Xbox Accessory: Hyperkin DuchesS Wired Controller for Xbox Series X Black-Officially Licensed by Xbox

If you used the S-types on the original Xbox back in the day, you'll find your muscle memory comes back almost instantaneously. The new bumpers, few new buttons, and the shiny new Hall-effect sticks are somewhat exceptions to this. The buttons feel great, but Back & Start being in the bottom-left again rather than centered as they are on a modern controller can take a few hours of retraining to grow used to again. The Black & White buttons do the same things the bumpers do so they're ultimately optional, but they're pretty much mandatory for many modern titles as designed imo, since they're so much easier to depress than are the Black & White buttons, and you're able to do so without removing your fingers from the analog sticks or dpad/ABXY face buttons. These new bumpers are also easy enough to get used to, but I must admit they're hidden a bit farther away back there than are bumpers on a modern official Xbox controller, though the entire controller isn't built to the smaller child-suited form-factor of newer official controllers. We did fine with them as kids, regardless. I cannot imagine anyone without incredibly small hands finding even these bumpers uncomfortable for even longer sessions -- they feel just fine to reach, being a typically-sized adult man myself, and they're hardly much farther back there than on the official controller I have side-by-side with it right now as I write. By my reckoning, the biggest functional change from the OG S-type has to be the new Hall-effect analogue sticks. They're almost entirely resistance-less, and the little bit of resistance you're able to detect feels as if there's nothing pulling back at you -- only a constant, slight resistance. Feeling my old genuine S-type relic next to me now, I have to say, the old analogue sticks were VERY stiff to move -- as though rubber-bands are fighting you. They have a lot of resistance as you shift them around. Newer official Xbox controllers have far, far less resistance than the old S-types, but these new Hall-effect sticks have even less resistance than that, and its resistance is of a more consistent, almost digitally pure resistance for the sake of resistance. It's difficult to describe, but it feels more consistent, rather than changing depending upon where and how extended the stick is in its range of motion. I quite prefer it to either of the alternatives myself, but it is a slight departure which may take a bit of getting used to. You can feel a bit of deadzone in the center, as with the OG S-types. How much of that his hardware vs software, I can't say, but it's not an issue for me. They do say Hall-effect tech is virtually immune to the sort of stick-drift which has plagued the major companies for decades now, so I'll take this constancy over a progressively deteriorating stick drift or stick wobbling which tends to happen with the old tech. It's wired, too, so that may be a con to some, though I don't really notice it as the cable detaches, and the one it comes with is so imperceptibly light when plugged-in, as well as long enough to make it a non-factor. Feels to be a quality cable. Solid, fabric exterior, with their own branding. The Xbox sticker is a button as well. The logo not blinding you at nighttime is lovely, as there's no luminescence to it after it's fully connected and the LED on the face turns itself off (on PC, at least -- I can't say for the consoles). That being said, all of the buttons are satisfying to use and almost perfectly emulate the look and feel of each of the buttons on the original S-types. ABXY+B/W have that translucent raised bubble effect, and feel hefty to press, with that thudding actuation you can't miss. Back/Start (or whatever they're called now) don't depress far at all, and are very clicky. Triggers give good resistance. Bumpers feel more like the ABXY buttons than the clickiness of Back/Start. The D-pad is objectively better than on the old S-type while still being *that type* of d-pad. Less mushy, easier to discern when it's pressed. It's shaped the same and travels that longer distance just as the old S-type, but has more of a sharper thud to it -- but it's definitely not clicky like some newer d-pad designs. It doesn't begin to depress until you put a good bit of pressure on it, at which point it depresses to max with a dull thud. I can't imagine anyone disliking it, it's great. They clearly put a lot of effort and painstaking engineering into this thing. I don't regret it one bit. It's my new go-to, and I don't feel compelled to put it down for any uses in particular, as though it were a gimmick not suited to certain tasks. I can't say I'm disappointed by any of it, and it has plenty I greatly prefer.

This Controller is amazing and I'll tell you for 5 main reasons. 1. My lord the ergonomics is amazing no pain on my hands after playing 7 hours straight of Diablo 4 on the week end. 2. The balance of the weight is perfect not too heavy or light and the buttons are SILENT great for playing at midnight and later with some bbq chips. 3. The triggers are are wonderful my fingers just wrap around them naturally like a real trigger and the motors kick in without making a sound to the shell of the controller great job. 4. I got the Matte black and it looks beautiful after opening the packageing I just got hit with nostalgia back in the 2000's and boy that's fun. 5. It's Modern, simple, clean and has hall effect to get the job done and now it is my Daily Driver Thanks and great job to hyperkin this is classic reborn to the modern times and now my favorite controller. Thanks 👍🍹🍹🍹

The DuchesS has to be one of Hyperkin's best controllers to date. Despite being wired, it has features i'm more used to seeing on premium controllers- Hall Effect sticks that feel smooth without any grit, Some of the snappiest trigger buttons I've seen on a controller (Comparable to a 360 controller), Plus Hyperkin took it a step further and added shoulder buttons, which really allows this controller to shine even if you use it as a daily driver. The DuchesS is Wired only, and it runs off of a USB-C cable. It comes with a 10 Ft long braided cable which is plenty long enough to not clothesline someone while playing from the couch in most cases, but it being USB-C means you can use any replacement cable you want to run the controller, which is a Plus. Buttons feel clicky and have that classic, retro analog feel. The shell itself feels like good quality. Perhaps not as good as some 100$+ Premium controllers, but certainly not cheap. The only cons I can see is no Wireless mode which could be a deal breaker to some. This controller also doesn't have the pressure-sensitive buttons that OG Xbox controllers had, but that's a minor Nitpick. All in all, this is a fantastic rendition of a classic controller with a lot of features that even some 100$+ Controllers (Looking at you, Xbox Elite Series 2/Dualsense Edge) have yet to implement into their designs. If you are a fan of the Xbox or just want a classic, retro-feeling controller at a good price, i'd say go for it.

Amazing throwback controller. Feels better than the original "dutchess" Xbox controller, and the joysticks are great! ZERO DRIFT (so far). Yes, it's a WIRED controller, but still, it's perfect for people who loved the old Xbox "S" controller. I wish the sticks were a bit stiffer than they are, but I've been using the Elite Series 1 & 2 controllers for years and I haven't found any controller with adjustable stick stiffness, like those. (but the Elite controllers are pricy, always end up with stick drift and 100% of the grips fall apart.)

Updated further review and buying a few more controllers to evaluating across the board. Pros: It's the XBOX Classic S Controller what else do I have to say. Button layout, hall effect thumb-sticks, long USB-c cable, honestly the best feeling controller in my hands. Feels like it is built well and durable. D-Pad is great! Cons: Compared to other controllers only 2 big issues. 1.) More difficult to rapid fire buttons, It's like a trigger on a gun that's to heavy, need hair trigger button. Buttons have a clicky/clacky feel and take more pressure to push down that forces them up all the way on release and makes it difficult to fire more rapidly. 2.) For a not so cheap controller the usb-c cable is very stiff and feels cheap, for the price I expected a soft flexible cable like the classic Xbox controller cables. I'm afraid to let the cable bend too much as it feels like it would kink and damage the wires easily. Will need rolled up and not folded when stored. Like to see improvements on future version of this controller (in order of importance): 1.) Lighter button pressing for faster rapid firing. 2.) Long "SOFT" cable. Would also be nice to have ferrite cores on each end like the classic Xbox cables that limited electrical interference and reduced latency. 3.) I know the controller uses the Xbox driver so limits how to map additional buttons, but it would have been nice to be able to use the Clear and Black buttons on bottom left independently as they are fixed-mapped the same as L & R bumpers. There is probably not an easy solution for this one since it's driver dependent.

Love it! I’ve had it now for 5 or 6 months, no stick drift, all buttons still function. Only small issue is the cord itself, that plugs into the controller, becomes loose and I’ll have to get another cord (this is with almost consistent use so I’m impressed) I still recommend, really fun and nostalgic to play with!

Beautiful controller, when I opened it up and held it in my hand I was transported back to 2003 when I first held one of these controllers to play Halo 1, I cannot wait to emulate some of the older games I used to play with this controller. Everything on it feels great, it's a bit different from the actual controllers on the back side but isn't a huge deal, the cable they provided is high quality and braided which is a godsend these days with companies providing absolute **** and it fits really snug into the controller and the fact you can easily replace it is a huge plus because we all know xbox's controller cables were pretty bad (looking at you 360), another great thing they added was the middle logo is a button now is an absolute joy, the joysticks are also smooth as butter and respond amazingly as well as the triggers, didn't have any issues testing it out on Windows 10. I also have big hands and this fits comfortably (15 ring size and 4.5 inch palm width). 10/10 would buy again.

Pros: + It's nice to have an original Xbox shaped controller to play older games I grew up with, and one that works with modern systems. + Being able to have Shoulder Buttons that mimic the White and Black buttons is a pretty smart addition and lets the controller function better in modern games. + The Face Buttons, D-Pad, Black and White Buttons, Start and Select as well as the triggers all feel exactly how I remember them. Cons: - The controller too light, making it feel cheap. - The Thumbsticks feel like they are made more out of plastic than rubber, which don't provide a good grip on your thumbs (if you've ever used a knock-off OG Xbox Controller or a PlayStation 4 controller, you'll know how the thumbsticks feel). - The plastic of the controller in general feels too smooth, which gives it a feeling like it would slip out of your hand at a moments notice (the lighter weight of the controller doesn't help either). - No wireless connectivity of any kind. Closing Thoughts: While I don't dislike the controller, I'm ultimately disappointed with the quality of it. They market the controller as having 'Hall Effect Thumbsticks', which is a technology that is used to prevent 'stick drift' from too much wear on the thumbsticks. While this is a welcome feature to the controller, it makes you think they designed the controller with quality and longevity in mind, when it's not reflected in the actual material of the controller, as well as other shortcomings like making the controller wireless with the Xbox, or adding Bluetooth and a dongle. Having the controller be only wired feels extremely dated by todays standard. I really wish Hyperkin would have made a more premium model that had original quality plastic for the controller shell, original quality rubber for the Thumbsticks, as well as full wireless support, and charge $60-$70 for it. As it stands now, it definitely feels like more of an 'S' line of Xbox quality, which is to say it feels cheap, but ultimately, functional.