Hello everybody this is Shane Arman row you're in the passenger seat with me passenger seat radio. You're on my 13 mile commute home. Welcome to the show. It is Wednesday, yeah, Wednesday, November 6 2019. And I've been asked to to talk about the elite to controller Xbox. Microsoft just released the Xbox elite two controller and that came out on the fourth I think. And I had it on pre order a lot Hey, Justin's in. I had it on pre order for like three or four months like when it first got announced I knew I wanted in and so I pre ordered it off Microsoft site, but the pre order cost was like 179 or 189 or something like that. And just a few weeks back, Costco was selling the same controller for I believe it was 159 it was like 30 or $40 difference it was significant. So I canceled my Microsoft order ordered from Costco and I got it on the fourth. And I've had an opportunity to play with it. And I've had several people asked me to talk about the controller What do I think about it? Is the elite the is it so much better than the Elite controller that you have to have it? What are all the do hickeys for? For those who have never had an Elite controller? What are the little panels for what their profiles for what are all these? What's all this what is all this nonsense about? So I thought okay, this sounds good. This is a good topic so I'm pretty much envisioning that the entire show it's going to be shorter show cuz I have to call my wife and sons dinner in and start Dallas's meatball spaghetti and meatball Wednesday so I got a call that in when I get closer to home, so it's probably gonna be about a 2530 minutes show but we'll talk all about the Elite controller. Your questions in The chat right now, if I don't answer them or you have further questions, just drop them in the chat. And I will do what I can to answer your questions. So the Elite controller first of all back in the old days, let's go let's go way back the Microsoft Xbox controllers starting with the big Duke in the original Xbox, all the way to the latest controller, the elite to all of Xbox controllers have always been deemed to be the best of breed, right? A lot of people think the Dual Shock controller on the PlayStation is the best controller. But quite frankly, the the PlayStation controllers always been sort of made for smaller hands. And so the Duke control now I never had an original Xbox. I had friends that had an original Xbox, the big black coffee, Xbox. I came into the Xbox world and Xbox 360 and the controller was so good on the Xbox 360 that very little change was made moving forward. So the Xbox One controller, very similar. And of course the Xbox Elite controller was also very, very similar, but added a handful of new features to the product for what they would call serious gamers. So there's never been a problem really with any Xbox controller. If you're on a PC if you're obviously if you're on an Xbox, but if you're on a PC, you don't try to wire up a PlayStation Dual Shock controller you want an Xbox controller, Xbox One controller. Now we did have a couple of snafus along the way, right. We did have Xbox controllers that required a dongle. That is would be the Xbox wireless adapter. Otherwise, you had to play wired to the PC right. Then there were some then you had a special version called the windows 10 edition, but you had to use Bluetooth there was some compatibility issues. There was some there was some problems with the way that an interface with the PC But overall, I mean in terms of hardware and durability and comfort, button spacing, you name it anything about a controller that you're that you're interested in, especially if you have big man hands and not little tiny elven Japanese hands. That's the only thing I can think of right? The PlayStation controller has these very small little grip areas, right. So it's got to be for more smaller hands, right. It's not a stereotype. That's just the way it is. I've always felt that the it's supposed to compete with a scarf controller. That's what justice I don't know what a scarf controller is. I don't know. Let me continue. Maybe he'll type in one of Scott's controllers. I'm not familiar with that. So you can't go wrong. If you're using an Xbox controller, you're probably doing just fine. If you're using an Xbox controller on a PC, the best way to do it is always been to use the Xbox wireless adapter. There's two generations of the Xbox wireless adapter You always want to make sure you're using the brand newest one, not the first generation, the second generation is the one you want to use. So let's say you're a game player on a PC, you've got an Xbox One controller right now. And you have been, you've been using the Xbox One controller for years now and it's been a great controller. You've seen the Xbox Elite controller come and you're like going $149 for a controller, you've lost your frickin mind. Right? And listen, I was in that camp to. I will I will tell you right now that the concept of paying over $100 let alone $150. For a controller, a game controller seemed like lunacy. Crazy Talk, right? But my buddy Justin here, who's on the chat right now. He got me an Elite controller I don't remember was for Christmas or my birthday was very generous gift. And so I was very excited after not paying 150 bucks for it. I was very excited to be able to get my hands on Elite controller Hey Alex Jay Lopez is in to try it out. I fell in love with it and I'm going to tell you why when I talk about why the elite two is such a great controller, but I fell in love with it and I've never I've not been able to go back. Now I've had several elite controllers now over time, I've got a white Elite controller that is typically paired up to my Xbox One X and I have a black controller which has gone back that is seen to returns back to Microsoft, which does not speak well but we're going to talk about the whole elite durability problem as we are working our way up to talking about the elite two. So let's start off with if you have an Xbox One controller and you love it is an Elite controller is the elite to something you need to look at. We'll start there. I cannot I have trouble recommending enough in Elite controller, whether it's an elite one Or an elite two. And I'm going to explain to you why that why the Elite controller is so great. If these features sound great to you, then you need to consider getting an Elite controller, whether it's the one or the two, you'll be able to make that determination by the time we're done here. I absolutely recommend the lead control and I'm going to tell you why. First and foremost, it depends on the games that you're playing. I play Call of Duty, I play Gears of War, I play games that typically use l three and r three. Hey, JK, what's up? I use I use. I play games that use l three and our three a lot. When I say l three and our three Of course I'm talking about the analog stick buttons, right? You got an Xbox controller in your hand you push in the analog stick on the right or on the left and it registers is a button. Those are l three and are three if you're playing Call of Duty, right. And you have our three as run which is the default, the default control setting and you're using our three two melee, which is also the default setting. You know that pushing your thumbs in on those control sticks. Not only is it slow reaction time because you're probably already using those sticks. So you're moving the sticks around violently trying to move trying to aim Oh, and now you got to click in on him. It's not efficient, it's not effective. It's not quick, and quite frankly, unless you've got tap to run in his which is by the way, not the default setting. Then you're going to be holding down that frickin analog stick button while you're trying to run around. It's not good at all. JKJ says he bought a regular one for 35 bucks. You're talking to your regular Elite controller for 35 bucks because that's a good deal. graduations. So, so what does the elite do that the Xbox One does not? So let's talk about the paddles on the back. This is the this is the biggest thing. If you look at a picture of an Elite controller elite to controller, and then you look at a regular Xbox controller, the first thing you notice are these four little, little little paddles sticking off the back of the controller. These are four completely programmable buttons, any button that's on the controller can be remapped to one of those buttons. Now, I assure you, I assure you with a capital A that if you map run and melee to those back controller paddles, I use the longer ones the bigger ones. My son doesn't like the longer bigger ones because he likes to grip the hand the grips a little more with his hands. I grip my controller with my pinky around the bottom, and I use my ring fingers on either side to actually activate these paddles. Oh, so Scott scarf is a is a third party premium controller that had back paddles and things like that prior to the elite. So it was the controller that Microsoft was trying to outdo with the elite controllers a piece of history I did not know. Thank you, Justin. Once you have adapted to using those back paddles to do melee and run, you will never be able to envision your life going back to an Xbox controller and occasionally I do just to see how, how much how dependent I am on those back paddles. The answer is I'm completely Hey, turbo, what's up. So, now you can also assign so you can assign it lets you can assign any of the buttons to any of those paddles, right so that's for me, I only need two but you got four Now let's talk about the other thing, the other major feature of an Elite controller that that is an upgrade over the Xbox One controller. These are what I call trigger sensitivities. It's not really sensitivity, but it's a trigger pressure required to register the button click. Now, I'll give you an example. If you're using if you're playing Call of Duty and you're using an original Xbox One controller, you essentially have to pull the trigger all the way full trigger cycle, turtles a gun, a gun net, right? What do you call that we get to do a full trigger cycle to actually shoot. The non full trigger pole would be something you'd call a hair trigger, right? You don't have to pull the trigger a cycle all the way back to actually register the trigger pole. Okay. So on the elite one controller, there are two little switches behind where the triggers are. that allow you to shorten the poll on the Trigger, you can now register aim down sights on the left trigger or the actual fire button, the trigger finger on your right finger to be half the distance normally required to register the trigger pole. Okay, so, Xbox One, you got to pull the trigger all the way back Xbox elite, you can now set it so it's a half pull on the trigger to register. That gives you in my humble opinion the tactical advantage. It allows you to fire quicker and let you aim down sites quicker when you're talking about scenarios where 50 milliseconds 100 milliseconds means the difference between life and death in this game, then you need every tactical advantage you can get. So that's the elite one, the elite to take that even further and we're going to talk about that in a minute. So, the primary the other The last item that the elite one has over the regular Xbox One controller is the ability to use profiles. Okay, profiles are button configurations. So let's say you're normally a switch player and you want to switch the ANB button and the x&y button on the Xbox controller, because you spend more time playing switch the Xbox, using the Xbox accessories app on Elite controller, you can set up profiles, two different profiles for two different games that allow you to have completely different settings mapped to all of those buttons, not just the paddles, any button on the controller can be mapped to any other button on the controller. That's frickin amazing. So if you're playing say a first person shooter, most of those controls are similar. But let's say you also play a Diablo game or you're playing one of these you know, you know MMO RPG where every button has to have like 17 functions you may want to you may want to do some remapping of that stuff. And you can do that with the Elite controller and you can save two separate profiles. Now, outside of that the Elite controller supposed to be this premium experience. You can also change out some face buttons. Let's talk about that. In the elite with the elite one you can change out the standard for directional D pad. Okay? So there's a so on the controller is a four directional Deepak Now listen, that for directional D pad requires some you know if you're playing a game that focuses on the D pad and you're using the D pad a lot, and it's for directions you might want that the Elite controller let you pop that for D pad button overlay off and pop on a very nice raised eight directional face button. And let me tell you what I love it. My thumb dress nice and comfortable on there. I get quick action, quick acceleration. I love it. I will never go back to that for for direction d pad unless I'm playing Pac Man right? Then you want to for direction. You can also change out the analog tip So the ones that come with its standard and the xbox one as well, or what you would call an indented or recessed button. Those are for people who put the pad of their thumb or the crook of their thumb inside and put it inside that invention on the top of the analog stick. The analog sticks also have a textured sort of reached outer area for to avoid spray. slipping, right? I'm going to ask your Oh, hey, Brian, hope came in. I'm going to answer your question about profiles in a minute. So with the Xbox Elite controller, you can pop those analog sticks off and put on new ones. These new ones can be raised in the middle or flatter, right so the so if you're a person that plays with your the tip of your thumbs, I've seen people do it, I can't do it. A raised versus indented might be more comfortable for you. So those are the other things that come inside that you look at Xbox Elite controller and you see it comes in a hard clamshell case. It's got all these little, these little toppers and paddles and all this other shit. You're like, what the hell is that for? That's what those are for. You can change it out to be as the comfort level you want. Maybe on your left hand, you use the tip of your thumb, but on the right hand, you use the path of your thumb to the analog stick, you can mix and match these toppers to adequately represent what comfort level you need. Okay, so that sort of talks about the differences between the Xbox One and the Elite controller. The biggest question is Shane, I've got an Elite controller. Do I need the elite to do I want the elite to what does the elite to bring me that the elite does not have? To answer that question. We're going to start off with the manufacturing defects on the Elite controller. Now I'm not one to pull punches. I love the Elite controller. I love the elite to control them with the elite one controller has some goddamn control. drug problems, and it is not a well known secret. The two main construction problems that exist on the lead controller are the bumpers, the I think those are our two and l two. Those are the bumper the shoulder buttons. Those things were right the hell out and guess what, Don't even start popping off my left bumper, my left arm just eventually wore off and it popped right off. I mean, I had to send it back to Microsoft to get it fixed. That's one defect and it's well known and well documented. Does everybody have that problem? No, but there must have been a lot or a series or a an era of elite controllers that had that problem that was never fixed. The other problem or the rubberized grips on the Elite controller the rubberized grips, covered the backside of both grips on the controller. Not the front but the back these things fall off like a radiation victims hair, they peel, they start to come off, there's no good way to seal them down. Because they're stretched into place when they're sealed down. When they pop off, it's almost impossible to seal them back down on the back of the grips, you end up having like a like a, an overlap of you can actually you can actually cut them down to fit again, but it's ridiculous. These are very common problems with the Elite controller. Other people have mentioned drift problems with the Elite controller. These are all known known things I'm not making this shit up. Now, the elite to controller does not acknowledge the problems with the Elite controller, but they make they make a bullet point that says re engineered components. That means we fucked up with the first one but we fixed it with the second one. That's what that means. In case you're wondering why Microsoft would put something like that That in the bullet points of the elite to controller that's exactly what it means. It means we know we fucked up and we fixed we fix that stuff now I've only had the controller a few days I can't tell you whether or not this is fixed or not, I can't tell you whether the bumpers are going to hold up or not. Over time, I will and you can bet your ass I'll talk about it here on the show. So my Elite controller had both problems it had the the peeling off backs and it has the broken bumpers, the peeling off backs, essentially, Microsoft would not cover those. So I ended up buying another used Elite controller. And that one had the buffer problems that when I had to send back so I've had to lead controllers with problems. Alright, so the elite two, let's talk about the elite two. First things first, you'd have a lot of trouble telling it apart from that from the elite one. They didn't mess with what worked which is the ergonomic design, the size, the weight, all of that stuff. is exactly the way it should be, they did not change any of that there are still four panels on the back, all the buttons are the same, except the profile switcher now is just a button, not a switch. So instead of having profile one and two, you have a push button, and we're going to talk about why that's important in just a minute. The other thing that you're going to notice is there's no battery compartment. That's right, the Elite controller use double A batteries or an Ico or some sort of other battery pack, the elite to promises you long life 40 hour lifespan on a single charge, and it's all internal. Some of you are going to say, well, that's a deal breaker right there. If I can't change the battery out, I don't want it. And that's probably a legitimate thing. If you're concerned that that battery will die before you get full use out of it, or you're buying another Elite controller or whatever legitimate argument that may be something that stops you. I will tell you though, that the only controller comes with a very nice charging dock. This dock adds no extra footprint to the controller like a lot of these other docs do. Literally, it's a little tiny block that you drop on your desk and you drop the controller on top of it. It's molded, it's grooved, it's magnetic. When you put that controller on there, it snaps into place, it stays in place and it charges. It's great. You'll also notice that the Xbox LEQ has joined this decade and has moved to USB See, both the onboard charging port and the charging dock itself are both based on the SBC standards. To me that's a good thing. My new phone is us bc I've got plenty of USB plugs all over the place. I'm good. No problems there. So those are the only thing but you'll also notice that construction feels a little bit more solid. I don't know how to explain it other than it feels a little bit better. The rubberized gripping and Now all around the grips from the front end, both the front and the back. They the internal battery does not appear to be serviceable by the end user, I do not have proof of that, I guarantee you that on fix it or one of these other tear down sites, you're going to be able to replace the battery yourself. I do not believe Microsoft gives you the ability to do it as a user serviceable item. And again, that might throw people off. I'm good with it. I do not believe that that elite tues battery will die before I'm on to the next controller, or that controllers worn out to the point where it's out of warranty, and it's ticked anyway, that's my belief can't prove it. But that's what I'm thinking is going to go down. So, let's see. So inter I haven't tested the 40 hour battery life yet. I doubt it's 40 hours but even if it's half that and 20 hours, with all that good stuff. I think I'd be all right with it. Let's see. So the profiles. This is the hair triggers. Let's talk there I'm almost I gotta get on the phone in order my wife's food here. The hair triggers the triggers now have three settings, fully open for full poll, half and then a quarter. That's right, you can now set the triggers to have quarter pole. And let me tell you what that takes a little getting used to. I was getting my ass handed to me in Call of Duty, but now I can fire and aim down sights even faster and I love it. So that's a nice increase improvement over the the elite. The other item which I'm not completely sold on yet, but I like the option our analog control analog stick tension settings. Inside your clamshell Deluxe clamshell carrying case for the elite two controller is a little gray. Looks like a guitar pick. It's a little pewter guitar pick what that's for as you pop the caps off of the analog sticks. There's a little screw head on the front of them and you can now twist it into three different positions to double or triple the tension on the analog sticks. Now I know you're thinking Why the hell would anybody want to tighten the tension on the analog stick? I can tell you right now. accuracy, right? You want to be able to move quickly, that maybe you want a little more tension on the look on the right analog, right? You want to be able to have a little more precision. There's a whole bunch of different reasons why you might want that. I have I've explored it. I've played with them a little bit. I'm currently on the default settings. I haven't decided whether I love that or it's going to be useful to me or not. It's a neat premium feature which I've never seen on another controller. So I have to give it some sort of credit for breaking some new ground there. its usefulness remains to be seen. What I recommend the controller based solely on that concept, absolutely not. I would possibly base the controller. based on the idea of having an additional hair trigger setting. I would certainly recommend it for having a its own charging base being brought up to current modern standards, those sorts of things are important to me. Let's talk about profiles profiles. It was asked earlier wires, where are you limited to two profiles? The answer is you're not limited to two profiles. The Elite two has four selections, tapping that button instead of having the slider. Tapping that button takes you from no profile to profile one to profile two to profile three. These are on board profiles. So you can be in Call of Duty and foot to a secondary profile without ever leaving the app without ever going back to the dashboard. Meanwhile, you can have unlimited profile configurations. I can have 1500 200 games with their own individual profiles inside the Xbox accessory app. I can only carry a limited number on board the controller. So with the elite, you can carry To on the elite to you can carry for. I am not an alternate profile guy, I play the same types of games, I use the same types of controls. For me the profile thing is not nearly as fantastic as it might be for others, I will tell you that the profile configuration tool is madness. You can control you can control radial sensitivity, you can control trigger sensitivity, you can control everything and the kitchen sink with that Xbox accessory and those all are saved in the individual profiles. And it's frickin insane. Now, I do not know for a fact if the elite one can do this, but I do know for a fact the elite two can do this. You can assign Xbox commands and shift commands using the elite to what the hell do I mean by that? So simply put, if you want to launch me Music app if you want to turn on TV, if you want to do any sort of Xbox voice type commands, you can map it to a controller button. The other thing you can do is shift, right. So let's say you're playing the aforementioned MMO RPG that has like 17 or 20 different button or configuration type things you want to do. You can map alternate buttons so you can hold down let's say you hold down the back panel as your shift button. Now every button on your controller can now be a secondary button. You follow me? So now a button can be two functions shifted and and shifted, etc, etc. I do not play any games or make use of that if you play games and may use it but I can't even imagine living with a controller that doesn't have a shift button. Those are the majority of the changes that you're going to see in the elite to the charging doc is probably where the where the price got bumped up, right? It's 159 on sale, what 79 MSRP. That's why you're paying more for the elite two from a overall perspective along with the new internals and things like that. I can tell you that. Okay, so let's get down to brass tacks, I gotta get the hell off here and order my wife's food, brass tacks, I have an elite one controller. And I need you to tell me whether I need the elite two controller. I've told you the overwhelming factors between the two. If one of those says God, I've got to have that. No brainer. If you go Hmm, this sounds kind of interesting, but I don't know if I'd use any of that stuff. Then you have to ask yourself is your Elite controller plagued by any problems? Is that left bumper starting to get a little loose getting a little broken off in there? Are you starting to feel some peeling back of the grips, right? I guarantee your elite controllers out of warranty right? So you're not going to get micro To help you, if you've been looking for a way to get that elite replaced or to move on or get another one you've been looking at the US market. The truth is, you might as well go to an elite two because that's going to make the most sense. You can also order from Amazon and have a seven day return policy if you don't find me. If you don't find any great benefit, I will tell you that it's hella comfortable. If you're coming from an Xbox One controller, the elite two is a no frickin brainer. Now, I will preface that by saying that with the elite two out the elite controllers are going to start dropping like flies. I predict right here right now on this show. That by Black Friday, the Elite controller will be down 50 bucks. I bet you can get an Elite controller new or refer for under 100 bucks come Black Friday. If the paddles if that half pull trigger is what sounds exciting to you the Elite controller? Oh yeah. Why spend almost 200 bucks when you can spend under 100 bucks. Only you can make the decision as to whether or not you need it. A week to controller. If you're still on in a week on the Xbox One controller I would suggest you highly give it some thought. But oh you can, you can put it on the out so JK says no battery replacement Oh by what if you're going you're gaining in the battery dies Look, if it lasts for 40 hours and you're playing 40 hours in a row, good for you. If you're playing 20 hours in a row Good for you. My opinion is if this controller lives up to 20 to 40 hours of continuous play with no charge. I don't care about not being able to replace the batteries to be frank with you. Also, you can I'm in a position where I can plug that controller in anytime while I'm playing to power no big deal but charging dock. it's small enough where you might be able to play with it connected but probably not the charging docks not wired itself so you can easily unplug the USB plug from the back of the charging can pop it into your controller for a quick charge. My point is they they hit If they have removed the ability if they if they have removed the need to replace batteries by making it last longer than the longest possible play session, then I'm good with it. All right, listen, listen if you want to know more information go to medium comm slash at dark uni. I have already written up a full medium article discussing the elite to controller all the perks I've included pictures. Most of the stuff that I've already talked about here is there but you have an opportunity to go back and take a look at it for yourself. Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed this look at the elite two controller Xbox elite two controller and you know send me your questions. I'm on discord on the Monroe world server. Join us there a lot of the people that you see here in the chat are also available there. Join us there and we can answer your questions. If you want to see a video if you want to do anything you want to talk about. No big deal. I will I will tell you anything you want to know about the elite two controller. Alright, this is Shane almond wrote passenger seat radio. We'll see you next time. Take care everybody.
Archives
April - 2024
March - 2024
February - 2024
January - 2024
December - 2023
November - 2023
October - 2023
September - 2023
August - 2023
July - 2023
June - 2023
May - 2023
April - 2023
March - 2023
February - 2023
January - 2023
November - 2022
September - 2022
August - 2022
July - 2022
June - 2022
May - 2022
April - 2022
March - 2022
February - 2022
January - 2022
December - 2021
November - 2021
October - 2021
September - 2021
August - 2021
July - 2021
June - 2021
May - 2021
April - 2021
March - 2021
February - 2021
January - 2021
December - 2020
November - 2020
October - 2020
September - 2020
August - 2020
July - 2020
June - 2020
May - 2020
April - 2020
March - 2020
February - 2020
January - 2020
December - 2019
November - 2019
October - 2019
September - 2019
August - 2019
July - 2019
June - 2019
May - 2019
April - 2019
March - 2019
February - 2019
January - 2019
December - 2018
November - 2018
October - 2018
September - 2018
August - 2018
July - 2018
June - 2018
May - 2018
April - 2018
March - 2018
February - 2018
January - 2018
December - 2017
November - 2017
October - 2017
September - 2017
August - 2017
July - 2017
June - 2017
May - 2017
April - 2017
March - 2017
February - 2017
January - 2017
December - 2016
November - 2016
October - 2016
September - 2016
August - 2016
July - 2016
June - 2016
May - 2016
April - 2016
March - 2016
February - 2016
January - 2016
December - 2015
November - 2015
October - 2015
September - 2015
August - 2015
July - 2015
June - 2015
May - 2015
April - 2015
March - 2015
February - 2015
January - 2015
December - 2014
November - 2014
October - 2014
September - 2014
August - 2014
July - 2014
May - 2014
April - 2014
March - 2014
February - 2014
January - 2014
December - 2013
November - 2013
October - 2013
September - 2013
August - 2013
July - 2013
May - 2013
April - 2013
March - 2013
February - 2013
January - 2013
December - 2012
November - 2012
October - 2012
September - 2012
August - 2012
July - 2012
June - 2012
May - 2012
April - 2012
March - 2012
February - 2012
January - 2012
December - 2011
November - 2011
October - 2011
September - 2011
August - 2011
July - 2011
June - 2011
May - 2011
April - 2011
February - 2011
January - 2011
December - 2010
November - 2010
October - 2010
September - 2010
August - 2010
July - 2010
June - 2010
May - 2010
April - 2010
March - 2010
February - 2010
January - 2010
December - 2009
November - 2009
October - 2009
September - 2009
August - 2009
July - 2009
June - 2009
May - 2009
April - 2009
March - 2009
February - 2009
January - 2009
December - 2008
November - 2008
October - 2008
September - 2008
August - 2008
July - 2008
June - 2008
May - 2008
April - 2008
March - 2008
