Nacon Revolution X Pro game pad review 2022

professionals and cons

Professionals

• Adjustable weight
• Customizable L and R sticks
• Button remapping
• Dolby Atmos
• Onboard reminiscence for participant profiles

Cons

• Revolution X app is janky and obtuse
• Cannot mix weights
• Switching out sticks generally is a problem
• Alternate set off/shoulder buttons are awkwardly positioned

extra shopping for selections

Third-party gaming controllers used to have one thing of a nasty rap, typically thought of to not be pretty much as good as “official” sport pads from sport console makers like Microsoft and Nintendo. However trendy third-party controllers are providing a lot better-quality builds and extra customization choices than their predecessors.

Additionally: See options to contemplate beneath

Nacon particularly appears set on presenting its Revolution X Professional controller as a top-quality possibility akin to Microsoft’s Xbox controllers. Nevertheless, regardless of Nacon’s finest efforts, this controller nonetheless has a methods to go earlier than it may possibly start to supply the identical construct high quality, consolation, and ease of use as first-party choices, significantly in terms of creating customized configurations within the desktop app.

Pricing

The Revolution X Professional controller sports activities a hefty $99.90 (£100, €99, AU$199.95) price ticket. That is $40 greater than the official Xbox wireless controller ($59.99), which additionally allows you to remap the button structure and hook up with your PC or console with a USB-C cable while you want a wired connection or wish to play video games whereas your controller is charging. Nevertheless, it’s comparable in worth to the Razer Wolverine V2 wired controller ($99.99, presently on sale for $69.99) and PowerA Fusion 2 Pro ($89.99), which supply extra customization and accessibility choices for each pro-level and hobbyist players. 

Whereas the Revolution X Professional does allow you to make a number of customization selections with the thumbsticks, button layouts, and weight of the unit, virtually $100 remains to be a excessive worth for a barely elevated model of a primary, wired controller. 

The Microsoft Adaptive Controller retails for a similar worth ($99), and has a lot better potential for accessibility since that is precisely what it was designed for; though it may very well be argued that this is not a good comparability since Nacon markets the Revolution X Professional’s different shoulder and set off buttons by way of ergonomics fairly than accessibility. Nonetheless, while you produce a peripheral that does have the potential to make video games simpler to play for folks with high quality motor points, accessibility should not be an afterthought. For this worth, I would wish to see the flexibility to swap the choice set off and shoulder buttons with paddles or join different accessible controllers like joysticks or switches.

The excessive price could also be justified for some, particularly if the choice buttons can be helpful, however is also a turnoff for others who simply desire a reliable wired controller for his or her PC or console.

Customization and construct high quality

The Revolution X Professional is marketed as a pro-level controller, and as such, it lets you make a ton of modifications to fit your play model. It comes packaged with three units of weights (10, 14, and 16 grams), a set of convex thumbstick caps, and two units of thumbstick washers. I opted to make use of the 16-gram weights since they offer the controller some heft that feels good with out making it a chore to carry up throughout lengthy play periods. 

I do want that you would both stack weights or that the controller had different slots for extra weights, since it may possibly really feel back-heavy at occasions. If there have been even a single slot between the set off and shoulder buttons the place you would add a slug, it will make the steadiness of the sport pad really feel a bit higher.

You may as well swap out the controller’s textured, concave thumbstick caps for a set of clean, convex caps. The convex caps could make motion a bit twitchier since they make it barely simpler to make tiny actions with every stick, however the exceptionally clean floor made it tough for me to maintain a stable grip on the controller. I attempted a number of completely different cap combos, from having each convex or concave to mixing them up. In the long run, I selected to maintain the textured, concave caps since they offered a good quantity of grip for character motion and digital camera management, even when my fingers had been clammy.

Additionally, the stick caps could be tough to swap out, needing a shocking quantity of power to take away and substitute. The Revolution X Professional would not include any type of device for eradicating the stick caps, so that you simply should yank on them and pray that you do not snap off any essential bits or break your controller. This makes the entire ordeal nerve-wracking since, in the event you handle to take away the stick cap in a single piece, chances are high it should fly throughout the room since you needed to pull on it so laborious.

The included washers will let you put limitations on the vary of movement for every thumbstick, which is nice for racing or flight sim lovers and combating sport gamers. By limiting the vary of movement, you scale back the chance of overcompensating or overcorrecting, which may result in in-game crashes and failed transfer combos. Whereas I can recognize the choice, I am not an enormous fan of these sorts of video games, so it isn’t helpful for me.

For one thing marketed as a pro-level controller, the construct high quality of the Revolution X Professional is surprisingly cheap-feeling. It is clear that Nacon made this sport pad to be an virtually direct competitor to the Xbox Elite Wireless controller, which is why the exceptionally light-weight, all-plastic physique is disappointing. 

As I discussed earlier than, even once I used the included weights, the controller itself felt off-balance in my fingers, particularly when utilizing the 16-gram set. The face, set off, and shoulder buttons have a barely mushy really feel to them fairly than a pleasant, snappy click on. I do not know if Nacon designed the buttons this option to make the controller much less noisy, but it surely simply provides to the general “low-cost” feeling of the Revolution X Professional. 

Conversely, the choice shoulder and set off buttons which can be positioned on the again of the controller do have a pleasant, snappy feeling while you press them in addition to an audible click on. Whereas it took some getting used to, enjoying with the choice structure in shooter video games was far more satisfying.

One very minor gripe that I’ve is how a lot dust and hand yuck the Revolution X Professional attracts and holds onto. The primary grips have a crosshatch texture, the stick caps are textured, and the controller itself has a number of seams the place grime, sweat, and common nastiness can accumulate. Over the course of a traditional week of gaming periods for me, I needed to take a toothpick to the seams (particularly these across the weight compartment covers) and wipe down all the unit with a Lysol wipe twice to take away gunk. 

Additionally: How one can clear a mechanical keyboard 

It is a good suggestion to do that recurrently for all controllers to maintain issues clear and sanitized, however all the completely different textures and areas within the Revolution X Professional are significantly vulnerable to hiding dust.

Ergonomics and accessibility

Nacon leans closely into the ergonomic facet of the Revolution X Professional. There are 4 buttons on the again of the controller that can be utilized as different shoulder and set off buttons or remapped to face buttons to make it simpler to tug off tough combo strikes. The controller itself matches properly in my fingers, although if in case you have smaller fingers or aren’t used to Xbox-style controllers, it will not be as simple so that you can use. 

The Revolution X Professional is barely smaller than an official Xbox controller, measuring about 5.5 by 4.5 by 2.25 inches, however the way in which that the controller is designed makes it appear and feel bigger. Facet by aspect with a Sony PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, it is simple to see that the PS5 controller influenced the Revolution X Professional’s design as nicely.

The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 have change into my primary consoles for gaming at residence, and I even use a PS4 controller with my PC, so going from the DualSense’s parallel, dual-stick design to the uneven stick placement of the Nacon Revolution X Professional took some getting used to, in addition to remembering the face button structure. However for longer gaming periods, the Revolution X Professional’s asymmetrical thumbstick structure was far more comfy, inserting every little thing inside simple attain to cut back pressure in your fingers and wrists. And as somebody who has persistent carpal tunnel points, enjoying with a controller that does not make my fingers ache after a number of hours is a welcome change.

That being stated, I did not discover myself compelled to reap the benefits of the choice shoulder and set off buttons. They’re positioned in a method which means you will typically make unintentional button presses when adjusting your grip. 

The choice shoulder buttons additionally made precision aiming a bit harder, for the reason that button faces have a really clean end and observe the internal contours of the controller. I discovered this made it tougher to maintain my fingers on the choice buttons, particularly if my fingers had been clammy; and if you are going to take this controller to any type of match, not having a positive grip goes to be an issue.

Small design flaws apart, the choice buttons, the flexibility to remap inputs, and the choices to customise weight, stick caps, and stick washers have nice potential to make video video games extra accessible to gamers with high quality motor talent points. Whereas Nacon would not market the Revolution X Professional as an accessibility possibility for disabled players, it will work nicely in the event you do not require one thing just like the Microsoft Adaptive Controller, which integrates with all kinds of accessibility equipment like foot pedals, specialty joysticks, and switches. 

However as a lot as I would like to sing the Revolution X Professional’s praises for making gaming a bit simpler for disabled folks, it nonetheless falls brief on accessibility. Particularly in terms of the desktop app, which I am going to focus on beneath.

Connectivity and audio

The Revolution X Professional connects to your laptop or console through a USB-C-to-USB cable. The connector cable is 3 meters (9.8 ft) lengthy, which supplies you loads of room to maneuver round if you could. Whereas it is good to have a near-infinite energy provide for my sport pad, for this worth I would wish to have the choice of wi-fi use. Particularly once I’m gaming on my PC, I do not wish to take care of a number of cords for my cats to chew on or to get tousled as I plug and unplug my work peripherals, and infrequently want to take a seat farther away to be comfy,

Nacon insists that the Revolution X Professional is wired, not wi-fi, to cut back enter latency and lag for higher response occasions and efficiency in professional gaming conditions. However after a number of weeks of testing, I could not see a distinction between the wired Revolution X Professional and my wi-fi PS4 DualShock when enjoying video games on my PC. 

The controllers had comparable enter response occasions throughout completely different genres of video games, and even when put by means of extra thorough testing software program, the distinction was solely 2 or 3 milliseconds; which is hardly noticeable to most players, and even professionals would have a tough time seeing the distinction.

Because it’s unlikely that most individuals who purchase this controller are pro-level players, and since enter lag could be affected by every little thing out of your controller’s connection kind and your monitor’s refresh price to your GPU’s VRAM capability and CPU workload, it virtually appears foolish to tout a wired connection as superior. Possibly Nacon caught with a wired controller design to assist preserve the already excessive price below management, however I’d be keen to pay a bit extra to have the choice to make use of the controller wirelessly.  

One very huge mark within the Revolution X Professional’s favor, nonetheless, is that it is able to working with Dolby Atmos to create extra immersive, digital surround-sound audio in your headset so you’ll be able to hear each be aware of your sport’s backing rating, audio cues like gunfire and footsteps, and cleaner dialogue between characters. Even the Xbox Elite controller would not have Dolby Atmos assist for headphone audio, which helps justify that nearly $100 price ticket for Nacon’s controller considerably. 

The rub is that it’s important to have headphones that assist Dolby Atmos audio with a view to take full benefit of the function. You will nonetheless get nice sound it doesn’t matter what, however with out full Dolby Atmos assist, you will not get the digital {surround} sound and bass increase that comes with it. 

Nacon Revolution X app

It is just about a on condition that any gaming peripheral you purchase goes to make use of a companion desktop or cell app for issues like remapping inputs, altering RGB lighting patterns and colours, and monitoring battery ranges and connection stability. And whereas it is annoying to should obtain proprietary software program for each model, these apps are helpful for creating separate participant profiles for shared peripherals or completely different enter layouts for quite a lot of video games. The Revolution X app is neither very helpful nor simple to make use of. 

The controller itself comes preloaded with 5 completely different enter profiles: a generic Xbox enter scheme that disables the choice set off and shoulder buttons, a profile for first-person shooters, one for sports activities video games and racing sims, one for combating video games, and one for stealth video games. 

Each profile besides the generic enter scheme has the identical enter structure, however they differ in left and proper thumbstick sensitivity and the stick and set off button stress. The FPS profile has extra stress on the set off buttons for sooner aiming and firing with shallower presses, whereas the stealth sport profile places a slight delay in your set off button inputs so you’ll be able to stroll again your actions with a view to keep away from setting off alarms or alerting enemies.

Personally, I discovered the stick and set off stress and delays to be a detriment in a number of situations, throwing off my sense of timing for making jumps, avoiding harm, and pulling off combos. Whereas I recognize the try and cater to gamers of various genres and supply pro-level gamers with ready-made profiles, the execution left so much to be desired. And once more, this all looks like overkill when the overwhelming majority of Revolution X Professional customers will not be going to be pro-level players who want complete management over enter timing.

The remainder of the app is customary fare: permitting you to remap button inputs for every profile and alter the RGB lighting coloration of the ring round the proper stick. The app additionally acts as a obtain hub for the Revolution X Professional’s firmware updates, and it presents to test for updates and obtain new variations of the firmware when it hundreds up. 

The flexibility to delay firmware updates in favor of older software program has a number of deserves however as somebody who has hassle remembering to test for issues like that, I would fairly have automated updates as quickly as I plug within the controller.

The app appears easy sufficient at first look, with pages devoted to stay and set off stress, enter remapping, RGB lighting, and audio equalizer settings. However this system feels clunky and unintuitive while you’re attempting to determine the best way to customise the controller in your private playstyle. Nothing is defined, and there aren’t any tutorials to observe for adjusting the extra superior settings just like the stick and set off stress and stick sensitivity, which suggests it’s important to do a lot of trial and error to determine precisely what you modified and the way it impacts gameplay and controls. 

The app additionally will not allow you to entry pages previous the principle display screen until the controller is related to your laptop or console, which makes it inconceivable to do a fast settings test between matches or earlier than your gaming session. 

With customization, ergonomics, and (to a lesser diploma) accessibility being the strongest promoting factors of the Revolution X Professional, the obtuse nature of the app is irritating at finest and downright incomprehensible at worst. 

And the app would not have any option to entry technical or buyer assist. Which implies that you will must go to Nacon’s website, scroll all the way in which to the underside of the principle web page, and click on the hyperlink for the assist web page, solely to be met with a 404 error as a result of (on the time of this writing) Nacon hasn’t arrange an internet assist web page but. So you will then should go to the contact web page and depart a generic type message, or name the corporate between 9 am and 6 pm while you’re more likely to be at work and haven’t got time to name Nacon about a difficulty together with your controller.

Backside line 

The Nacon Revolution X Professional is a good third-party controller that works nicely with gaming PCs in addition to Xbox Collection X and Collection S consoles. It presents a ton of customization choices in addition to extra ergonomic enter choices with its different shoulder and set off buttons. The choice buttons additionally might make gaming a bit extra accessible to disabled players who’ve points with high quality motor expertise, although the controller is not particularly designed for accessibility. 

However for all the nice issues the controller has to supply, it is held again by a clunky, difficult-to-navigate desktop app and virtually nonexistent technical assist and customer support. The excessive price of the Revolution X Professional can be a turnoff, since an official Xbox wi-fi controller retails for nearly half the worth whereas supplying you with comparable customization choices and versatile connectivity. 

Nacon designed the Revolution X Professional as a professional-level controller, however appears to have executed so at the price of making it interesting to on a regular basis players. For those who do not thoughts utilizing inventory enter profiles and do not anticipate needing a number of technical or buyer assist, this controller is a good possibility. However if you wish to take full benefit of the controller’s options or have any points that want troubleshooting, there are comparable, if not higher, choices obtainable.

Alternate options to contemplate 

Razer is a widely known, established model with a repute for making reliable third-party peripherals. The Wolverine V2 is a wired controller that lets you remap inputs and even arrange hair triggers and set off locks for aggressive FPS matches. It additionally has a extra ergonomic design that is extra comfy to carry and use throughout lengthy gaming periods, and the face buttons are rated for as much as 3 million presses for long-lasting reliability and sturdiness. Whereas it would not allow you to add weight or swap out thumbstick caps, it does provide a stable, comfy design that may swimsuit players throughout completely different genres.

The Turtle Seashore Recon wired controller is a extra reasonably priced possibility, retailing at about $50 whereas providing lots of the similar options because the Revolution X Professional. It lets you monitor your mic enter, sport and chat volumes, and equalizer settings, and it has two remappable buttons to make tough combos simpler to tug off in combating video games or precision aiming sooner and extra comfy in aggressive shooters. You may create and save as much as 4 structure profiles to the controller and change between them as you modify video games, and the onboard audio controls allow you to quick-mute your mic when you could have conversations outdoors of your sport or Discord server or cycle by means of equalizer presets.

The PowerA Fusion Professional 2 is one other extra reasonably priced wired controller possibility, retailing for about $60 on Amazon whereas nonetheless providing customized enter layouts, set off locks for precision aiming and quick-shooting, and completely different choices for thumbstick caps and the way tall your thumbsticks are. You may even swap out the faceplate of the controller to indicate off your private model, complement your battlestation’s aesthetics, or exhibit your eSports staff loyalty. It additionally has a one-touch dial that helps to manage your headset’s quantity when plugged into the controller and mute your mic shortly when you do not wish to chat or must have conversations outdoors of your sport.