The Xbox controller isn't a fantastic gamepad, but it's a reliable one – with one annoying exception. Microsoft needs to improve this as quickly as possible because the battery situation is simply no longer up to date.
A comment from Gregor Elsholz:
Advertisement
The Xbox Series X controller is like a sandwich of cheese, a pair of regular-fit jeans, or a glass of room temperature water. Solid. Reliable. He doesn't stand out, but… does his work quietly and quietly. He is a friend who never draws attention to himself at parties.
Microsoft's gamepad doesn't have the same next-gen features as the PS5 DualSense, but that's not a problem – what's driving me crazy is something else entirely. I don't need an adaptive trigger, a touchpad or haptic feedback. What I need, is a built-in batterythat works.
Xbox controller: battery pack is a joke
Microsoft offers its normal controllers with conventional AA batteries. If you want a rechargeable battery, must order the Play & Charge Kit separately – but unfortunately it doesn’t work as it should for me. Sometimes the battery pack is fully charged after a short time, sometimes 8 hours is not enough to get through the next 5 minutes.
Of course, it could simply be a faulty product for me – but a quick look online at least tells me that I'm not completely alone with the charging problem. There is also a lot of confusion about which battery pack is actually best – Microsoft's or one of what feels like a hundred third-party companies.
Advertisement
In our video we show you the most important Xbox accessories:
Microsoft should take PS5 & Switch as an example
The controller battery pack creates a lot of stress for absolutely no added value. Instead, the question of price is why I have to pay 23 euros for a gadgetwhich firstly does not work properly and secondly is not sold separately even by the competition.
Even Sony and Nintendo are not so bold and sell their controllers without batteries – and these are two companies that offer their fans in the form of remakes and remastered versions the same game every year at a high full price want to turn on.
The Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller has an internal battery – but costs significantly more:
Xbox: Batteries are no longer up to date
Of course there are alternatives to the battery packs for the Xbox controller – but both are suboptimal. Normal batteries should are no longer up for debate for environmental reasons alone and ordinary batteries force me to force bulky plastic monstrosities into my socket to charge.
The solution to this problem would be so simple and so obviousthat Microsoft's position paints a pretty bad picture – like a moldy cheese sandwich, a pair of sweatpants with buttons down the side, or a jar of room temperature battery acid.
There are also things that Microsoft does better than Sony – we'll show you them in our photo series: