I have been a longtime fan of Xbox consoles and Xbox controllers. I have always used Xbox brand controllers with my consoles. Started with the ‘included’ controllers and eventually moved to the first gen of the Elite series controller and more recently the Elite 2 series.

The OG Elite didn’t age well, stick drift, bumper button breaks, and eventually the rubber grips peeling off. I had bought parts and repaired that controller at least two times. Ended up buying a replacement of the same. Rinse and repeat the same issues over time.

Then the Elite 2… came with some improvements. But alas, stick drift came into play once again. Stick drift is tolerable for just about any game genre with the exception of an FPS game (first person shooter) e.g., Call of Duty.

So, I searched for a controller that would have newer technology e.g., Hall Effect or TMR sticks and triggers. I’m the type of person who can suffer from ‘analysis paralysis’. So much information from different manufacturers and reviewers to digest. Scouring every comment on Amazon for a brand of controller in an attempt to find the perfect replacement. Scouring Reddit and the controller manufacturers subreddits. Guess what? Perfect does not exist!

I’m able to get first party Microsoft products at employee pricing being a former Microsoft employee and Microsoft Alumni member. I was tempted to just get another Elite 2, but why? Knowing for a fact that stick drift would once again rear its ugly head months into ownership.

There are so many manufacturers of Xbox compatible controllers with Hall Effect/TMR sticks and triggers, it’s mind blowing.

• Razer
• Turtle Beach
• Scuf
• PowerA
• 8BitDo
• Gulikit
• Gamesir
• FlyDigi

The list goes on and on.

What I wanted out of a controller:

1. Sticks should be Hall Effect or better… TMR (TMR is basically version 2 of Hall Effect, an upgrade)
   • they don’t develop stick drift like an analog sick will
   • they will last you much longer
   • they are usually more precise than analog
   • they have better deadzones
2. Hall Effect triggers
3. Trigger stops (shortens the amount of travel required to activate)
4. Back paddles two or four
5. Button remapping
6. Game profiles to choose from (different settings for different games e.g., one setting for Call of Duty another for Forza (a race sim game)
7. Wireless did not matter to me because I like the lack of latency using a wired connection

I chose the Gamesir G7 Pro based on everything I researched, and Reddit’s r/Gamesir is a great source as well.

I appreciate the connectivity the G7 Pro provides with my Dell PC for games on that device. The charging station has a port underneath the deck to plug in a ‘dongle’ which via Bluetooth connects to the PC.

Using it with my Xbox Series X is really nice. The very first thing I noticed playing CoD:BO7 is that when I aimed with my stick, it did NOT move! Being able to let go of the stick and the not having the aim move was something I only experienced with a fresh new controller before it developed drift. Now, months later, I still experience the driftless aim G7 Pro provides.

The bad and the good. A few weeks into using the new G7 Pro controller, the right trigger started to act up. The best way to describe it is ‘intermittent’. The trigger would lag, not activate, activate weirdly, etc. This was with me using the hardware ‘Trigger Stop’, a small toggle switch on the controller that shortens the throw of the trigger. With an FPS shooter game, a short trigger pull is beneficial (IMO). This physical button/toggle can be turned off for a racing game like Forza where you want to full length of trigger to control gas pedal or braking input.

This ‘Trigger Stop’ feature is a known issue with some G7 Pros made before a certain date, supposedly Gamesir has addressed this issue from a hardware perspective. Gamesir customer support is nothing short of phenomenal; after reporting my issue on Gamesir’s Discord channel (Gamesir’s preferred method of CS contact), I provided video proof of the problem and Gamesir acknowledged this in fact was a warranty issue, I got a new replacement G7 Pro controller the very next day! I kid thee not! Talk about customer service. So, I still have the old one connected to the PC for gaming and use the new one on the Xbox Series X.

One thing I have changed is I no longer use the physical ‘Trigger Stop’ and instead have opted to change the settings for that trigger in the Gamesir Nexus app (available on the PC & Xbox) to respond immediately using ‘Hair Trigger’ mode along with ‘Adaptive Mode’.

Of course, this issue is Gamesir’s problem and the materials they chose to use (types of plastic versus metal, etc.) for those trigger stops. But I feel that anyone who may be ham-fisted, might increase the probability of this happening. There are heightened ‘panic’ situations when playing some FPS games that can make folks squeeze/smash that damn trigger much harder than it should be. 😬

If this current unit develops any issues, I’ll probably try the FLYDIGI VADER 5S Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S. I like the idea of having tension control for the sticks. FlyDigi does this with tension rings at the base of each stick.

BTW, I have the ability to buy Microsoft Elite 2 controllers at employee pricing so the price of the G7 Pro or even the FlyDigi Vader 5 comes out to about the same as the Elite 2, but they are much better controllers in my opinion with them having Hall Effect/TMR triggers and sticks.