Fusion Pro Wireless Controller

PowerA is by far my favorite manufacturer of third-party controllers. I’ve probably got five or six of the company’s FUSION devices at this point, and still, the products the company develops never fail to surprise with their quality and innovation. A controller is only so complex; you wouldn’t think there were that many ways to advance the technology. I’ve had the Fusion Pro Wireless Controller with Lumectra in my hands for about six weeks now (some personal stuff delayed this review a bit), and I am once again shocked at some of the cool stuff PowerA has come up with to push the tech forward.

The most obvious and flashy way this controller distinguishes itself in the market is the implementation of Lumectra lighting. I’m not a huge guy for RGB LED lights in my gaming devices – I find even the default light on the Xbox controller to be a bit distracting - but even I must admit that the Lumectra stuff on the new Pro Wireless is pretty cool.

You absolutely can’t tell that the Lumectra lighting is there when it isn’t lit up. The controller just has a flat black appearance by default. But when you tap the unobtrusive button on the back, the thing lights up like a Christmas tree, cycling through a rainbow of colors. You can mess with the settings a bit to lock in on a certain color, if that’s your thing. But I just like to let it meander wherever its ROY G BIV heart desires. And if I find it is drawing my eye a bit too much, I just turn it off. Easy Peasy.

Oh sure, you say, that sounds neat, but it isn’t exactly innovative, is it? I mean, I have a mousepad that has RGB lights. Try harder to impress me. To which I say, have you seen the Quick Twist Thumbsticks?

If you, like me, find that physically switching out your thumbsticks to get varying lengths is more hassle than it’s worth (I mean, how many of these things have disappeared under the sofa and down heating grates in my house?), then the Quick Twist Thumbsticks are the answer. And like the amazing innovation that was the 3-position trigger locks, this is probably just going to be standard procedure going forward.

It’s so simple and brilliant, it’s crazy that no one had come up with it before now. The thumbsticks are spring-loaded, so when you twist them, they pop up slightly so they can be three different lengths. The secret sauce is in making these things feel solid and not cheap, but I swear on every gaming god that these sticks feel just as solid as those in a standard Xbox controller. It’s an amazing fix to an irritating issue.

The sticks and the triggers also use the “Hall Effect”, which is a fancy way to eliminate stick drift. How does it work? The sticks don’t actually physically touch anything – all of the movement measurement is done with magnets and sensors. No touchy = no wear and tear. So, you know, genius.

Those are the big banger features in this new controller, and they are significant. Slightly less impressive is the “wireless” feature, which requires a dongle to be plugged into your Series S or X. It’s not exactly what I was hoping for when I saw the word “wireless”, but it isn’t a deal breaker either. With the dongle plugged in, the wireless feature is just as fast and responsive as a regular Xbox controller and connection isn’t an issue; I just don’t like having the thing dangling out of my Xbox.

Frankly, I grew up in the NES era, so I’m not all that pressed about wires to begin with. The controller comes with a really nice 10” braided cord, so I’ve found myself just leaving it plugged in. It’s a bit of a shrug in my book, but I understand that I’m the weirdo here. The controller also comes with a charging hub, which is nice, but not really needed by the guy who leaves the controller plugged in. Nonetheless, it works well and is solidly made, a sturdy little piece of plastic that nestles the controller quite nicely while it charges.

The controller itself feels great in your hands, with nice non-tacky rubber grips and unobtrusively textured triggers. It does feel a bit lighter than I’m used to, but not so much that it feels flimsy; it’s actually kind of nice to have a bit less heft. It can still hold up under the duress of what I call my “race car grip”, which occurs when I lose races and squeeze my controller like I’m trying to strangle a squirrel.

For the sake of completeness, I will also mention the programmable back buttons, which to me are just “run” buttons (I absolutely hate clicking the L3 button to run, so I immediately program one of the back buttons with this function as soon as I get a new controller. Whoever thought that L3 button configuration was a good idea deserves a good swift kick in the goodies, along with a slightly-less-swift kick for every subsequent developer that went along with the convention).

What you end up with here is a great controller with fancy looks, all the upgrades from the last couple of years that have become standard, and a few indispensable innovations that both take away some of the hassle of high-end controllers and extend their lifespan. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to spend $130+ on a controller, I want it to last, and the FUSION Pro Wireless Controller with Lumectra more than fits that bill. Highly recommended.