It depends on the types of games you play. I play a good amount of EA Hockey and it means one new controller a year for me. A lot of hard movement on the left stick from one side to the other and a lot of stick clicking means stick drift after 6-8 months.
I got my Series X in April 2021 and only as of October 2023 did I get a new controller.
I’ll admit that I had been using one of the “limited edition” controllers for a couple of months in early 2023, but that’s still the original controller being used most of the time.
Who doesn't prefer wireless? Anyway the controller is great at a good price and comes with a month ultimate gamepass and is on sale on amazon quite frequently. Been gaming for 40 yrs and had MANY controllers.
This is a plus. They do get quite grubby i have to baby wipe mine once a week. And the slightly different menu button placement can take a while to adjust to.
Yeah because my controller is white it's a pain to clean but the sticks are impossible, mine where a light gray and now they're dark and I can't clean them.
Since the NES in the 80s, I have never had an issue with any controller until the "elite" controllers came around. I will *almost* never recommend one to anybody unless specific criteria are met.
(Sans N64 controller sticks wearing out overtime, of course, but that's not the same thing)
By current technology, yes.
Controller problem I encountered: dead button, stick drift, and trigger malfunction. When I got my Xbox One, the controller was broken, A button is dead, within two months, then I got a free replacement.
Most controller buttons ensemble the membrane keyboard, and the rubber dome and underlying layers will fail rather quickly. The joystick and trigger are very much like to carbon film potentiometer, and the inner carbon film will fail after certain amout of friction, too.
New technology called Hall effect joystick and trigger has been implemented in many third party controllers. They use Hall effect sensors for input. Basically, that's magnetic field. These components have no friction, so in theory it will never fail. However, the vibration motors also have magnets and will disturb these sensors, making them inaccurate. Full electromagnetic shield is nearly impossible on controller due to limited space.
Mechanical buttons, on the other hand, are rather simple to implement and will be more durable than membrane buttons. But it will also fail in the long run, and the pressing feedback is not constant. If you have ever used mechanical keyboard, you know what I mean.
I have been using Razer controller for a while now. I like that they are wired and have been very durable. I log a minimum of 40 hours a week playing games and it has been the only experience with a controller that can keep up with the amount of play. I've had two Razor Ultimate Wolverine controllers, they both lasted two years each, but had a face button, not the thumb sticks go out. I was able to mitigate it with the programmable buttons.
My most recent is a Version 2 and it has been a good experience. It's lasted the lifetime of my Day One Series X with no issues so far.
I’ve owned an Xbox since the 360, of the 15 controllers or so I’ve only had 1 with stick drift and that’s partly because of the way I packed it in my suitcase. All of the others lasted until I didn’t need them anymore (several years each).
Same here.
Still rocking day 1 xsx controller and a 2020 design lab controller.
My kids had a series s in 2021 and are on the controller that came with it and a 2015 xbox one controller.
Yeah I do not get it. Take care of it, keep it clean, never issues right? I keep mine in a ziplock baggie when not in use, keeps all dirt off. Never had to replace any controller 360, One, One X and SX
If you knew this is all you had to do to make a controller last 4+ years, IT IS not a step to far dude, not even close!
God it takes so much debilitating work to open a baggie, and put your controller in it..........
Yeah dude... I have xbox one controllers from 2013, no issues, no zip lock bag. Same with my day 1 series x controller.
I'd wager the zip lock bag does the sum total of fuck all.
That's just weird.
Correlation does not equal causation, just because your controller in a zip lock bag is fine does not mean that is the reason it is fine. Many thousands and. Thousands of controllers not in bags doing OK dude.
I think I usually go through 4-5 Xbox controllers per generation since the 360. The most common is by far is stick drift, though I've had an iffy d-pad with the One and am inconsistent A button on a Series controller.
I also had a brand new Series X controller that had stick drift baked in pretty much right out of the box. It was very minor, but it definitely didn't reset to neutral zero from a certain direction. I'll normally still use one with notable stick drift for a few months, but once it starts negatively affecting gameplay and I can't just increase deadzone to ignore it, then it's time to change
One guy I know snapped the right bumper out of his One controllers 2-3 times. No idea how that happened, buuuut.
Your milage varies with how you play and how much you play. As someone who usually puts in an hour or two daily at a minimum, mine normally last 1.5-2 years each. That's why I'll never buy an elite since I feel like it'll inevitably crap out like the rest of them
FWIW, all of the guys I've been playing with for 10+ years all go through at least two or three controllers per generation, too. Or they start having various issues and just don't bother swapping them out until they get really bad
I've had better luck with joysticks lately, but my left bumper keeps breaking because one game I play the most uses it heavily. Thankfully, bumpers are easy to replace.
I don't know how far back with Xbox you go, 360 controller was more durable, I bought 3 for it in 2006, and all 4 still work. Xbox One Gen worse, I've probably bought 5 controllers since 2014.
But 2 in a few months, that's probably on you.
My day 1 series S controller is still there, fighting for his life. My old Elite v1 still resists, sticks are peeled off mostly but it's not that bad. My Xbox One controllers in the other hand were a disaster, I had like six, they just broke or stopped working
I love those old Xbone controllers, and they've treated me very well. Xss/x controllers and "elite" controllers, on the other hand, are shoddy by comparison (in combination of my own, my bro's, and 2 friends combined experiences).
The only one of my controllers to break was when a friend stayed with me for a while and he was way too rough with it. The rest have been fine. Xbox, playstation, nintendo. All good.
I'm on my second Xbox controller now.
First one the right bumper broke playing street fighter (lost it's "spring" so something must have snapped).
Second controller works although suddenly has a squeaky right trigger which is annoying.
Must say, controllers are better than those on PS4 which I constantly went through due to stick drift.
I wouldn't call them consumables since they carried over from 8th to 9th gen, but what I will say - I never had stick drift/excessive wear as a kid on my 360 controllers, and I waa anything but gentle with them. Now as an adult I take better care of my stuff but even then, I've had 2 Xbox controllers' thumb sticks crap out on me (One was a design lab Xbox One controller, the other a normal Series)
Yes they are. Every controller should come with a 1 year warranty and the fact that the warranty is not 90 days should tell you the lack of confidence these companies have in their products (I have purchased things for less than $50 that came with lifetime warranty). These things are meant to be replaced and companies want you to keep purchasing them. It's called planned obsolescence. Everyone saying they haven't had any issue with controllers is missing the point. Their anecdotal experience does not amount to real data and given the number of tutorials and guides out there for repairing broken controllers we have a pretty good indication of the unacceptable failure rate of these controllers. My advice is to buy a quality 3rd party controller and just leave this BS behind. Gamesir has a few good ones that will last you years.
People need to stop thinking in terms of "this piece of shit only lasted 3 months..." and think in USE HOURS and what you play.
My controllers last for years. Why? Because 10 hours of gaming in a week is about average for me and I only like single player Narrative RPGs and story-centric games. If you have no other life and are putting 10 hours A DAY in frantic multiplayer games, your plastic input device is gonna last a few months.
How many average use hours do console makers shoot for? That's what we need to think about.
10 hours a day (and I KNOW some of you average that) in three months is 3000 use hours. Tell me I'm exaggerating? Okay, 5 hours a day hits that milestone in 6 months. 2.5 hours a day is under 15 hours a week and hits 3000 hours of use time in a year. 15 hours a week is slim for most of the people whining about controllers.
A plastic handheld tool full of plastic moving parts that gets used HARD and that lasts 3000 use hours is pretty good for $70.
My controller that came with the console went to shit after 4 months so I said fuck all that and got a Hall effect controller and it’s been running real smooth
One or two of mine have had stick drift, but with them being compatible from Xbox One to Series, they are not ‘consumables’ as they are expected to last a significant time.
You get a lot of different stories when it comes to Xbox controllers. Some people swear they are cheap and break super easily, but I've never had that problem. I game for several hours each day across a wide variety of games and I can go a year or longer with no controller issues. I use two different controllers depending if I'm in a party or not, so that may be a contributing factor to the seemingly increased longevity for me.
I used to collect controllers. I had around a dozen that were never even used. A few months ago I experienced stick drift for the first time and decided to check my unused controllers as well. To my surprise 9 out of 13 controllers I tested had stick drift. You don't normally notice it because games use dead zones to account for it. But once you check with games where there is none or you can remove it, boy was I in for a bad surprise. Haven't bought a single controller since.
The only ones that didn't have stick drift were ones I bought early on in the Xbox One launch window. Like the Titanfall controller. And you can literally feel the quality degredation that happened over that last decade. The Titanfall controller is a sturdy brick that feels like you can drop it and nothing happens. A Cyberpunk controller on the other hand squeeches if you press it slightly. It also feels like way thinner plastic and has sharper corners (probably because less material means no way to round off edges). Out of current controllers the only ones worth anything are transparent ones. Those still have an adequate material thickness.
The amount of people that don’t do this is alarming. I have a 20th anniversary controller that I use daily. It has easily 600+ hours into it, zero issues.
... but the XSX is now a bit over 3.5 years old. (Nov. 2020 - June 2024)
Your stick started drifting in three and a half years, my dude, not almost five.
Unless it's a controller you have had for longer than you've had that console, that is.
Man they last like 18-24 months at best. This is why I tend to not buy special editions or anything with crazy price as you will get exactly the same fate.
I actually think the best way to extend the lifetime of your controller is having two: one for weekdays and the other for weekends or something like that. You could probably extend the lifespan much longer like that
The Series controller that came with it started having serious stick drift after about a year or so. Got an Elite and no issues for 2+ years now. Let's hope it stays that way.
Controllers should last the console generation, but with the added complexity of them, it seems they break a bit easier compared to previous generations.
I mean how do you treat your controllers?
Do you frequently dropped them? Do you button mash the fuck out of them?
Do you throw them around like they're invincible then act dhock when they start to break?
Some controllers tend to last longer than other because of these factors. Sometimes they can last you forever, sometimes years, some times months.
You do know that pressing down harder doesn't yelled different results than just pressing down normally.
So yeah it seems like you're breaking them. If the common denominator is you and how your treat a breakable object that consists of several tiny working parts.
Pro-tip: buy limited edition controllers and try to preserve the quality. They will usually resell much better than standard controllers, sometimes for more than you purchased.
It depends on the types of games you play. I play a good amount of EA Hockey and it means one new controller a year for me. A lot of hard movement on the left stick from one side to the other and a lot of stick clicking means stick drift after 6-8 months.
I've had my XSX since 2022; currently on my second controller.
I got my Series X in April 2021 and only as of October 2023 did I get a new controller. I’ll admit that I had been using one of the “limited edition” controllers for a couple of months in early 2023, but that’s still the original controller being used most of the time.
Two and a half years is a terrible lifespan for a controller...
Yeah people should expect a generation out of a controller
Indeed, and apparently, the truth hurts XD Lol
Get a gamesir g7 se.
Can't be used wirelessly, unfortunately
Yeah
I have one and it's amazing untill you drop it once and you can't use zero deadzone no more.
Ouch. They are pretty amazing if you can handle wired.
I can handle wired but I still prefer wireless and I'm looking at getting the ROG Raikiri Pro.
Who doesn't prefer wireless? Anyway the controller is great at a good price and comes with a month ultimate gamepass and is on sale on amazon quite frequently. Been gaming for 40 yrs and had MANY controllers.
Theo one thing wired have an advantage on is that you don't need to charge them.
This is a plus. They do get quite grubby i have to baby wipe mine once a week. And the slightly different menu button placement can take a while to adjust to.
Yeah because my controller is white it's a pain to clean but the sticks are impossible, mine where a light gray and now they're dark and I can't clean them.
I've had every xbox since 2001, never had an issue with controllers.
Since the NES in the 80s, I have never had an issue with any controller until the "elite" controllers came around. I will *almost* never recommend one to anybody unless specific criteria are met. (Sans N64 controller sticks wearing out overtime, of course, but that's not the same thing)
By current technology, yes. Controller problem I encountered: dead button, stick drift, and trigger malfunction. When I got my Xbox One, the controller was broken, A button is dead, within two months, then I got a free replacement. Most controller buttons ensemble the membrane keyboard, and the rubber dome and underlying layers will fail rather quickly. The joystick and trigger are very much like to carbon film potentiometer, and the inner carbon film will fail after certain amout of friction, too. New technology called Hall effect joystick and trigger has been implemented in many third party controllers. They use Hall effect sensors for input. Basically, that's magnetic field. These components have no friction, so in theory it will never fail. However, the vibration motors also have magnets and will disturb these sensors, making them inaccurate. Full electromagnetic shield is nearly impossible on controller due to limited space. Mechanical buttons, on the other hand, are rather simple to implement and will be more durable than membrane buttons. But it will also fail in the long run, and the pressing feedback is not constant. If you have ever used mechanical keyboard, you know what I mean.
I have been using Razer controller for a while now. I like that they are wired and have been very durable. I log a minimum of 40 hours a week playing games and it has been the only experience with a controller that can keep up with the amount of play. I've had two Razor Ultimate Wolverine controllers, they both lasted two years each, but had a face button, not the thumb sticks go out. I was able to mitigate it with the programmable buttons. My most recent is a Version 2 and it has been a good experience. It's lasted the lifetime of my Day One Series X with no issues so far.
I’ve owned an Xbox since the 360, of the 15 controllers or so I’ve only had 1 with stick drift and that’s partly because of the way I packed it in my suitcase. All of the others lasted until I didn’t need them anymore (several years each).
Yes they are, look into the Gamesir G7 SE and avoid the trash ones Microsoft makes.
I’ve had my Series X since its release. Still have the original controller. Works great. It probably helps that have a few others.
It's you, dude. I've never had issues with a controller since I started during the SNES gen
The type of games you play and the amount definitely affect it.
Same here. Still rocking day 1 xsx controller and a 2020 design lab controller. My kids had a series s in 2021 and are on the controller that came with it and a 2015 xbox one controller.
Yeah I do not get it. Take care of it, keep it clean, never issues right? I keep mine in a ziplock baggie when not in use, keeps all dirt off. Never had to replace any controller 360, One, One X and SX
>I keep mine in a ziplock baggie when not in use, keeps all dirt off Wtf? That is definitely a step too far dude.
If you knew this is all you had to do to make a controller last 4+ years, IT IS not a step to far dude, not even close! God it takes so much debilitating work to open a baggie, and put your controller in it..........
Yeah dude... I have xbox one controllers from 2013, no issues, no zip lock bag. Same with my day 1 series x controller. I'd wager the zip lock bag does the sum total of fuck all. That's just weird. Correlation does not equal causation, just because your controller in a zip lock bag is fine does not mean that is the reason it is fine. Many thousands and. Thousands of controllers not in bags doing OK dude.
I think I usually go through 4-5 Xbox controllers per generation since the 360. The most common is by far is stick drift, though I've had an iffy d-pad with the One and am inconsistent A button on a Series controller. I also had a brand new Series X controller that had stick drift baked in pretty much right out of the box. It was very minor, but it definitely didn't reset to neutral zero from a certain direction. I'll normally still use one with notable stick drift for a few months, but once it starts negatively affecting gameplay and I can't just increase deadzone to ignore it, then it's time to change One guy I know snapped the right bumper out of his One controllers 2-3 times. No idea how that happened, buuuut. Your milage varies with how you play and how much you play. As someone who usually puts in an hour or two daily at a minimum, mine normally last 1.5-2 years each. That's why I'll never buy an elite since I feel like it'll inevitably crap out like the rest of them FWIW, all of the guys I've been playing with for 10+ years all go through at least two or three controllers per generation, too. Or they start having various issues and just don't bother swapping them out until they get really bad
Out of my 5 controllers in several years only one has slight issues with RB. Never had any stick problems
I've had a elite controller since 2020 and just recently started having an issue with it
I've had better luck with joysticks lately, but my left bumper keeps breaking because one game I play the most uses it heavily. Thankfully, bumpers are easy to replace.
I don't know how far back with Xbox you go, 360 controller was more durable, I bought 3 for it in 2006, and all 4 still work. Xbox One Gen worse, I've probably bought 5 controllers since 2014. But 2 in a few months, that's probably on you.
I've had the one that came with my Series S for over 2 years and it's been going great
My original XSX controller broke after 5 months. Microsoft replaced it and I have had no problems for the last 3 years. Luck of the draw
My day 1 series S controller is still there, fighting for his life. My old Elite v1 still resists, sticks are peeled off mostly but it's not that bad. My Xbox One controllers in the other hand were a disaster, I had like six, they just broke or stopped working
I'm still regularly using my original Xbox One controller (i got it in 2015)... no issues with it yet
I love those old Xbone controllers, and they've treated me very well. Xss/x controllers and "elite" controllers, on the other hand, are shoddy by comparison (in combination of my own, my bro's, and 2 friends combined experiences).
The only one of my controllers to break was when a friend stayed with me for a while and he was way too rough with it. The rest have been fine. Xbox, playstation, nintendo. All good.
I'm on my second Xbox controller now. First one the right bumper broke playing street fighter (lost it's "spring" so something must have snapped). Second controller works although suddenly has a squeaky right trigger which is annoying. Must say, controllers are better than those on PS4 which I constantly went through due to stick drift.
I wouldn't call them consumables since they carried over from 8th to 9th gen, but what I will say - I never had stick drift/excessive wear as a kid on my 360 controllers, and I waa anything but gentle with them. Now as an adult I take better care of my stuff but even then, I've had 2 Xbox controllers' thumb sticks crap out on me (One was a design lab Xbox One controller, the other a normal Series)
Yes they are. Every controller should come with a 1 year warranty and the fact that the warranty is not 90 days should tell you the lack of confidence these companies have in their products (I have purchased things for less than $50 that came with lifetime warranty). These things are meant to be replaced and companies want you to keep purchasing them. It's called planned obsolescence. Everyone saying they haven't had any issue with controllers is missing the point. Their anecdotal experience does not amount to real data and given the number of tutorials and guides out there for repairing broken controllers we have a pretty good indication of the unacceptable failure rate of these controllers. My advice is to buy a quality 3rd party controller and just leave this BS behind. Gamesir has a few good ones that will last you years.
I've never had the stock controller go bad on any system. The elite series 2 controller is a different story.
People need to stop thinking in terms of "this piece of shit only lasted 3 months..." and think in USE HOURS and what you play. My controllers last for years. Why? Because 10 hours of gaming in a week is about average for me and I only like single player Narrative RPGs and story-centric games. If you have no other life and are putting 10 hours A DAY in frantic multiplayer games, your plastic input device is gonna last a few months. How many average use hours do console makers shoot for? That's what we need to think about. 10 hours a day (and I KNOW some of you average that) in three months is 3000 use hours. Tell me I'm exaggerating? Okay, 5 hours a day hits that milestone in 6 months. 2.5 hours a day is under 15 hours a week and hits 3000 hours of use time in a year. 15 hours a week is slim for most of the people whining about controllers. A plastic handheld tool full of plastic moving parts that gets used HARD and that lasts 3000 use hours is pretty good for $70.
My controller that came with the console went to shit after 4 months so I said fuck all that and got a Hall effect controller and it’s been running real smooth
Og Xbox one Controllers are tanks, series controllers are trash
Correct
Couldn't eat a whole one
One or two of mine have had stick drift, but with them being compatible from Xbox One to Series, they are not ‘consumables’ as they are expected to last a significant time.
You get a lot of different stories when it comes to Xbox controllers. Some people swear they are cheap and break super easily, but I've never had that problem. I game for several hours each day across a wide variety of games and I can go a year or longer with no controller issues. I use two different controllers depending if I'm in a party or not, so that may be a contributing factor to the seemingly increased longevity for me.
I used to collect controllers. I had around a dozen that were never even used. A few months ago I experienced stick drift for the first time and decided to check my unused controllers as well. To my surprise 9 out of 13 controllers I tested had stick drift. You don't normally notice it because games use dead zones to account for it. But once you check with games where there is none or you can remove it, boy was I in for a bad surprise. Haven't bought a single controller since. The only ones that didn't have stick drift were ones I bought early on in the Xbox One launch window. Like the Titanfall controller. And you can literally feel the quality degredation that happened over that last decade. The Titanfall controller is a sturdy brick that feels like you can drop it and nothing happens. A Cyberpunk controller on the other hand squeeches if you press it slightly. It also feels like way thinner plastic and has sharper corners (probably because less material means no way to round off edges). Out of current controllers the only ones worth anything are transparent ones. Those still have an adequate material thickness.
Wash your damn hands. Simple as that.
The amount of people that don’t do this is alarming. I have a 20th anniversary controller that I use daily. It has easily 600+ hours into it, zero issues.
Still got a Duke from childhood, works fine as the day it was bought.
Man I miss my duke. I traded my buddy my controller S for his duke, he thought I was nuts.
I only started getting a slight drift with my XSX controller, but I’ve had it for close to 5 years
... but the XSX is now a bit over 3.5 years old. (Nov. 2020 - June 2024) Your stick started drifting in three and a half years, my dude, not almost five. Unless it's a controller you have had for longer than you've had that console, that is.
Oh felt like 5 years. But either way, yeah, only started drifting recently.
That is still a pretty abysmal lifespan for a controller.
Man they last like 18-24 months at best. This is why I tend to not buy special editions or anything with crazy price as you will get exactly the same fate. I actually think the best way to extend the lifetime of your controller is having two: one for weekdays and the other for weekends or something like that. You could probably extend the lifespan much longer like that
The Series controller that came with it started having serious stick drift after about a year or so. Got an Elite and no issues for 2+ years now. Let's hope it stays that way. Controllers should last the console generation, but with the added complexity of them, it seems they break a bit easier compared to previous generations.
I mean how do you treat your controllers? Do you frequently dropped them? Do you button mash the fuck out of them? Do you throw them around like they're invincible then act dhock when they start to break? Some controllers tend to last longer than other because of these factors. Sometimes they can last you forever, sometimes years, some times months.
You do know that pressing down harder doesn't yelled different results than just pressing down normally. So yeah it seems like you're breaking them. If the common denominator is you and how your treat a breakable object that consists of several tiny working parts.
Yield not yelled. But thanks for your answer.
Pro-tip: buy limited edition controllers and try to preserve the quality. They will usually resell much better than standard controllers, sometimes for more than you purchased.
Please don't promote consumer whore-ism
What do you mean? I don’t bulk purchase - I only purchase 1-2 which I use and resell after ~5 years.