When it comes to inputs, it takes nearly each management technique from the Steam Deck, wanting the touchscreen, and crams it into an 11 x 16 x 6 cm design. Valve tries to have it each methods relating to the extra acquainted controls, utilizing Xbox’s ABXY face buttons and broad design aesthetic however PlayStation’s symmetrical thumbstick structure, plus the dual shoulder buttons and pair of analog triggers. Gamers accustomed to both will quickly adapt to this hybrid method.
The Steam Controller goes past both of its console cousins, although, with an entire fleet of inputs that neither Sony nor Microsoft has on their default pads. A quadrant of additional buttons sits on the underside of the grip, and the thumbsticks are clickable, function capacitive contact sensors, and are constructed on tunnel magnetoresistance sensors (TMR), which supply even larger precision and sturdiness than Hall effect systems.
{Photograph}: Matt Kamen
There’s additionally an accelerometer and a gyroscope for movement controls, and superior rumble engines for nuanced haptics—it may pull off the identical audio methods that the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con 2s do, vibrating at such excessive frequencies that the pad itself turns into an ersatz speaker, permitting for enjoyable Easter eggs like a hidden Wilhelm Scream. Most putting are the identical trackpads from the Steam Deck on the underside half of the controller, permitting for mouse-like controls.
Regardless of cramming all this in, it weighs a mere 292 grams. It hardly ever feels burdensome, even after longer play periods. Nonetheless, I did have to regulate my grip barely to comfortably attain the thumbsticks, as a lot actual property is given over to accommodating the trackpads, which reside the place my thumbs naturally wish to sit. The D-pad isn’t something to put in writing house about both—completely ample, however missing clear edges and affected by a shiny end that robs it of grip. Other than that cheap-feeling D-pad, the Steam Controller’s construct high quality is outstanding.
