A CONTROLLER THAT CAN DO THIS?? eSwap Pro Review
This controller has a remarkably novel concept – hot swappable joystick and dpad modules so you can customise the controller to how you want to play, and the games you play too. Let’s take a look at it and see if it’s worth it’s £150 price tag!
Let’s start of with what this thing can do. Straight out the box, you can swap the two thumb sticks and dpad to any order you like, although I’d assume most people who get this will either not move them, or swap it to a more xbox friendly layout and leave it there. The modules are held in by magnets, so you can just pull them out and drop them in without tools – unless you want to move the dpad, then you’ll need their included puller tool.
You’ve also got 4 extra buttons on the back, and you can remove both the triggers and the side grips if you buy a different set you want to swap to.
Software wise, you use their “Thrustmapper” tool to remap the buttons to any existing button, so x could be L1 if you wanted, and can adjust the trigger dead zone points, and vibration too.
With their “module expansion packs”, those are £25 optional extras that – at least for the “coloured” versions, currently only yellow and silver, come with 2 more joysticks, this time they have unscrewable tops, and come with convex domed tops too, should you want to switch to them. You’ve also got elongated triggers, smooth side grips, and a “coloured” dpad. They do also have a fighting games pack, which only comes with a flat dpad and an extra 2 buttons you can map in their software, and they said they plan on releasing more packs this year.
So, that’s what it can do, but what about what it can’t. Honestly, there is quite a lot. As a PC gamer, apparently thanks to a recent Steam update, you can’t use this with Steam big picture mode without it bugging out – and you have to struggle to put the controller in the right mode before it makes your system fully unusable by locking your cursor to the top of the screen, maxing and muting your volume and a lot more. Sticking with the software, you can’t remap any of the buttons to anything other than the default buttons, so no macros or extended functionality like in racing games mapping some extra commands to the added buttons on the back like DRS and KERS.
It’s also wired only – and uses a deeply recessed Micro B port, instead of Type C. They say they used micro B because “if you lose or break the cable you will be able to use one you already have” – but they stuffed the port so far into the controller so they could add the “secure fit” connector, that you’d never get another micro b cable in there – i mean you can barely get their micro b cable in, let alone one that isn’t meant to fit. My guess is a combination of lazy designing and the micro b port was cheaper to implement instead.
That’s also not to mention the lack of wireless, in a £150 controller that is as massive as it is. It’s not the most comfortable thanks to the modules taking up far more space than they really should. And build quality doesn’t feel great either. The plastics feel a little on the cheap side, especially the silver expansion pack side grips – these feel disgustingly cheap.
While we are on the topic of the expansion pack, remember I mentioned this silver pack has joysticks that you can remove the heads on? Well, the black ones that come with the controller don’t have that feature. For £150 you don’t get that feature, it’s £25 more. I asked them why, and they gave me what can only be described as the most BS excuse ever. They said they “didn’t want to alienate players who are used to the standard Dualshock 4 design”, in a controller that advertises itself as being able to completely rearrange itself, included to move the joysticks to an xbox style layout. I don’t like being lied to.
At this point, I’m just being picky, but both the front and rear facing buttons are very sensitive and very, very easy to press by accident. While it gives a more “responsive” feel, since this isn’t meant to be a competition exclusive controller, this makes for an uncomfortable gaming experience where you have to be painstakingly careful not to press anything while playing.
All in all, it’s a real shame. The concept seems really interesting, being able to have an xbox style controller for playstation, or be able to swap in a few different parts if you want to play a fighting game or something, but as it stands, this appears to me anyway to have become a rather blatant cash grab, where even fundamentally useful features they’ve already designed are being held at ransom in “expansion packs”. I can’t really see a benefit to getting one of these, over customising a Scuf gaming controller to your exact preference, for the same price, or getting something like the Xbox Elite series 2 controller if you are on PC or xbox. At least then it’d work with Steam big picture mode.
