A budget controller that is a bundle of joy.
First look at the controller and I find it very reminicent of a PlayStation 4 controller, only with a few extra buttons on the front, with the buttons and D-Pad on an indent rather than a raised surface and the back trigger buttons are slightly larger, whilst the pad itself feels heavier. For this reason it definitely doesn’t feel cheap and likely could take a few knocks here and there; maybe even use it as a batarang as it definitely looks like one (however I do not recommend this) unless you are someone who looks after your controllers and if so (good for you). However, if you are someone who is annoyingly pestered for a go by a younger sibling with an hand infestation of cheesy wotsits then you should be ok (hopefully)…
Straight off the bat (ok no more Batman puns) the controller feels responsive. The analogue stick respond well and so do the trigger buttons; one thing I did notice is the back trigger buttons are longer and have a slight curve to them than most other gamepads I have tried and I feel there is more of a grip on them and this may or may not be a problem. It all depends on what game you’re playing.
The Mode button is used for connecting with the USB receiver as well as switching between Analog Mode when the LED is on and Digital Mode when the LED is off.
The vibration on this controller is really something; being used to the PS3/PS4 controller for most of my gaming days this really surprised me with how strong it is. The battery life seems more than reasonable as I have played for 6 hours with the vibration and it is still going strong.
The only issue I really had was trying to plug the USB receiver into any of my PC ports; I really had to force it a bit to the point I thought I was going to do some damage, but with a bit of luck I managed to. It is also very small making it vulnerable to breaking so this is something you should be careful of.
It also comes with the tiniest USB charge cable I have ever seen! This is a problem even for me; my PC sits on my desk in perfect reach and still I couldn’t sit and play with it plugged in while charging. If you are out of power then be prepared to play uncomfortably or wait until it is charged. Fortunately I am able to let it charge on my desk as it does reach just about. although a controller stand will help in this situation. Either that or get a USB extender.
VERDICT
All in all I am happy with the Speedlink Strike NX Wireless Gamepad. If you are like me and don’t like to rely on instructions then you may be stuck in limbo when it comes to getting the controller working. However, since referring to the instructions I have had no issues with setting it up and the instructions make it very clear on that. If you are on a budget and need a new controller for your PC then this may just be worth the investment.
