Trailers of the week: Sonic 3, Napoleon, and Agatha All Along
This week brought a few noteworthy movie and TV trailers — the big one being Sonic the Hedgehog 3. And while I won’t include them here, you should check out some of the trailers included with our coverage of the most recent Nintendo Direct (shoutout to the Nintendo DS Castlevania games collection).
It’s clear that summer is winding down, and so are the big blockbusters. Things will liven up a bit with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice next week, but things are looking quiet for a little bit after that.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 finally brings Sonic’s big nemesis, Shadow, into the mix, played by Keanu Reeves. The trailer only gave a bit of Reeves’ voice but makes up for it with lots of Jim Carrey’s disheveled and depressed Dr. Robotnik and Gerald Robotnik (also played by Carrey). The movie hits theaters on December 25th.
Agatha All Along
Marvel’s Agatha All Along, the Disney Plus series that follows Kathryn Hahn’s WandaVision villain, will begin streaming soon on September 18th. While the show is looking like it’ll have plenty of comedy, this week’s trailer makes it clear there will be plenty of drama, too.
A new Wallace & Gromit movie means more stop-motion animation, which is something I’ll never get tired of. In this movie, which will hit Netflix in the US this winter, Wallace invents a smart home device (which is a garden gnome) named Norbot. Things go awry when Norbot is surreptitiously controlled by Feathers McGraw, a villain in the Wallace & Gromit world.
Apple released a director’s cut of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon this week on Apple TV Plus. With 48 minutes of extra footage, it sounds like there’s plenty more to watch if you don’t plan on spending Labor Day weekend standing by a barbecue grill.
With AI food recognition Samsung Food could be the ultimate meal-planning app
Samsung Food Plus can create tailored meal plans based on your nutritional needs and the food in your fridge and pantry. | Image: Samsung
New features on Samsung’s AI-powered food and recipe app could make your meal planning and food management chores much easier. With Samsung Food, you can now add items to a Food List just by taking a picture. The app can then suggest recipes based on the food you have, automatically remove them when you cook a recipe using anything on the list, then add food items back to the list when you tick them off your shopping list.
The Food List was previously only accessible via the SmartThings app and the built-in tablet on Samsung’s Family Hub smart fridges, limiting its usefulness. Now, as part of the cross-platform Samsung Food app, it could turn the service into a really useful all-in-one shopping, food management, meal planning, and cooking app.
But it will cost you. These new features are part of Samsung Food Plus, a paid tier of the free food management app. The service is $6.99 a month ($59.99 a year) and, in addition to the Food List feature, removes ads from the app, offers a tailored seven-day meal plan, allows users to personalize recipes using AI, and tracks nutrition goals. The app works on both iOS and Android and on the web, it requires a Samsung Account.
I tested Samsung Food last year, and while I liked how easy it was to import recipes from anywhere and how it tailored a meal plan for me every week, adding items to the food list and the fact that the meal plan didn’t suggest recipes based on the list were frustrating. With this update, both of those complaints have been addressed.
Image: Samsung
With Samsung Food Plus you can take a picture of ingredients you have to add them to your food list.
Samsung says the service now creates meal plans based on your food list and prioritizes items “nearing use-by date” (this has to be set manually). Plus, a new “Search with Your Food List” feature lets you easily find a recipe based on what you have. All this should make meal planning and shopping much easier, as long as you’re willing to do it all in Samsung’s app.
The headline feature of the new updates is Vision AI. This leverages your phone’s camera to identify items to add to your Food List. Just snap a picture of whatever is in your pantry or fridge, and the ingredients will be added to the list.
Vision AI is also in the latest Family Hub fridge, where its in-unit AI-powered cameras can automatically add certain foods to the Food List. However, Samsung says the app version can identify over 40,000 types of ingredients using your smartphone’s camera, compared to just 33 the fridge can spot. This is because the fridge processes the images locally, whereas the app can leverage cloud processing.
Samsung Food also features AI-guided cooking steps that integrate with compatible Samsung ovens to preheat, set timers, and adjust the temperature according to the recipe you’re cooking — right from the app.
Image: Samsung
While you don’t need Samsung appliances to use the Samsung Food app, it does integrate with appliances, including the Family Hub smart fridge and Samsung’s connected ovens.
Samsung Food debuted at IFA 2023 last year, and these new features are being announced ahead of the tech show in Berlin next week (think Europe’s version of CES). These new food management features help complete the app’s focus on being an ultimate meal planning tool, allowing you to collate recipes from anywhere, more easily input the food in your fridge and pantry, and then plan meals based on what you have on hand.
In addition to making adding food items to the list easier, several new automated features should simplify maintaining that list. Once you’ve cooked something, the app can automatically remove it from the food list and add it to the shopping list in the Samsung Food app. When you shop using the list, the app can automatically add items purchased to your food list — organizational nirvana!
The benefit of a food list that knows what’s in your fridge and pantry and can keep that knowledge up to date is a more tailored meal plan that uses items you have. This can help cut down on food waste and grocery bills. While $7 a month is expensive, it could save you that much on monthly grocery bills if it works as advertised.
Samsung Food Plus is rolling out now, and in addition to the features mentioned above, it includes a full week of tailored meal plans with recipes based on your nutritional needs, chosen diets, and previous recipe preferences. The free version offers three days of recommendations.
How Star Wars walked away from the world’s first self-retracting lightsaber toy
Goliath’s Power Saber, in red and green. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
It would have been a Star Wars product — but Hasbro whiffed.
Hasbro turned down the holy grail of lightsaber toys, and it won’t say why.
The Star Wars toymaker spent two years secretly working on a kids lightsaber that can automatically extend and retract its blade — the very first of its kind. Hasbro acquired all rights to the idea from a previously unknown Israeli inventor and patented it around the world.
But instead of finishing the product, Hasbro walked away without explanation. It let the inventor claw back the rights. Today, with the help of a different manufacturer, you can finally buy it at Target and Walmart — as the Goliath Power Saber.
The $60 toy doesn’t have official Star Wars sounds or authentic Jedi or Sith hilts. The blade isn’t as long as the movie sabers, and it doesn’t have the build quality or sophistication of pricier props.
But a simple yet ingenious mechanism means we finally have a lightsaber toy that can actually retract its own blade. Slide the golden switch, and a noisy motor sends each of its glowing blade segments smoothly in and out of the handle. Poke someone with the saber, and its blade will safely collapse without damage. You can even safely point it at your own face — see that in my video below.
Yair Shilo tells The Verge it took five years just to figure out the right formula for a safely collapsing automatic blade, starting with prototypes made of paper and tin foil. He says he sold newspapers, trimmed lawns, and cleaned swimming pools while he worked on his Star Wars childhood dream, eventually rallying a cousin and an investment group behind a provisional patent in 2019.
Fundamentally, the new Power Saber isn’t that complicated inside. Just like the kiddie saber I proudly carried to the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I in 1999, the blade consists of telescoping tubes that stick together when fully extended. With those kiddie sabers, you flick your arm to propel the whole set of tubes; with the Power Saber, each segment is pushed upward and pulled downward by a long screw.
Image: USPTO
The screw raises each segment in turn. The actual product functions almost identically to these patent images — I opened one up to check.
But that’s not the clever part. The simple genius of Shilo’s patent is that each blade segment isn’t married to that screw, so you can safely collapse them without sticking a screw into your hand. As the saber extends, each segment lifts up off the screw, carried into the air by the segment behind it. Once the tip of the saber extends far enough, it pulls the next blade segment up into the air, and the next, and the next, until they’re all fully extended, held together by friction alone.
And, each blade segment has flexible tabs where they meet the smooth screw, letting them slip down their track when you apply pressure. Even if you roughly shove the whole blade back into its casing — which I’ve done plenty of times in tests — it doesn’t hurt or damage the internal mechanism, claims Shilo.
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
The screw is clearly visible through the transparent lightsaber shell — if you look down.
That’s something its inventor says other designs never cracked. “99 percent of them, something needs to push the smallest segment from inside,” he says. “With this mechanism, nothing pushes it.” Hasbro tried for years, says Nextoy founder Robert Fuhrer, and it did create spring-loaded auto-extending blades, but there were always potential safety issues when auto-retracting a toy lightsaber’s blade. Shilo ran into some of them himself with an earlier model that relied on traditional gears.
But Shilo didn’t just want to build an auto-retractable blade; he wanted to build an official Star Wars lightsaber with Hasbro, the company with Disney’s exclusive blessing to mass-produce genuine Star Wars toys. “He was asking around the toy industry if anybody was tied up with Hasbro and knew them well,” recalls Fuhrer, who successfully connected him to the company and remains his agent today.
In 2020, Shilo shipped Hasbro a wooden wine box containing a white plastic prototype with a red motorized blade. He says Hasbro was more than happy — they told him he’d finally cracked the code. They told him it’d be the “biggest toy ever.”
Two years later, it fell apart.
“They say to us, hey bye bye, we’re not going to do it, we have a problem inside, we have a lot of things going on, you need to go,” says Shilo.
No one’s willing to tell The Verge what actually happened. Shilo, Fuhrer, even Power Saber manufacturer Goliath all suggest they want to maintain a positive relationship with Hasbro instead of speaking out of turn.
Hasbro won’t say, either. “We greatly value our partnerships with inventors who bring us their ideas for toys and games. For a variety of reasons, we were unable to move forward with this particular concept,” reads a statement from Hasbro senior publicity manager Whitney Spencer to The Verge.
Fuhrer strongly suggested I speak to Angus Walker, Hasbro’s head of inventor relations, but the company declined to make him available for an interview.
It makes me wonder: could there still be some fundamental issue with the design? (I did note that sometimes the saber’s tip falls in after a handful of whacks.) But Fuhrer says no, Hasbro didn’t cite any specific concerns. “There was no hard reason,” he says. “There was nothing like ‘there’s a safety issue’ or a cost issue or anything like that.”
He also downplays the possibility that Hasbro might sue over the patent. “I don’t think there’s any feeling of animosity,” says Fuhrer.
He speculates that Hasbro was just under a lot of pressure at the time. Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner had just died; it was the early pandemic; some projects fell by the wayside. Cost might have been a factor, too: he says Target and Walmart were pressuring toy companies to keep the price under $50. And, he says, an early prototype did fail one of Hasbro’s very early safety tests.
But he points to Goliath’s successfully shipping $60 saber at Target and Walmart as proof that neither cost nor safety were sticking points — and says Hasbro is going to regret missing out because the Power Saber will cannibalize their toy sales.
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
We were able to figure out why Hasbro would give the idea back to Shilo and his investors: Hasbro was contractually obligated to return the rights if it didn’t move forward, Fuhrer confirms. So they found a new partner in Goliath instead, a company previously mostly known for its board games, and the “Power Saber” was born.
I would’ve been blown away by this toy as a kid, but I wouldn’t have been completely satisfied by its knockoff feeling — and I gather Shilo might feel the same way. Earlier in our conversation, he’d spoken about the Star Wars lightsaber almost religiously, about how it’s “the only weapon that brings light to the world,” how he always wanted to be a Jedi, and how building a lightsaber was a childhood dream. How important is that official Star Wars part to him now, I ask?
He says that like the Force, he believes his lightsaber will eventually find his way to Star Wars. He says it’s meant to be.
The best wireless earbuds to buy right now
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge
The best from Apple, Bose, Samsung, Sony, Beats, Google, and more.
It’s hard to buy a bad pair of wireless earbuds these days, and with constant discounts and deals wherever you look, now is as good of a time as any to splurge on the pair you’ve been eyeing. The market has come a long way since the early era of true wireless earbuds when we had to deal with mediocre sound quality and unreliable performance, all for the sake of ditching cables. Things are much different now. After several product generations of learned lessons, companies like Sony, Apple, Samsung, and others are releasing their most impressive earbuds to date.
You can get phenomenal noise cancellation and sound quality in the premium tier of earbuds if you’re willing to spend big. But those aren’t always the most important criteria for everyone: maybe you’re looking for the perfect fitness earbuds or for a set that works just as well for Zoom calls as for playing your favorite playlists and podcasts.
Tech companies are increasingly making their earbuds work best with their own products through exclusive features and functionality, so that’s another thing to consider as you shop around. If you want a perk like head-tracking spatial audio, you’ll need to use AirPods with an iPhone, Samsung buds with a Samsung phone, and so on.
Just like their predecessors, Sony’s new WF-1000XM5 earbuds have again topped our recommendations for the overall best noise-canceling earbuds. Thanks to their larger drivers, the audio quality is more detailed and dynamic than before while still retaining the warmth and clarity that made the 1000XM4 so enjoyable. Sony has also further improved its ANC and is nearing the same territory as Bose’s QC Earbuds II. These earbuds do a terrific job of eliminating background noise. Battery life can stretch to eight hours of continuous listening with noise cancellation turned on.
Some people found the WF-1000XM4 to be bulky and uncomfortable, so this time around, Sony has managed to shrink the 1000XM5 by 25 percent. Like before, the company includes foam-style tips that expand in your ears to create an excellent seal — and now there’s a fourth (extra small) set of tips in the box.
The WF-1000XM5 are smaller and more comfortable than their M4 predecessors.
On Android phones, the 1000XM5 support Sony’s LDAC codec for higher-quality music playback. And they’re capable of dynamic head tracking spatial audio through supported video apps like Netflix. But even if you’re not using LDAC (or have an iPhone), these are up there with the very best audio-focused premium earbuds like Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 4 — with substantially better noise cancellation to boot. They’re also capable of multipoint Bluetooth, so you can pair with two devices at the same time.
It’s worth noting that there were many reports of battery issues with the 1000XM4 over time as those earbuds aged, but Sony claims to have rectified that problem with the new model by tweaking the charging algorithm.
When looking at Nothing’s Ear (a) earbuds, it’s easy to focus all your attention on the catchy yellow color or their fun, super compact carrying case. But at their $99.99 price, the company’s entry-level earbuds provide a ton of features, including active noise cancellation, a low-latency mode for gaming, multipoint Bluetooth pairing, and a decent IP54 dust and water resistance rating.
The Ear (a) are Nothing’s first earbuds that aren’t only offered black or white.
And the sound quality you get outperforms my usual expectations for this price point. They’re not quite on par with Nothing’s higher-end Ears, but you do get expressive, very enjoyable audio — and you can customize the EQ further in Nothing’s mobile app.
Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are the most powerful noise-canceling earbuds on the market. Of all our top picks, they do the best job at offering peace and quiet from the cacophony of daily life and putting you in a private bubble with your music playlists or favorite podcasts.
Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds offer the best noise cancellation you’ll find from any wireless buds.
The QC Ultra Earbuds are extremely similar to 2022’s QC Earbuds II in terms of design, fit, and sound. Audio quality is rich and dynamic, delivering more bass thump than, say, Apple’s AirPods Pro. And by switching to a two-piece ear tip / stabilizer fitting process, Bose’s latest flagship buds should fit a wider range of ears more comfortably. The Ultras also introduce a new Immersive Audio mode, which is Bose’s take on spatial audio.
The long-reigning champ of fitness earbuds, the Powerbeats Pro, have finally been defeated. And fittingly, they’ve been outdone by Beats’ most recent pair of gym-friendly earbuds. The Beats Fit Pro trade the ear hooks of the Powerbeats for a wing tip design that keeps them securely locked in your ears during even the most vigorous workouts. As a result, these earbuds have a much smaller form factor — and their carrying case is mercifully far more manageable. The way these earbuds magnetically latch into the case also means you don’t have to worry about one or both buds failing to charge in the case, which was a common annoyance with the Powerbeats Pro.
Unlike the Powerbeats Pro, the Fit Pros include active noise cancellation. And they’re on par with the previous AirPods Pro in that department, so you’ll be able to exercise without distraction. When you do want to stay alert to your surroundings, the transparency mode is also as natural-sounding and clear as on the AirPod Pros.
The Beats Fit Pro are the best earbuds for running and working out.
The earbuds are rated IPX4 for water resistance. While that’s not as robust as some other fitness-focused buds, it should be sufficient to survive sweat and outdoor runs in various conditions. The Fit Pros have easy-to-use physical button controls, and although they lack the dedicated volume rocker of the Powerbeats Pro, you’ve got the option to remap a long-press of each earbud to adjust volume instead of toggling noise cancellation.
If you’re an iPhone owner, the Fit Pros offer Apple-only features like dynamic head tracking for spatial audio, auto device switching, Find My integration, and more. For Android users, Beats has an app that will let you adjust settings and see the battery status of the earbuds and case, among other functions.
For those invested in Apple’s ecosystem, the second-gen AirPods Pro bring an appealing mix of top-notch noise cancellation and refined sound compared to the original pair. As always, they also include numerous features (spatial audio, audio sharing, automatic syncing across iCloud devices, etc.) that make them an ideal companion to the company’s other devices. They’re also the only AirPods that come with different sizes of ear tips for a customizable fit — including an extra small option.
The second-gen AirPods Pro remain the best choice for people who own Apple devices.
The AirPods Pro have a compact case that supports wireless charging. Setting them up is as simple as holding the open case near your iPhone. The earbuds are lightweight and fit snugly in most ears. Their force sensor pinch controls are easy to get down, and with the second-gen model, Apple added swipe-based volume controls. The AirPods Pro have traditionally ranked among the best wireless earbuds when it comes to voice call quality, and the second-gen earbuds don’t disappoint. Their ANC is improved over the original model and is now right up there with Sony, and their transparency mode has gained the ability to quickly damper sudden, loud noises that might happen around you.
Where the AirPods stand out is with their Apple-only features like head tracking for spatial audio, automatic device switching, extensive Find My support, and so on. The charging case now features a built-in speaker and a U1 chip for pinpoint location tracking, and the latest AirPods Pro have better sound and noise canceling capabilities than the original model. Plus, they retain their deep integration with Apple’s hardware ecosystem.
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro sound terrific, and that’s before you take advantage of the optional 24-bit audio support. Compared to the first Pros, these have a smaller, lighter design that doesn’t protrude from your ears, and the audio quality is second only to the Sennheisers among our favorite earbud picks.
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have fantastic sound quality and a very comfortable fit.
Like the AirPods Pro with Apple devices, the Buds 2 Pro offer Samsung-only tricks like head tracking for spatial audio, auto device switching between Samsung devices, and so on. The compact charging case supports wireless charging, and the Buds 2 Pro have a worry-free IPX7 rating against water and sweat, making them even more durable than the AirPods.
During its latest Unpacked event in July, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which feature adaptive noise cancellation, an AirPods-like design with pinch gestures, and several other iterative updates. Samsung temporarily stopped shipping the earbuds as a result of quality control issues with the ear tips; however, they’ve since resumed shipping, so stay tuned for our full review.
Google finally nailed wireless earbuds with the Pixel Buds Pro. Thanks to their impressive noise cancellation, good sound quality, and comfortable fit, they greatly improve upon the flawed second-generation Pixel Buds. Most important of all, they don’t exhibit any of the connectivity issues and audio dropouts that plagued Google’s earlier buds.
Instead, the Pixel Buds Pro deliver a consistently great listening experience with lengthy battery life to go along with it. They also include multipoint Bluetooth support, so you can pair Google’s flagship earbuds with two devices at the same time. It’s a hugely convenient feature that Apple, Bose, Samsung, and Sony still haven’t widely adopted with their respective earbuds.
If you’ve got a Google phone, the Pixel Buds Pro are a great choice.
Pixel phone owners get bonuses like easier settings (the Pixel Buds controls are built right into the native phone settings), and thanks to a software update, the earbuds now support head tracking spatial audio. That’s a nice option to have for enhanced immersion when watching movies and other entertainment.
These days, the Pixel Buds Pro can often be found for as little as $140, but it’s worth pointing out that Google recently announced the $229 Pixel Buds Pro 2. We’ll have our full review before they launch on September 26th, but based on what we’ve seen, Google’s latest buds look like a welcome update of the original. They feature a lighter design (with wing fins), a new Tensor A1 chip, and noise cancellation that’s supposedly twice as powerful as the first-gen pair.
Beats’ Studio Buds Plus are an upgraded, better-performing revision of the Studio Buds released in 2021. This time the company has made the noise cancellation more powerful while also improving the quality of the transparency mode and extending battery life. If you’re going for style points, it doesn’t get much cooler than the translucent color option. These earbuds are very tiny and rank up with the best in terms of overall comfort.
The translucent color option has a very ‘90s vibe.
What’s interesting about the Studio Buds Plus is that they use a proprietary chip that allows them to support native software features on both iOS and Android. Plenty of earbuds offer companion apps on each platform, but in the case of the Beats, they work with both Apple’s Find My and Google’s Find My Device. You also get simple one-tap pairing no matter which OS you’re using.
The drawback to this dual-ecosystem life is that Apple customers don’t get all the usual bells and whistles that come with AirPods or even the Beats Fit Pro; you lose out on audio sharing, head tracking spatial audio, and other tricks. Wireless charging and an ear detection sensor (for auto-pause when a bud is removed) are also MIA, which stings a bit considering the price.
Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless earbuds have always sounded fantastic; that’s never been the issue. But previous models in the series have been tainted a bit by bugs, unsteady performance, and battery reliability problems. The fourth-gen pair finally gets that part right while continuing to offer tremendous, detailed sound quality that stands above nearly all competitors. They’re a joy to listen to. The active noise cancellation can’t compete with the likes of Apple, Sony, and Bose, but if you care more about lush, intricate sound, the MTW4 won’t disappoint in the slightest.
That copper finish is pretty nice.
These earbuds come with optional wing tips to help keep them securely locked in your ears. That could prove helpful for running or when hitting the gym. Sennheiser allows for plenty of EQ customization using its mobile app, and the Momentum True Wireless 4 support a range of Bluetooth codecs, including AAC, SBC, AptX, and AptX Adaptive. Sennheiser has also promised that they’re LE Audio and Auracast-ready for when those features become more widespread.
Apple’s third-generation AirPods have a new design with shorter stems than the original model. But even with their mics now being farther from your mouth, they still perform very well on calls — and there are bigger improvements to sound quality and fit / comfort that make upgrading to the so-called AirPods 3 worthwhile.
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Apple’s third-gen AirPods are the best earbuds for voice calls and sound much better than their predecessors.
Apple has also added new features that were previously exclusive to the AirPods Pro, like head tracking spatial audio and deeper Find My integration for hunting down your misplaced buds. And the case is now optimized to work with Apple’s MagSafe wireless charging system. The AirPods still have a one-size-fits-most hard plastic form factor, so you’ll want to try them before buying to make sure they’re the right match for your ears. But if they are, these are Apple’s best regular AirPods yet by a wide margin.
Sony’s unconventional-looking LinkBuds have a donut hole right in the middle of each earbud. This surprisingly comfortable design is meant to allow in outside noise and keep you aware of your surroundings at all times. But it also means that the LinkBuds won’t be for everyone — especially those people who prefer to drown out the world when listening to their music.
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Sony’s LinkBuds are the best earbuds for voice calls on Android.
But more than their quirky fit, the LinkBuds’ greatest strength is stellar performance on voice calls. Sony reworked its voice isolation algorithms for these earbuds, and as a result, the LinkBuds are several rungs above nearly all competitors, minus AirPods. If you’re looking for something you can pop into your ears throughout the workday, the LinkBuds don’t disappoint.
OpenAI Names Political Veteran Chris Lehane as Head of Global Policy The prominent A.I. start-up is also considering a change to its corporate structure to make it more appealing to outside investors.
The best Xbox controller to buy right now
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
From basic and affordable to premium and ultra-customizable, these are the best controllers we’ve tested for Xbox. And they work with PCs, too.
You may not realize it, but we’re living in a golden age of gaming controllers. The gamepads on the market now are higher quality, more versatile, and more customizable than anything from just a few console generations ago. If you’re gaming on an Xbox Series X or Series S (or a Windows PC), you now have a plethora of great third-party options from the likes of PowerA, Scuf, Nacon, and Turtle Beach, as well as high-quality first-party controllers. The days of the cheap “little sibling” controller that looked cool but barely worked are over.
I’ve spent a ton of time playing all kinds of games (first-person shooters, fighters, third-person action-adventure, racing, indie roguelikes, etc.) to test a wide swath of Xbox controllers, and it may be unsurprising that the standard Xbox Wireless Controller is the best Xbox controller for most. It makes a great PC controller, too.
But while the de facto Xbox gamepad strikes the right balance of quality, comfort, versatility, and price, there are several alternatives worth cross-shopping if you have specific needs — ranging from high-end options like the Xbox Elite Series 2 and Scuf Instinct Pro to quality budget picks like the PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller.
Okay, I already know what you’re thinking. “The best controller for Xbox is the one that comes with the Xbox?” That may seem like a no-brainer, but this “standard” controller truly does earn this title as the best option for most Xbox gamers. It may lack some of the extra features that we’ll go over on premium options, but this controller is the distillation of four generations and numerous first-party controllers before it — and it shows.
This is the only affordable wireless Xbox controller out there, thanks to Microsoft’s proprietary protocol. While some may hate that it comes with AA batteries instead of a built-in rechargeable cell, that also means it’s flexible, allowing for rechargeable AAs or a battery pack. It also works as a wired accessory with a USB-C cable, and user-replaceable batteries mean you’re not stuck with a controller that doesn’t hold its charge after years of use.
Attention to detail: Microsoft color-matches the light-up Xbox button to the controller.
But the standard-issue Xbox pad isn’t just great because of its connectivity. The hardware itself is excellent for the controller’s $60 asking price. The sticks, buttons, triggers, and the sunken dish-shaped D-pad all feel impeccably tight, with the latter having a satisfying clickiness to it. If you’re a hardcore fighting game fan, you may be better served by an arcade stick or a controller geared toward that genre — one with an impeccable D-pad like Hori’s Horipad Pro — but the Xbox Wireless Controller is an exceptional jack-of-all-trades.
The only things it really lacks compared to pricier options are extra, customizable buttons and software tuning for things like stick sensitivity, though Microsoft does offer cosmetic customization through its Xbox Design Lab, which ranges from $69.99 to $99.94 depending on the configuration. There’s a lot to love about these controllers, whether you make your own or pick out one from the various colors Microsoft continues to offer.
The best cheap Xbox controller
Connectivity:Wired /Connector type:Micro USB /Mappable rear buttons:Two /Software customization:No /Power:Wired
If you’re looking for a great controller but don’t have a lot of money to spend — and you don’t mind a cable — PowerA’s Enhanced Wired Controller offers an impeccable value without sacrificing too much. Its full retail price is $37.99, but some color schemes can dip as low as around $25. Speaking of colors, the Enhanced Wired Controller comes in a wide variety of hues and designs, including licensed ones from game franchises like Mass Effect and Fallout. Some of these designs may make you suspect these are cheap, cringe-inducing knockoffs, but the quality of the controller may surprise you when you use it.
If only this controller had USB-C instead of microUSB.
First off, let’s get its biggest downside out of the way: it uses a microUSB connection (gross, I know). You at least get a lengthy, detachable cable with it, but not having a reversible connector is annoying. Thankfully, nothing else about this controller feels so outdated. Its build quality is just fine, and it even has two mappable rear buttons built into the grips — which is great to have at such a low price.
The rest of the PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller is a whole lot of table stakes, but it executes everything quite well for a ridiculously affordable price. There’s no impulse trigger rumble, but if there’s any feature to cheap out on, I’d say that’s the right choice. On the flip side, the Enhanced Wired Controller comes with a two-year warranty, which is twice as long as pricey options like Microsoft’s Elite Series 2 offer.
PowerA offers a whole lot of bang for your buck with the Enhanced Wired Controller if you’re on a tight budget. It also sells the Advantage Wired Controller, which is essentially a newer version of the Enhanced Wired Controller with USB-C and hair-trigger lockouts. The Advantage could be a shoo-in to dethrone the Enhanced Wired as the best budget controller, but at $37.99, it can’t yet match the Enhanced Wired’s near-perpetually discounted price of around $25.
If you have Elite controller tastes but a standard controller budget, the PowerA Fusion Pro 3 is a fine alternative if you don’t mind that it’s wired. It looks a bit like the Microsoft Elite Series 2, complete with four rear buttons, trigger lockouts, and rubberized grips, but costs much less. The Fusion Pro 3 is significantly lighter than its predecessor, plus it has a more compact case and is $10 cheaper — offering quite the value for $79.99 (especially if it starts going on sale). The older Fusion Pro 2 is still fine, especially if you prefer detachable rear paddles to built-in buttons, but at this point, it’s only worth it for that preference or if it’s heavily discounted.
The best premium Xbox controller
Connectivity:Xbox wireless, Bluetooth, wired /Connector type:USB-C /Mappable rear buttons:Up to four /Software customization:Yes /Power:Built-in rechargeable
The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 is Microsoft’s fancied-up, premium version of the stock controller. It’s also older, having been released a year before the Xbox Series X / S consoles arrived. So while it does sport a USB-C port and wireless support, it lacks the convenient Share button found on the latest Xbox Wireless Controller. However, it makes up for that in droves with exceptional build quality, extra buttons, user-swappable sticks and D-pad, and lots of customization.
If you pick up an Xbox Elite controller, you instantly recognize the quality of materials put into it. Where the standard controller uses an unassuming plastic build, the Elite mixes higher-quality plastic with rubberized grips and bits of metal. Combine this with its built-in rechargeable battery, and the Elite is noticeably heavier than its cheaper brethren. It also comes with a charging dock and zip-up case with passthrough charging.
The four removable paddles on the rear sit beneath the trigger locks and charging dock pins.
As excellent as the fit and finish are, the key components that may give you a competitive edge are the hair-trigger locks and rear paddle buttons. In theory, the hair trigger gets shots off faster when playing shooters, and the rear paddles allow you to jump, crouch, reload, etc., without taking your thumb off the right stick for aiming. However, using that many buttons on the back of the controller definitely takes some adjustment. You have to train new muscle memory, and since it requires dexterity with more fingers, they’re not for everyone.
These premium features come at a steep cost, too. The Elite Series 2 is normally priced at $179.99, and even though it occasionally drops as low as $139.99, it’s still more than twice as expensive as a regular Xbox controller. You have to really want its extra features and user customization, and if you’re not using its rear paddles or the software adjustments for stick sensitivity, you’re not getting your money’s worth. (And if you want to customize the colors, you’re looking at $209.99 for the Design Lab “Elite Package.”)
Microsoft also has a stripped-down Elite Series 2 “Core” version with an MSRP of $129.99, which is the same controller in white-and-black, red-and-black, or blue-and-black finishes without the rear paddles, accessory charging case, or extra stick toppers and D-pad. You can get all of those in a $30 accessories pack, which turns the Elite Series 2 Core back into a standard Elite Series 2 and actually makes it a slightly better deal if the full package isn’t on sale.
You must also be aware that the Elite has a bit of a reputation for lackluster quality control, with horror stories from users about going through multiple replacements under warranty. Microsoft extended the controller’s warranty from 90 days to a year in late 2020 to help address concerns, but buying an Elite Series 2 may still feel like a slightly risky proposition. However, when you nail that perfect sequence — switching to your pistol and landing a headshot with a quick pop-pop of the hair trigger while your thumbs stay firmly planted on the sticks — it can feel worth it.
The Scuf Instinct Pro finds itself in a bit of a weird spot. It’s one of the only wireless options currently available from a third party — Razer’s new Wolverine V3 Pro is another — but it’s also one of the most expensive Xbox controllers around (it starts at $199.99). The one I tested clocked in at $263.91 with a special faceplate and added color accents. That’s more than the Xbox Series S occasionally sells for, which is an entire console. Still, you’re in for a treat if you’re okay with spending that kind of money, as the Instinct Pro is arguably better than Microsoft’s Elite in some very specific ways — primarily, its comfort and implementation of rear buttons and hair triggers.
Scuf’s rear rocker buttons and textured rubber grips are intricately detailed.
The Instinct Pro has very unique rear buttons, and I actually prefer them. Instead of paddles, there are four rocker-like buttons built into the controller’s body that you push toward or away from your hand with a middle finger. It still requires training your brain a bit to get accustomed to it, but I found them more intuitive.
Rear buttons aside, the Scuf’s other big feature is its hair triggers, which have the quickest response of all the controllers tested here. Just flick a switch on the back, and the left and right triggers feel like you’re clicking a mouse — it’s incredibly satisfying. The hair triggers, rear buttons, and the excellent textured grip material on the controller’s underside make this controller a joy to use.
The Instinct Pro feels like Scuf essentially hot-rodded a stock Xbox controller, but like any boutique item, it comes with a massive cost. Meanwhile, it still uses AA batteries and lacks software customization, so as much as I enjoy using it, I’d only advise getting one if you’re super passionate about its very specific qualities or you absolutely love the colorful accents and magnetically swappable faceplates on Scuf’s configurator.
RIG’s Nacon Revolution X may be worthy of an award for terrible naming, but its real strengths are in its deep customization. If you’re the type that likes to endlessly tinker with lots of detailed settings, this is the controller for you. Normally priced at $99.99, the wired Revolution X and its added features don’t come cheap, but the price is a little fairer when you consider the competition it squares up against.
When you first pick up the Revolution X, it seems very unassuming — and borderline cheap. While it’s not a looker, it’s a form-follows-function type of controller. It’s comfy to use, and its four rear buttons built into the grips are large and nicely contoured. The real stars of this show, however, are the analog sticks and their software customizations, as well as the expansive custom options for other inner workings of the controller.
The controller, cable, stick tops, grip weights, and stick rings are all packaged in the included zipper case.
While other user-customizable controllers have three user profiles you can swap between on the fly, the Revolution X has four — plus a “classic” mode with basic settings and a ring of RGB light around the right stick to remind you what mode you’re in. The software app is not the most user-friendly, but the controls go very in-depth. Thankfully, there are helpful starting points with presets for arcade fighting games, racing, FPS games, and even sniping, which makes the options much easier to understand. Add the ability to customize and remap every button on the controller, as well as a Dolby Atmos for Headphones app license, and you’ve got a lot of customization options.
The customization doesn’t stop with software, audio, or lighting, however. The Revolution X comes with ring spacers to adjust the range of the analog sticks, too, as well as a series of small weights ranging from 10g to 16g, which you can insert into its grips to give them an additional amount of heft.
Adding up all these features, you see why the Nacon is such a great controller for tinkering. It took me time to warm up to it, but upon setting it up the way I preferred, it made for a very compelling controller in a variety of game types.
Turtle Beach is known for its headsets, so it makes sense that its Recon wired controller features some robust audio controls. Its strengths really come into focus when playing first-person shooters, where its Superhuman Hearing mode tweaks the audio of any wired headset to draw out footsteps and distant gunfire in the mix. At its regular price of around $60, and once selling as low as $39.95, the Recon is a fairly affordable way to gain a slight competitive edge in multiplayer games without spending well over $100 on a controller.
The bumpers, shoulders, and customizable rear buttons have an excellent textured pattern that feels great.
This pad isn’t going to win any beauty contests thanks to all those awkward buttons located smack-dab in the middle of its forehead, but each one has a valid purpose. There are four levels of microphone monitoring, overall game volume controls, game chat volume mix, four EQ presets, four programmable modes for mapping the two rear buttons, and four levels of optional right-stick sensitivity adjustments. That last feature, dubbed Pro Aim by Turtle Beach, lowers the sensitivity of the right analog stick while you hold the right-hand rear button, allowing for very small movements like sniping, though it’s a bit clumsy to use.
Learning to use all these controls may sound daunting, but the controller’s quick-start guide makes it easier. Superhuman Hearing is very helpful for shooters and worth using extensively for games like Halo Infinite — just be aware that it’s going to muddy up the soundtrack a little, so you may want to leave it off during story-driven, single-player games.
Audio controls aside, the Recon lacks fancy features like hair triggers and swappable thumbsticks, and the D-pad looks like the standard Xbox Wireless Controller but pales in comparison. The controller’s plastic build feels cheap, but the rubbery grips redeem it with a nice and comfy feel. As for the sticks, triggers, and additional rear buttons, they all feel tight and snappy. Combine that with Superhuman Hearing, and you’ve got a great recipe for shooters. The Recon has a bit of a learning curve, but if you play ranked matches and value a fairly priced wired controller with extra buttons and helpful audio functions, you can’t go wrong here.
The GameSir G7 is a terrific wired controller with a textured grip that feels a tiny bit like a Scuf, clicky face buttons like a Razer, and two programmable rear buttons. Its D-pad is a little too stiff, but what makes this gamepad unique is it comes with two magnetic face plates — one black, one white — that are primed for personalization with spray paint or markers.
The more interesting GameSir controller is the G7 SE, which is nearly the same as the G7 but with drift-free Hall effect thumbsticks. If you’ve ever been jilted by stick drift on any of your Xbox controllers before, the GameSir G7 SE is well worth its $49.99 asking price to ease your concerns.
8BitDo’s Ultimate Wired Controller for Xbox and PC is a quality, affordable gamepad with two rear buttons and software customization, though the lengthy USB cable is not detachable. It costs $44.99 but is often discounted to as low as $35.99. We once saw it dip to $24.99, and if that started happening with regularity, it could dethrone the PowerA Enhanced Wired as the best budget option.
Turtle Beach’s React-R is a stripped-down Recon that maintains Superhuman Hearing and rear buttons but omits EQ presets, mic monitoring, and Pro-Aim for a lower $39 price. It’s a good value, especially if you find it on sale for as low as $29.99, maintaining some of the best features of the Recon for cheaper.
Razer’s Wolverine V2 Chroma is a feast for the ears and eyes, thanks to very clicky buttons and a strip of RGB lighting along the grips. It has more customizable buttons than any other controller (six total), though their positioning requires reaching, and it’s a bit pricey.
Razer also recently introduced the $199.99 Wolverine V3 Pro, which is the company’s first fully wireless controller for Xbox consoles and the first Razer gamepad to sport drift-free Hall effect sticks. The premium controller also features hair-trigger lockouts, RGB accent lighting, and six remappable buttons (including four customizable paddles and two extra shoulder buttons). It remains to be seen whether it can go toe-to-toe with the Xbox Elite Series 2 and Scuf Instinct Pro, but we’ll be sharing our impressions soon.
Briefly mentioned above, the Horipad Pro has one of the best D-pads around. It also offers a lot of software customization at an affordable price, but its shoulder buttons are a bit stiff.
PowerA’s Nano Enhanced Wired Controller is an adorably small guy for people with tinier hands or children. Unlike most kid-centric gamepads, it looks just like a full-size model, and unlike our budget pick from PowerA above, it ditches microUSB for USB-C (hallelujah!).
The Nacon Pro Compact Controller has some of the Revolution X’s excellent software customization at a much lower price. It’s also one of the smaller options around, though the ergonomics may feel hit or miss depending on your hand size.
One of the dumbest yet most endearing controllers is the Hyperkin Duke. This reissue of the original Xbox pad is a love letter to the salad days of 2001. It’s just not great to use for modern games. Thankfully it comes with a display stand, as it’s more of a collector piece.
Unlike the Duke, the Hyperkin Xenon is a reissued gamepad that’s actually worth using, especially if you have an affinity for the mid-aughts Xbox 360 design. The original 360 controller’s biggest innovation was its intuitive wireless system, which is sadly absent from this wired reincarnation. But hey, at least Hyperkin improved on the Xbox 360 controller’s awful D-pad and included some cool color-matched USB-C cables.
I also tested the Turtle Beach Recon Cloud and PowerA MOGA XP-Ultra. While the latter is noteworthy for being the first third-party wireless Xbox controller, neither made the cut due to high costs and niche use cases. The recommendations above present better alternatives unless you really want to use a controller with an Android phone — which, frankly, you can do with a standard Xbox controller and a cheap phone clip.
The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra is an interesting controller we haven’t yet tested. It has a 1.5-inch display for adjusting audio settings (and checking social media, apparently), swappable Hall effect sticks, microswitches, hair triggers, remappable rear buttons, and customizable RGB lighting. It’s the brand’s first fully wireless Xbox controller, too, and comes with Bluetooth to allow compatibility with other platforms. All of these features contribute to the controller’s $199.99 price tag, which puts it in the ultra-premium territory that Turtle Beach hasn’t dabbled in until now.
Modular controllers are getting a little funkier with the release of Thrustmaster’s eSwap X2 Pro. We haven’t tested it and thus can’t recommend the wired Xbox / PC gamepad, but we’re putting it on the radar for those who might appreciate having hot-swappable analog sticks, triggers, grips, and D-pad. It’s one of the only customizable controllers we’ve seen that lets you rearrange the positioning of D-pads and sticks however you want, and you can even buy a racing module that’s meant to simulate a steering wheel. Unfortunately, none of the analog stick modules feature Hall effect sensors, and there are quite a few reports that the standard mini-stock modules are prone to degrading after a short time.
PDP’s Victrix Pro BFG (wireless) and Victrix Gambit Prime (wired) are another pair of modular controllers getting decent reception right now, though we haven’t tested them yet. Both allow you to remove modules and swap in others, including alternate D-pad designs, taller thumb sticks, hexagonal gates for the analog sticks, and even a fighting pad that gives you six frontal face buttons. The controllers also have programmable rear buttons and customizable hair triggers (the Gambit Prime uniquely lets you customize the back paddle to give you access to two or four extra buttons), but their lack of rumble may be a nonstarter for some.
Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
Update, August 29th: Adjusted pricing and details regarding several controllers, including Razer’s Wolverine V3 Pro. Brandon Widder also contributed to this post.
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