bit tough to not have six face buttons.

 

[UnawareBlaire]

It seems like you may be able to use this controller remotely on an android client if you use the steam link app since it apparently can connect to Sunshine.

 

On a Windows or Linux client you can use the steam deck track pads on moonlight with some configuring so I expect that to be the same on the steam controller.

 

The question is, do I actually want to fiddle with all this? 

 

What are the chances of 8bitdo making a trackpad controller? Lol

 

EDIT: Here is some further information on steam controller outside of steam: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/a9S3u5cePd

[ILRT]

15 hours ago, ARandomPerson said:

I feel dumb for saying this. But naming schemes have been confusing lately (see rant above), so is the included dongle compatible with an Xbox console?

like could I plug in the dongle into the console and expect it to work?

Sorry, I was apparently also confused by their nomenclature and gave wrong information. I thought the Ultimate C for Xbox would be wireless, because the PC ultimate controllers I was looking at, to compare with the Steam Controller, are wireless. But now I verified the specs to answer and it appears the Xbox version is wired.

Looking at the site better it appears the only three controllers that 8BitDo has that support wireless connection with Xbox (all three have Hall Effect or TMR joysticks) are:

 

Ultimate 3-mode Controller Rare 40th Anniversary Edition (it needs to be the anniversary edition the normal one is wired with Xbox, wireless with only the PC)

8BitDo Lite SE 2.4G Wireless Controller for Xbox (it seems to be an accessibility controller)

Ultimate 3E Controller for Xbox (this one has only been announced, not released yet)

From what I understood of their site, for these three controllers you should expect to plug the included dongle into the console and it work.