This unique controller is cool, but meaningless for most gamers

Professional-level game controllers have become more mainstream over the past few years, with gamers offering many new features that the controllers that come with their systems don’t have. These features include additional mapable buttons, swappable gamepads, and other customizability options.

However, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a controller that offers two dedicated button layouts within the same device. Stealth pivot from Turtle Beach Physically rotate the gamepad to display a completely new, previously hidden button layout. Without deleting everything. It’s a unique view on what the controller is and I’m here for that.

What I like about stealth pivot

I was impressed with the Turtle Beach controller for a while. Steals Pivot continues its successful hardware streak. The buttons are clicked and responsive and I feel it’s great to hold the whole thing. This design is almost the same as Microsoft’s own Xbox controller. This is a good thing.

The Stealth Pivot retains many of the same professional features as the Stealth Ultra Controller (and many other pro-level controllers), including adjustable triggers and four additional redisplayable buttons. The connected command display is also carried over, but it’s much smaller than the Ultra’s 1.5″ screen. Surprisingly, it retains all the same features, including adjustable buttons and social media notifications.

On the connection side, there is a wired connection for Xbox (no wireless support), a 2.4GHz dongle for PC, and Bluetooth for smart TVs that are compatible with mobile devices. There is a headphone jack at the bottom and a USB-C port at the top for charging or Xbox connection. You can play and charge at the same time, but this is a great bonus.

Two controllers for one price

The biggest feature of Stealth Pivot is its much more spinning gamepad. Essentially, you twist two joysticks, unlock the gamepad, and rotate it literally 180 degrees to see the other set. This second set includes the typical layout of controllers designed for fighting games, or, in fact, games where additional buttons are worth it. So instead of a joystick, there is a D-PAD with two two buttons pinched between the sides in the top left. On the right side, the Abxy cluster moves downwards, leaving space for two additional mapable buttons.

So instead of buying multiple controllers or removing and replacing gamepads (such as PDP Victrix Pro Controllers), you can switch from a Call of Duty snaphead shot to defeating the bad guys from Mortal Kombat and Tekken in just a few seconds. It certainly isn’t something I’ve never seen before on other controllers and works surprisingly well. You can save up to 5 digital profiles on your controller, allowing you to create different layouts for each game.

I was impressed by how good the buttons and everything is stealth pivot. Certainly, the controller is a little thicker than most other controllers, but not too noticeable. The hardware and engineering that came in this controller is worth noting.

Things I don’t like about stealth pivot

However, there are some compromises that come with this quick switch feature. The first is that Turtle Beach was unable to include a microswitch button. This is something I personally prefer to the more standard buttons on the pivot. The joystick is still Hall effectwhich is good, but the rest of the buttons are standard. The buttons aren’t bad, and not as good as other professional controllers in the company.

Secondly, creating space for these spinning gamepads meant that space had to come from somewhere, and the most obvious place was the battery. According to Turtle Beach, the Pivot has been exposed to a battery life of around 20 hours, which is probably a bit optimistic. I’m not saying it’s awful, but that’s not great. This is somewhat alleviated by the fact that you have to physically plug into your Xbox anyway, and you can play while charging, but PC users can keep the cables handy.

You can also use the company’s Control Center II app to customize controllers for Windows, Xbox, iOS and Android, but the app itself isn’t very good. The UI is basic and there are some annoying bugs, such as not being able to change profiles on the Xbox version. It’s also difficult to determine if something will be saved after making changes. There are no indicators or save buttons anywhere. It saves things in real time, but you can just let them know that it’s happening.

Finally, it’s a shame that you can’t connect to Xbox wirelessly. Wired is fine, but avoids battery issues, but wireless is obviously useful.

Should I buy a stealth pivot?

The Steals Pivot is a really solid controller, even without the dual personality. Personally, I’m not really interested in fighting games, so I don’t need a second set of controls. And perhaps a super hardcore, esports level gamer Battle stick Or a more dedicated fighting game controller.

However, if you’re a more casual gamer who enjoys combat/button heavy games along with games that use joysticks, then you want to level up your fighting style Stealth pivot It’s especially worth a look, as it’s only $130. It’s more expensive than a standard controller, but for everything you get with it, it’s a difficult price to beat.