AceGamer Wireless Controller Pro

Hardware Type: Controller

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Review:

(Note: This product was received at no cost for review via the Amazon Vine program.)

My search for quality inexpensive controllers has led me to yet another budget controller, the AceGamer Wireless Controller Pro. Available on its own for $24, or in a 2-pack for $38, this seems promising for a budget-focused gamer… but is it?

Like many of the Pro-style controllers released for Nintendo Switch, the AceGamer Wireless Controller Pro replicates the general size, shape, and layout of Nintendo’s own Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, with asymmetrical analog sticks with a concave top, along with standard face buttons and D-Pad in the usual places. The backside of the grips are very lightly textured. The grips are extended in a way that I find surprisingly comfortable, but this is countered by the overall build of the controller, which feels cheap.

Both the D-Pad and face buttons are more on the “squishy” side of the “squishy/clicky” spectrum, and don’t feel very responsive. Even worse, there appeared to be a bit of an input lag when I pressed the buttons, which messed me up as I was playing. Meanwhile, the secondary face buttons are all present and in their usual places, no problems here at least.

The analog sticks here are supposedly hall effect sticks, and while I didn’t have any issue with them, apparently other users have reported getting drift, which shouldn’t happen with hall effect sticks. Other users reported connectivity issues, another problem I didn’t have, but still it’s worrisome that so many are having problems with this thing.

Moving on to the rest of the standard features, on the top of the controller, we have a pair of squishy L and R bumper buttons, which is far from ideal for this sort of button. There’s also a pair of digital ZL and ZR triggers. While this is ideal for use on Nintendo Switch, which cannot recognize analog triggers, it does mean that this will be less useful on other platforms that make use of that feature, particularly in Racing games.

When it comes to the other standard features of Nintendo Switch controllers, this controller includes the ability to wirelessly wake the Nintendo Switch from sleep mode. The gyroscopic motion control works fine, too. It has rumble but it doesn’t appear to be HD Rumble or adjustable rumble. And while it has no Amiibo functionality, this is rare in third-party Nintendo Switch controllers so I don’t hold that against it.

Flipping the controller over to look at its underside, we have a pair of macro buttons on either side that can be set using the turbo button to assign each to a button or a sequence of commands, like a Street Fighter-style “hadouken”. In the middle, there’s a turbo button which, in addition to acting as a typical turbo button, also acts as a macro settings button, as I just mentioned… and then the macro settings button just turns the macro buttons on and off, I suppose? Very strange.

In addition to Nintendo Switch, the AceGamer Wireless Controller Pro works with PC, Android, and iOS. I wasn’t able to test this with iOS, but it worked just fine with Android. However, I couldn’t get the controller to work wired or wirelessly on PC. The instructions mention something about switching gears, but it’s really unclear, and there are no “gears” or “gear buttons” on the controller so I’m not sure what it means. I tried fiddling with it for a while but just couldn’t get it to work.

All things considered, the AceGamer Wireless Controller Pro is an absolute mess. I experienced input lag, other users reported other issues, the PC connectivity doesn’t appear to work, the buttons aren’t great, there are standard features that are missing, and other creative choices here that are mind-boggling. it all makes for a pretty underwhelming controller, and you have much better options, even in this low price range. Get something else instead.

tl;dr – The AceGamer Wireless Controller Pro is a low-end Pro-style Nintendo Switch controller that’s absolutely riddled with problems and design flaws. You absolutely shouldn’t waste money on this when you have much better alternatives in this price range.

Grade: D

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