When it comes to controllers, extra buttons have generally been limited to high-end and custom varieties, like the Xbox Elite Controller and SCUF and Evil Controllers' custom models, all of which cost a pretty penny. That's what makes the $29.99 PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller so surprising. It's wired, and it doesn't have the premium and customizable design elements of the aforementioned gamepads, but it offers a very solid gaming experience for any Windows or Xbox One user with two helpful, programmable buttons on the back for extra flexibility. It's also responsive and easy to use, and for that it earns our Editors' Choice.
Like an Xbox One Controller
The Enhanced Wired Controller looks and feels just like an Xbox One gamepad at first glance, with minor differences. It's available in 10 different colors and patterns, with black, white, and green available anywhere and other variations exclusive to retailers like Best Buy, GameStop, and Amazon (the gold-colored version, for example, is at Best Buy only). It has a U-shaped frame with large, curved grips, offset dual analog sticks with convex caps, a direction pad, two pairs of shoulder buttons, A/B/X/Y face buttons, View and Menu buttons, and even a round Guide button with the Xbox logo. The gamepad also features a headset jack on the bottom edge, just like the Xbox One controller.
This isn't a perfect wired replica of Microsoft's gamepads, though. The direction pad, Menu, and View buttons are a bit smaller than on the Xbox One controller, and the Guide button doesn't light up; instead, a plain white LED below the Guide button glows when the gamepad is connected. The headset jack is also alone on the bottom of the controller, rather than paired with a separate accessory port.
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Advanced Gaming Buttons
The biggest differences between the Enhanced Wired Controller and the Xbox One gamepad are the two Advanced Gaming Buttons, two flat trigger-like controls that sit halfway down the grips on the back of the controller. You can map any other button press on the gamepad to either of those buttons, including the face buttons, direction pad, the triggers, or clicking either control stick.
Mapping the Advanced Gaming Buttons is easy, and doesn't require any app or software. Just press the Programming button in the middle of the back of the controller until the status LED flashes. Press whatever input you want to assign to either button, then press the desired button. It's a simple process that you can do on the fly in seconds while you're playing a game.
Of course, a bigger difference between the two controllers is that the PowerA gamepad is wired. There is no battery compartment on the back or pairing button on the top. Instead, there's only a recessed micro USB port for use with the included 9.8-foot cable. The lack of any wireless function keeps the gamepad's price low, and ensures an easy, tethered connection to any Xbox One or Windows 7, 8, or 10 PC. When plugged in, the gamepad registers as an Xbox One-style XInput controller, which most modern PC games can immediately handle without configuration.
Responsive, Programmable Controls
I played No Man's Sky with the Enhanced Wired Controller, and mapped the Advanced Gaming Buttons to running (clicking the right stick) and scanning (left trigger). Just turning stick-clicking into a separate button is convenient, since you don't need to pause pushing in the direction you're moving or aiming, or press the stick awkwardly to trigger it. Besides the Advanced Gaming Buttons, playing with the controller felt just like playing with an Xbox One gamepad, with the analog sticks, face buttons, and triggers all offering nearly identical responsiveness and resistance.
I also played Fortnite with the Enhanced Wired Controller, experimenting with button mapping. I first set up the Advanced Gaming Buttons to function as B and right trigger, to make building easier. However, I've never been good at building anything in Fortnite, so I quickly switched to mapping analog stick clicks to the buttons instead, letting me crouch and sprint without adjusting my thumbs. This worked very well, and the on-the-fly remapping was fast and simple.
Retro games like Ducktales 2 in The Disney Afternoon Collection don't benefit much from the Advanced Gaming Buttons because of their simple controls, but the Enhanced Wired Controller's works very well regardless of any extra features. While the direction pad is slightly smaller than the Xbox One gamepad's pad, it's still very responsive, and I had no problem making pixel-perfect jumps in the game.
A Great Budget Gamepad
The PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller is simple, inexpensive, and very functional. The two extra programmable buttons on the back are very handy, even if they aren't quite as powerful as the four programmable buttons available on the much more expensive wireless Evil Controllers Evil Shift and SCUF Impact. More importantly, it simply feels responsive and comfortable to use, which is the highest priority for any gamepad. And at $30, it's one of the best values we've seen in a wired gamepad, making it our Editors' Choice. If you need a gamepad for your PC and don't need it to be wireless, pick this one up.
PowerA's inexpensive Enhanced Wired Controller offers comfortable, responsive gaming for Windows PCs and Xbox One systems with a very useful pair of programmable buttons to sweeten the deal.
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