The best Xbox One controllers are more versatile than you'd think. Xbox is a lot better at forward and backward compatibility than PlayStation, so an Xbox One controller will work in the majority of Game Pass Games - regardless of whether you're playing on a Series X or S, or the Xbox One. That means you could potentially save yourself some money if there's a gamepad from the Xbox One era you like better than the pricey options that have been released more recently.
The controller market is in a great place at the moment. The Xbox One generation sparked a lot of interest in the production of pro controllers that blur the lines between the comfort and ease of gamepads, and the competitive functions of a mouse and keyboard. After Xbox came out with the Elite line, a myriad of choices exploded onto the shelves, and now there are so many great controllers to suit all hand shapes and game genres. Before we break down the explicit benefits of each controller in detail, it's worth noting that many of the options below will serve you as the best PC controllers too.
You can have confidence in the fact that these excellent Xbox One controllers will work with new-gen consoles and rival some of the best Xbox Series X controllers' performance (although they don't feature the newer 'share' button if they were made with the last generation console specifically in mind). In order to narrow your search slightly, we'd recommend sussing out what you'd use your new controller for. If it's just for general use as a replacement for your worn-out Xbox controller, you may not need anything more than the official gamepad. If you want something a bit more specific with back buttons or bespoke features that'll give you a competitive edge, an Elite controller will likely be worth the extra cash.
Controllers are probably my favorite gaming peripherals to test out, and I make it a point to try out every new officially licensed Xbox controller that is released so that you can trust my thoughts on them. If I'm not swapping back button assignments around to find the best settings, I'm probably fiddling with deadzones in a controller's software to get more speed out of it.
The quick list
The best Xbox One controller overall
With plenty of customization options, a solid battery life, and modular design, the Xbox Elite Wireless Series 2 is the gold standard for Xbox One.
The best Xbox One controller under $40
If you're after something affordable, the React-R is seriously cheap. Often on sale, and already with a sub-$40 MSRP, you're getting plenty of excellent features for your cash here.
The best Xbox One controller for most
The classic Xbox One Wireless controller is a staple for a reason. It offers an excellent feel and satisfying control without breaking the bank. It's a go-to for both Xbox One and PC, so if you're splitting your setup it's an excellent investment for cross platform use.
The best third-party Xbox controller
The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra is the first Xbox One controller this generation to feature wireless connectivity. It works a treat with Xbox Series X/S too.
The best Xbox One controller for audio controls
You're getting dedicated volume and chat mix controls on this gamepad, excellent if you're playing with a cheaper headset or you don't like reaching up to adjust your sound all the time.
The best Xbox One controller for driving games
It's no surprise that a brand that predominantly makes racing wheels has made the perfect gamepad for smashing your laptimes.
Load the next 2 products ↓
The best Xbox One controller for retro fans
If you miss the days of the giant Duke, you'll be glad to hear that Hyperkin has your back. This is a stocky love letter to the early days of Xbox.
The best Xbox One controller for eSports
The Razer Wolverine Ultimate benefits from super responsive mecha tactile face buttons and a plethora of additional controls at your fingertips. On top of all that you're getting Razer Chroma in your setup as well.
The best Xbox One controller overall
Players seeking the ultimate in comfort and customization need look no further than the recently released Xbox Elite Wireless controller series 2. It doesn’t look too dissimilar to the original Elite made available back in 2015, but it sprinkles in just enough new enhancements that it easily takes the place of its predecessor and makes our list of the best Xbox One controllers. It still features such appreciated elements as modular thumbsticks, D-pads, and hair-trigger locks, yet the components for all three of these has been re-engineered to help all Xbox One enthusiasts to play like a pro.
It may hold a hefty price point when compared to some of the other Xbox One controllers featured on this list, but the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 justifies it by offering players over 30 new ways to play. Shorter hair trigger locks, for example, allows for faster shooting in competitive FPS titles, while the tension of all 6 thumbsticks included can be adjusted for enhanced aiming. It’s in this minute detail where the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 impresses most, serving as a great gamepad option for most Xbox One players but really shining in these subtle areas. And if that wasn’t enough, like the standard option, the Elite Series 2 works just as flawlessly on PC. It's not only the best gamepad for the previous generation console, but it's one of the best Xbox One accessories and Xbox Series X accessories overall as well.
Read more: Xbox Elite Controller Series 2 review
The Xbox Elite Series 2 Core takes the high quality of the full-fat Elite Series 2 and brings it down to a more affordable price point, making it one of the best Xbox Series X controllers out there. To the untrained eye, and thanks to confusing naming conventions, it's quite tough to see what the differences between these two controllers are - besides the obvious colour changes. In fact, these two gamepads are practically identical in every way, and the main difference is the accessories you get bundled along with them.
Although I'm disappointed that there aren't any attachments on offer here, and really would have appreciated some form of back paddles or extra stick caps, I can't seriously fault the Elite Series 2 Core. It feels like going to a bougie, Michelin-star restaurant and being served something as basic as bread and butter. It's stripped back, simple, and you expect a more complicated course for how much you pay. But it's probably the best bread and butter you'll ever eat.
The original Elite Controller Series 2 will set you back $179.99 / £159.99 and comes with all the customizable goodies you could ever need for it. The Elite Series 2 Core only costs $129.99 / £114.99 and comes with the exact same body and features, but none of the accessories. These are available to purchase separately and can be used with the Core, but they will bring the total investment back up to $179.99. Otherwise, you can use third-party or existing accessories and attachments with it too.
All in all, this is one of the top-performing controllers for Xbox and PC that you'll find, which in many ways, is no surprise.
The best Xbox One controller under $40
If you don't want to break past $39.99 / £34.99, the Turtle Beach React-R is the best Xbox One controller open to you. We used to revere the PowerA Enhanced Wired gamepad for its budget price point and value for money, but that top spot has be firmly replaced now. The React-R is slightly cheaper at MSRP (by around $5), offers better paddles (and the ability to remap them on the fly), and even packs the brand's Superhuman Hearing mode in as well.
Overall that's an astonishing value, and particularly impressive considering just how good this Xbox One controller feels to use. Some sacrifices have been made by slimming down the previous release (the Turtle Beach Recon Controller). You're dropping rubberized grips and Pro-Aim assist mode, for example. However, the textured plastic still holds your position well and you're still getting particularly pleasing ridges on the shoulder buttons as well.
While lighter than more premium options on this list, the React-R still feels solid in the hand, with a satisfying resistance beneath each of the thumbsticks and a comfortable face button press as well.
Overall, minus some personal frustration with the slightly hollow shoulder buttons and a lack of chat mix on PC, the Turtle Beach React-R is the best Xbox One controller under $40 / £40 right now. The value for money on offer here is outstanding, making it a must-see budget option.
Read more: Turtle Beach React-R review
The best Xbox One controller for most
The original Xbox One Wireless controller is still one of the best, perfectly suiting the size of most players’ hands to make playing games all the more immersive and natural. Despite being on the market in some form since late 2013, it easily overcomes some of the faults featured on the controllers of rival platforms, affording Xbox One players great build quality and a true D-pad – the latter of which is essential for those that play fighting games on a competitive level. The Xbox One Wireless controller’s face and shoulder buttons are equally responsive, complimented further by the classic asymmetrical analog stick design.
It easily makes our list of the best Xbox One controllers for all the reasons listed above, yes, but its value is boosted even further when you consider its flawlessly compatibility with Steam, the Epic Games Store, and even many mobile games on Android and Apple platforms. Microsoft has ensured that the Xbox One Wireless controller delivers a seamless and comfortable experience whether used for playing games on Xbox One or PC, serving as a more than serviceable solution for those that like bouncing between. What’s more, the Xbox One Wireless controller can be found in a range of colors.
The best third-party Xbox One controller
The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra Wireless controller is everything the Asus ROG Raikiri Pro from 2023 could have been. It has a small display on its face that helps you navigate its settings and profiles, and it has the same RGB strikethrough lines that give it character. More importantly, the Stealth Ultra Wireless is the first ever officially licensed third-party Xbox Series X controller to feature wireless connectivity, and since it works with Xbox One as well, it's made its way onto this list.
You can tell a lot of work has been put into the aesthetics of this gamepad. The RGB lines complement the colors of the faceplates and grips, and along with the display, they make it a device that's full of character. While I'm not usually a fan of horizontally-placed back buttons, the microswitch ones are expertly placed on the Stealth Ultra. For those worried about longevity, the triggers, and thumbsticks have Hall Sensor tech inside them.
You get the usual connectivity here; a 3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C charging, but with your purchase you get a USB dongle and a small magnetic charging stand too. While you might not get the kind of assortments and attachments as some more Esports-specific controllers do, you do get some thumbstick toppers for your money, and these go a long way to correct the sub-par, slippy designs of the regular sticks.
What I love about this controller is that it does everything well. It isn't quite as good performance-wise as something from Victrix, but it isn't far off. Short of that, you'd be hard-pressed to find a gaming genre this controller isn't perfect for. What's more, its 30-hour quoted battery life is accurate, and thanks to the charging stand, I never have to worry about it running out of charge. It feels like the classic Xbox controllers people love, but it's got that Turtle Beach twist you'll know from a React-R gamepad which only adds to the experience of the games you play.
The best Xbox One controller for audio controls
There's a lot of impressive features that this $60 Turtle Beach Recon PC controller has that gamepads twice its price point don't. For a start, there's a whole host of audio options available through the dedicated audio bar atop the dashboard button.
Through this menu, you can toggle things such as what Turtle Beach calls 'superhuman hearing' which isolates and amplifies subtle noises that would have otherwise been washed out in the chaos, such as gunfire and footsteps. In our testing, we found that this audio boost worked well to help us focus in the few games we tested it out on where the music could drown out such sound effects; Katana Zero, Hotline Miami, and Sonic Mania. That's just scratching the surface of what the Turtle Beach Recon Controller provides from a purely audio perspective, though you will need a wired gaming headset. We tested the EQ and the four different levels of audio intensity and found the results were more than pleasing through a Razer Kraken Tournament Edition headset.
Sound aside, the two most interesting features relate to the physicality of gameplay; 'Pro Aim' mode and button remapping. The former is a form of sensitivity reduction that can be manually set to four different levels of force to suit the situation, with the 4th setting (highest) offering a restricted amount of stick movement for more precise inputs; it works surprisingly well. The button remapping refers to the two buttons on the back of the controller which can be programmed to cycle through four different profiles for different configurations of resistance and audio settings. This means that you spend less time desperately wading through the options and have your desired setup for any given in-game moment.
Read more: Turtle Beach Recon Controller review
The best Xbox One controller for driving games
The Thrustmaster eSwap X 2 is a USB-C update to a long-standing staple of any best gamepad list. Before Victrix came along to steal its thunder, this was the product that led the modular design scene. It was a trend setter, and although the rest of the field has more than caught up, it's hard to beat this pad's robust build quality and comfort in driving games.
The triggers have ergonomic grooves that lend themselves to accurate squeezes. The thumbsticks have a looser tension that helps with precise cornering. The angular shoulder buttons could be ideal gear shifters depending on the game. Annoyingly, the tiny back buttons do nothing to help really any genre of gaming, but they are there if you have the patience to master them.
For Xbox One players this is a lovely update, particularly because older facial modules from other eSwap iterations will still slot in and work with the X 2. Although, if you aren't interested in USB-C, we'd recommend checking out the Thrustmaster eSwap XR for more driving game prowess.
Still, you can get a lot of utility out of what Thrustmaster has put out here. The toolless modular design still leads the market in many ways. It even makes the Victrix Pro BFG seem like a faff to configure. It's not our favorite, and it isn't as versatile as a controller this price should be, but it still has its uses.
The best Xbox One controller for retro fans
Some things just get better with age. The folks over at Hyperkin were quick to recognize this, quickly developing an Xbox One controller solution that harkens back to the design of the original Xbox console’s controller. Nicknamed “The Duke” due to how beefy it was, Hyperkin’s modern interpretation is so faithful from a design standpoint that it even features the classic Xbox logo at its center. Also, as you expect, the Hyperkin Duke can only be used wired, strongly cementing its strong attention to detail and why it should make our list of the best Xbox One controllers.
Needless to say, the Hyperkin Duke won’t be to everyone’s taste. This is a design that has continually been iterated and improved upon after all, but that doesn’t mean that long-term Xbox players won’t appreciate the strong dose of early 2000s nostalgia it offers. Hyperkin has been clever enough to include a fair few modern improvements, such as fully supported vibration feedback and precision analog triggers and bumpers. Minor elements like this not only compliment the classic Duke design further but work to subtly bring it up to today’s standards. The Hyperkin Duke is a great Xbox One controller for those that have stayed with the platform since the beginning.
The best Xbox One controller for eSports
The Razer Wolverine Ultimate is a genuine contender to Microsoft’s excellent Series 2 Elite for the title of best Xbox One controller and arguably has even greater customization thanks to the additional M1/M2 shoulder buttons. The four buttons underneath the controller on the rear are less like paddles and more like additional triggers that might be a little bit more of a reach, but we found them far less susceptible to accidental touches than the Elite’s paddles that expand into your natural grip area. You also get a few swappable elements like taller or rounder analogs and a four or eight-directional d-pad.
A huge shout out to the face buttons too which have ditched the regular squishy feel for an instant response that’s more in line with a mouse click than what we’ve come to expect from controller buttons. It’s a great feature that the Elite 2 was smart to borrow for the upgrade and it makes going back to regular button inputs on the standard Xbox One controller feel incredibly sluggish.
The Razer Wolverine Ultimate trumps Microsoft’s beast in two neat areas though by allowing you to store two-controller profile setups on board at once and you don’t need to head into menus to swap between them thanks to the on-board controls. There’s also a remapping button to change things up on the fly too, although you do, of course, have the Xbox app to create maps with a visual aid and also adjust analog sensitivity.
Read more: Best Razer controllers 2022
Best Xbox One Controller: FAQs
Which is the best Xbox One controller?
The best Xbox One controller overall, in our opinion, is the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2. It offers impressive customisation options and is truly built for professional or intense gamers.
Want to save money? The best budget Xbox One controller is the PowerA Enhanced wired, giving you a competitive edge due to the 0-millisecond input lag, introducing new buttons on the back of the controller, and still boasting a low price point.
However, the best traditional Xbox One controller is the Xbox One Wireless Controller - perfectly suiting the size of most players' hands to make playing games all the more immersive and natural.
Is there a better Xbox controller?
If you'd like to look elsewhere for an Xbox controller, there are plenty of good third party options, like the Turtle Beach React-R, or the Razer Wolverine Ultimate. Both of these options allow for more customisation thanks to their mappable back buttons. The Razer Wolverine Ultimate, for example, has an additional 6 buttons compared to stock console controllers. If you'd rather get nostalgic, the Hyperkin Duke is an almost exact replica of the original Xbox controller, so that's a pretty great option too.
Are third party Xbox controllers better?
The best Xbox One controllers are very subjective, so it's hard to say whether third part ones are objectively better. However, what we can say is that there are plenty of very viable third party controllers from the likes of Turtle Beach, Razer, Thrustmaster, Scuf, and Victrix. What will suit your hands and the games you play better is more for you to decide though.
Is an Elite controller worth it?
As you can see from our list, we think that the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 is currently the best Xbox One controller on the market. It has insane customisation options, providing over 30 new ways to play. It shines in subtle areas compared to its cheaper counterparts, making it the best gamepad for most Xbox One players. In other words, yes - we do think the Elite 2 is worth it.
How to connect an Xbox One controller to PC
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Your Xbox One controller can go further than you might think, connecting to gaming tablets, gaming laptops, and gaming PCs. That means there's a whole world waiting for your buttons, and you can put that mouse and keyboard down. Connecting your Xbox One controller via a cable is easy - it's a plug and play affair that works straight out the box. However, if you're after a wireless connection things are a little more complicated.
The first thing you'll need to work out is if you can connect via Bluetooth at all. If you're using an older gamepad you might need to upgrade. Controllers with a black shiny section running along the top (around the main Xbox button) that doesn't match the color of the controller won't be able to connect wirelessly.
However, if you've got a newer model you're all good to go. Hold the Xbox button to power up and then press the Pair button for three seconds. Navigate to your PC's Bluetooth settings and search for a device - once the Xbox logo starts flashing, you'll see the option for Xbox Wireless Controller appear in the menu. Select this option to connect.
How we test Xbox One controllers
In brief, every controller that we have had our hands on is used in a series of different video games to accommodate for most genres. This means that we'll test the responsiveness of the sticks, face buttons, bumpers, triggers, and any other additional features found on the unit. If a controller is wired or relies on rechargeable batteries, then the duration of the lifespan is tested, too. The same can be said for any specialist software, such as drivers, that may be included with the gamepad as well.
For more on how we test controllers at 12DOVE check out our full article, and for something more representative of our holistic approach to the latest gear, check out our Hardware Policy.
We're also rounding up all the latest Xbox Series X restock developments if you're keen to get your hands on the new console. We're also rounding up all the latest Xbox Series S bundles and Xbox Game Pass prices for more discounts as well.
