GameSir Tarantula Pro Wireless Controller for Switch/PC/iOS/Android with Charging Dock, Bluetooth 2.4G Wired ControllerCarbonfree Certified

This is an outstanding option for those considering the available pads with a symmetrical layout that can be natively recognized as an Xbox controller (which are not many!). Face buttons are membrane but feel good, not mushy. The bumpers and triggers are great with obvious feedback and back buttons are comfortable to press. The rumble is quite powerful, I often turn it down in-game. The layout-switching gear for the face buttons is definitely a gimmick, but it's cool tech. Everything feels super responsive out of the box to me- apparently the stick latency is below average, but I literally have not noticed a thing (playing with the dongle, not Bluetooth). If you are planning to use it for any super competitive shooters it may be an issue but it feels great to me. The fact that they are TMR and basically immune to drift is the most important thing to me. Very comfortable in the hand and makes for a really satisfying pad to use for long play sessions of Monster Hunter Wilds. :D Dock is superb as well.

The media could not be loaded. This controller is outstanding. Works seamlessly switching between both Switch and Steam Deck. The macro buttons are a great addition and even though there's only 2 on the back instead of 4 it's still fine. Buttons, dpad, and triggers all feel very good too. What I wasn't expecting were these joysticks! These sticks are so snappy and feel perfect with excellent grip that feels like it might not wear away immediately. This is amongst the nicest controllers I've ever owned for sure.

This review is for people who aren't super gamers or familiar with technology.When people refer to the word "dongle" they mean the little piece that goes into the USB, which enables the controller to be wireless.There are a ton of complexities with the recent updates to GameSir (company that made the controller) and GameSir connect (app for the controller) so here is my suggestion to have a great controller without trying to navigate the mess of youtube videos that do not address it in simple terms.Go to the GameSir website and click on "Software" then "GameSir Connect Software" near the top. Then scroll down a tiny bit and find (don't click yet) the link where it says "click here" right below the Microsoft Store Download LInk.Turn on your Controller, insert the Dongle and then click on the "click here" and follow the prompts. When you'll have to allow your system to bypass the warning and you'll end up with a gray screen. The update button won't be available to click until you hold the tiny button on the Dongle for 5 seconds. Once you do, you'll be able to update it and you can X out after it hits 100%.If you happen to download the GameSir Connect app onto your PC. Do so from the Microsoft Store link, otherwise your PC will think its a virus and delete the downloaded item immediately.Once you have the App open, DO NOT PATCH THE UPDATE. Leave the update alone. The app is supposed to allow different key layouts and remember them from game to game but it's a mess right now, especially with the new update. So in my opinion, the only useful function is the ability to disable some buttons. I've disabled some of the little buttons near the left side movement gamepad because I have big hands and my thumbs keep accidentally hitting the small buttons near that pad. I play a lot of fighter games and it keeps accidentally opening up the menu during bouts. So I've disabled that side of the controller in the app.If you really wish to utilize the full functionality of the controller, there are some youtube videos online but you have to be a tech saavy person to understand most of them who are thorough because they do not explain it for normal people to understand.Aside from this, it's great controller. Just updating the Dongle itself (which I highly recommend) is enough to have this be one of the best PS style controllers in the market.

Overall I'm happy with this controller, but a couple things hold it back from being perfect for me. I'll go over all the major aspects I considered when purchasing it, as well as how it has performed in the several months I've used it. I'll only be speaking about the Xinput mode, as that is what I have primarily used.First is the layout and quality of the controller, buttons, and sticks. The shape of the controller is basically a modified DS4, so if you were not a fan of the ergonomics of that controller then you probably won't like the feel of this one either. The triggers are full analogue and hall effect. They feel smooth and are shaped similarly to Xbox triggers, as opposed to DS4 or Dualsense triggers. They can also be easily toggled to microswitches if you want a digital input instead of the travel of an analogue trigger, and this microswitch input feels just as good. The bumpers feel nice and can be pressed anywhere along the length of the button. The dpad has clicky microswitches, which is kind of a love it or hate it thing. I personally think it works very well for menus or hotkeys, but doesn't feel as good to use for fighting games or platformers. The face buttons are a rubber membrane that is relatively stiff, and takes a good amount of actuation force. For comparison it feels a bit stiffer than Xbox elite controller face buttons, and quite a bit stiffer than my Dualsense. The back buttons are the kind that are flush with the shape of the controller, so something to consider if you prefer paddles. They can be locked to prevent accidental presses. The rest of the 7 other face buttons are all clicky microswitches and can be mapped to whatever you want. The sticks feel great, smooth and responsive. I tested them and they do register at the advertised 1000Hz polling rate both wired and wireless.The software has significantly improved since the controller first released. It initially was a nightmare, with the PC software being non-existent. It needed to be done through a phone app with poor functionality, and updates to firmware needed to be done through a website that required google translate because no English version was available. The GameSir Connect app for PC now fully supports the controller and is in English. It can be used to easily modify all aspects of the controller including RGB lighting, trigger deadzones, hair trigger mode, stick deadzones, rumble, button mapping, and gyro. I've had no issues with it since it was fully updated with all its features.Some surprise aspects of the controller that I did not think of when purchasing, but now consider nice quality of life features that I love are as follows: In Xinput mode the mappable buttons can be assigned to keyboard and mouse inputs. This is really nice both for games and multitasking. For instance if I have a video or music playing in the background, I can map one of the buttons to play/pause to easily stop what is playing without having to go back to the keyboard. In a game I can map whatever macro or shortcut to a random keyboard key, and then simply map that key to a button on the controller. I also enjoy the charging stand much more than I thought I would. This is because the stand will automatically turn the controller off when docked, and automatically turn it on when you pick it up. It's a small thing and mostly comes down to my laziness, but it is really nice not having to press and hold a button to turn to controller on or off.So those are all the reasons I really enjoy the controller, and there are really only 3 things holding it back. Two are relatively minor, but the other can be very frustrating. The first minor gripe is not having removable thumbsticks. The ones it came with are good, nice and grippy which is my preference. But all sticks wear out eventually, and being able to easily replace these without having to buy a new controller or take it apart would be nice. It's also just nice to have the option of different sticks if you prefer taller ones, domes, etc. The second minor issue is the haptic motors. One of my motors has a nice strong feedback and both are individually adjustable, which is a nice feature. Unfortunately though there is a very clear difference in strength between my right and left motor. My left motor has a nice strong rumble, while the right even at max feels pretty weak. I have to assume this is a defect in my unit.The big issue that is easily the most frustrating is random jittery or phantom inputs for the triggers, bumpers, and dpad. This happens specifically when they need to be held down. Pressing any of these buttons registers inputs like it should, but if I hold them the input will randomly stop for a brief moment and then register again. For example if I am holding right on the dpad in a 2D platformer, my character will randomly stop moving to the right for an instant before moving again. If I need to hold a trigger for my character to hold onto an object, sometimes my character will just drop the object because the input cut out briefly. It happens to the trigger regardless of whether they are in microswitch or analogue mode. I have not noticed it happening to the face buttons, but can't confirm this. I have tried calibrating the controller, re-downloading the controller and dongle firmware, as well as trying to forget and reset the connection, all to no avail. I am assuming it has to do with the wireless connection to the dongle, but that is just my speculation from spending a while troubleshooting. There are workarounds such as using a cable to have it wired to my PC or trying DS4 mode to use a bluetooth connection, but I don't feel I should have to compromise a basic function of an $80 controller. I prefer wireless to not have to deal with cables and the DS4 mode with bluetooth both has a lower polling rate and makes you unable to use the keyboard and mouse mapping features I mentioned above, as that is only available in Xinput mode. I don't know if this is a defect in my specific unit, or more of a widespread problem.So after using this controller almost daily for months now, I can say I really like 95% of it. While I mentioned the minor complaints of the non-replaceable thumbsticks and a weak or defective haptic motor, these are by no means deal breakers to me. If the jittery/phantom inputs I mentioned above could be fixed, I would recommend this controller to anyone without hesitation. As it stands I would say if you are considering this controller, spend plenty of time testing the inputs when you first get it to see if you also have this problem and how much it affects the games you play. While I still use it for some games, I have absolutely switched controllers out of frustration during gameplay because those jittery inputs caused repeated deaths.