The SteelSeries Aeon Pro is the ultimate Xbox controller, but it comes at a hefty price | Gaming | Entertainment

Back in 2015, Xbox brought out its Elite series of controller, and for anyone who played a serious amount of games, it was the one to get. It added paddles to the back of the pad as well as swappable sticks to cater to all types of different games.

Sadly, anyone who’s used the Xbox Elite controller will know that it’s a great device to use for a few months, until it starts to fall apart. I know several owners of this coveted controller that have gone through multiple versions of the same device due to poor durability issues.

So, when I visited SteelSeries HQ back in October, I was extremely excited to spot a new licensed controller for the Xbox on the new product line-up. Taking inspiration from the Xbox Elite controller, the Aeon Pro looks to perfect what that pad set out to do while introducing a few innovations of its own.

I’ve been using the Aeon Pro for the last three weeks, and I can comfortably say that it’s the best controller I’ve ever had the privilege of using. It’s not perfect – for the money, there are a few features I feel could be added to make it the ultimate pad – but if you’re looking for the best device to use across both Xbox and PC, you can’t go wrong with SteelSeries’ latest piece of kit.

I’ll get the stinger out of the way, the Aeon Pro does not come cheap. At £229.99, it’s a touch more than I’d be comfortable with spending on a controller myself, especially when you can get licensed Xbox controllers for a third of that price that will do most of the same things.

So, what exactly are you paying for with the Aeon Pro? That becomes apparent the moment you start using it.

Every single button aside from the menu buttons at the bottom use mechanical switches which deliver a crisp and satisfying ‘click’ with each press. Not only are these incredible satisfying to press, but they also give you confidence that they’re going to last much longer than the squishy membrane buttons of cheaper pads.

Even the triggers, which have both a full pull and a hair-trigger mode, use the mechanical switch when set to the shorter travel distance. These can be set independently, and I found it made playing shooters far more responsive and satisfying when restricting that right trigger to a shorter travel distance.

The four paddles around back, which are positioned perfectly for where each of your fingers fall, are mechanical. I’ve become a big fan of rear paddles on controllers in recent years, and once you find settings that mean you never had to take your thumbs off the sticks, you’ll never look back.

The only other major change SteelSeries has made to the layout of the Xbox pad is with the view, menu and share buttons. These now sit at the very bottom of the controller, moved from the middle, and this does take a bit of getting used to. However, the added benefit of this is that I found myself accidentally hitting them far less than usual, and the share button is actually easier to reach in a pinch thanks to it sitting slightly prouder than the other buttons.

In place of the original button locations is a big OLED screen, which is where the real magic of the Aeon Pro happens. Here, players can customise their controller on the fly without any software needed.

That means remapping every single button on the pad to something else – not just the rear paddles. There are also multiple presets and profiles to swap between, making switching out your binds when swapping between Fortnite and Call of Duty a breeze.

I massively appreciated this functionality as I’m regularly swapping between games I’m playing for review and ones I’m hopping on with friends. Being able to reconfigure the controller in a matter of button presses without opening the SteelSeries software was a game changer.

If you do decide to dig into the software, there are even more options to tweak. The deadzone on the Hall Effect sticks can be adjusted to make them more or less sensitive, which I made full use of when swapping between shooters and RPGs.

Just like the Elite controller before it, the Aeon Pro comes with multiple different sticks that can be swapped out in an instant. SteelSeries supplies you with a single taller stick and a short domed stick, secured to the pad using a clever magnet system. I was worried these wouldn’t feel secure, but even in the most intense gaming sessions I never felt like they were about to budge.

When you’re not using those additional accessories, SteelSeries has a clever dock that keeps everything together. Sitting on your desk, the dock charges the controller when not in use, and also has compartments for the alternative sticks, letting you swap them out in an instant.

The dock also enables SteelSeries’ tried and tested ‘infinite battery’ system, which keeps one rechargeable battery topped up while you play. So, if you find your controller running out of juice mid session, all it takes is a quick battery hot-swap and you’re good to go.

I actually found the battery life of the Aeon Pro to be more than good enough to get me through a full day of marathon gaming sessions, so I never actually ended up needing to hot swap. But it’s great that SteelSeries includes the option, especially if you forget to leave the pad docked on the station overnight.

An added bonus for those in the SteelSeries ecosystem is that the Aeon Pro uses the same battery as the Nova line of headsets, which is a win for both convenience and sustainability.

Outside of the raw functionality, the Aeon Pro is a controller that I feel excited to pick up and play with. It feels substantial without feeling heavy in the hand, and the texturised rubber grip around the handles gives it a comfortable feel.

I also appreciate the use of metal in some of the pad’s construction points, with the rear paddles in particular feeling strikingly similar to pulling the paddle of a flappy paddle gearbox. On a chilly day, they’re cold to the touch, and it helps to build up the idea that you’re using a premium product.

So, this brings me back to that price point. At £229.99, it’s more expensive than most other third-party pads you’ll find on the market, and after using it for three weeks, I am convinced that it’s worth that price if you want the best of the best.

However, there are a couple of things that I would have liked to see SteelSeries include. While the dock signals that the pad is mostly intended to be used in one location, it would have been great to see a carry case included at this price – something that keeps all the pieces together in one place if you want to take it on the go to esports tournaments or couch co-op sessions at a mate’s.

It would have also been great to see gyro controls explored here, especially as the functionality becomes more popularised on PC thanks to Steam’s translation layer. As an officially licensed Xbox product, it makes sense that the feature is omitted here as PlayStation and Nintendo Switch 2 are the two platforms that feature several gyro-enabled games. That being said, it does sting a little that there’s one major feature you’re missing out on when dropping this much on a controller.

The Verdict

Those minor gripes aside, it remains true that the SteelSeries Aeon Pro is a phenomenal controller. It’s very rare that a pad is the reason I’m actively excited to play games, and at the end of the day, feeling those crisp, metallic clicks of each button press is exactly what kept me coming back to this gem of a device.

It’s pricey, there’s no doubt about that. But if you’re an Xbox/PC gamer hybrid, I can think of few controllers that come close to offering the same level of performance as the SteelSeries Aeon Pro.

5/5

Review unit provided by PR for review purposes only.