Thrustmaster eSwap X Pro review: a star premium pad for symmetrical controller lovers

Drivers are now bigger business than ever. More interestingly, however, the shape of the market for additional console input devices has changed. Specifically, it feels like the era of third-parties handing out featherweight plastic tattoos you’d give your least favorite partner to wear has been supplanted by the opposite: high-end, all-singing, all-dancing: the sports car. of controllers. And these days, there are quite a few of them to choose from.

Xbox and PlayStation have their official offerings, of course, but now third parties are getting in on the action too. Thrustmaster’s entry into this lucrative field is the eSwap X Pro, a premium pad with a wide range of features that aims to outperform the official Xbox alternative with some unique features, though there is one important caveat that we’ll get to in a bit. moment.

Regardless, from the moment you first take it out of the box, it’s clear that the eSwap X is a premium piece of equipment. It is heavy, firm and lush. Even the case tries to sell that premium feel, with a magnetic opening mechanism and a soft interior to gently hold the controller and its various add-ons in place.

Before I get into the big trick and selling point of the controller, I actually think the most interesting thing to talk about here is how the shape of the controller differs compared to what has become pretty standard on Xbox. Through gentle iteration from the 360 ​​to now, Microsoft has managed to hone that particular style of controller quite a bit, and as a result, most knockoffs turn out pretty bad. So Thrustmaster has gone the other way, with a thicker controller design with a larger main body and elongated grips compared to the official offering.

This is a matter of taste, of course, but as someone who has fairly long fingers, I like it. I’ve never had an Xbox controller problem anyway, but this is different in a nice way, and I can immediately see how for certain styles of play, this way would be preferable and less tense. So that’s good, it’s got a good shape, especially for those of us with bigger hands. It’s probably not the best controller for kids, but no kid should be paying $160 for a controller anyway. This is for adults with money to spend. That is established. So what about those bells and whistles?

Well, the clue here is in the name. The eSwap is about being able to exchange controller components. The main element of this is the D-pad and analog sticks, which can be removed from the controller with relative ease and snapped back into place in whatever configuration you choose.

If you’re playing an old-school platformer or fighting game, for example, or just someone who prefers the PlayStation-style layout, you can flip the d-pad to the top-left position, for example, and have two symmetrical analog sticks. . down. Likewise, you could have both analog sticks on the left, if you’re kind of an outright fanatic. The choice is yours.

There is also an aesthetic element to this. You can move things around to make them useful, but you can also buy other parts in what Thrustmaster generously calls “an unlimited modular system at the crossroads of design and performance.” What this really means is that if you want to buy awesome drumsticks, you can. A different shape or style of d-pad is also theoretically possible. The panels on the side of the controller are also trimmed in the same way, so you can replace the plain black with something more artistic if you like.

All of these interchangeable elements are held in place by magnets, and are powerful and sturdy. I did a couple of drop tests on the controller and surprisingly found that no parts flew out. If you drop an Xbox Elite analog stick, the heads and d-pad fly across the room. Not so here. In fact, they hold so tight that the controller comes with a specialized tool to remove the d-pad.

The other features of this controller are, I think, pretty standard in this class. There are three-stage settings for each of the triggers that physically lock in how deep it can be pulled, so if you want a responsive trigger, just set it to be a shallower squeeze. There are also four additional programmable buttons on the back of the controller, though I think they’re small and poorly placed compared to the paddles on the Xbox Elite keyboard.

There’s also a headphone jack at the base of the controller, complete with buttons for volume up and down and microphone mute, which is handy to have on the actual controller. Three more discrete buttons let you configure and cycle through control mapping presets.

All of this sounds good though, and it’s pretty good value for less than the Elite controller. Except, here’s that warning, this is connected. The wired solution is as sleek as it gets, with a clever design that ‘sinks’ the cable into the body of the controller once plugged in, plus a 3 meter cable that’s a nice, braided, premium thing that won’t stick. fray or break easily. – but you still have to accept that, despite being an officially licensed Xbox pad, it will be tied to the console.

Thrustmaster’s rationale for this is quite simple to understand: this is a pad for those who are serious about gaming and care about lag. As a result, wiring made sense. In fact, it all lines up – in the hands, honestly, it feels like a controller built for shooters first. I’m not a big fan of shallow face buttons, for example, but the triggers and bumpers are pretty sublime. That’s action-shooter-driven design, and that’s fine: eSwap is honest about what it is. Everything about its design screams esports credentials. Even the name.

How does it ultimately compare to its formal rival, Xbox Elite Series 2? Well, I think the answer is complicated. It depends on what you are looking for, in many ways: there are things that each one does better than the other. However, eSwap’s stick and d-pad flip trick is a huge selling point, especially for those who prefer a symmetrical design or just play a lot of games for which they prefer to use the d-pad. It’s a great quality product, and it has one feature that is hugely unique.