When I was at the local Best Buy, I noticed that they had the Xbox Elite Wireless Series 2 controller on sale. It usually retails for $179.99; however, it’s currently on sale for $157.99. That’s a $22 discount on the premium Xbox controller.
Yes, the controller has been known to have a fair bit of quality issues. I’m aware of that first hand as I’ve had to send mine in repair twice since owning it. However, it’s easily the best experience I’ve had with an Xbox controller when it works. Whether picking up the premium controller is worth the discount to you or not is up to you.
To me, having access to four paddles that I can map different buttons to, is worth it. It doesn’t hurt that you can set the trips to have a shorter travel distance, which makes it great for competitive games as well. The only downside, IMHO, is that you can swap out the battery. If it’s dead, you’ll have to charge it. Thankfully it charges quickly or you can just use a USB Type C cable.
Also, keep in mind that if you purchase this from Best Buy, you can purchase an extended warranty from them. Something that I recommend you do, as this will cover you better than the Xbox warranty will. Best Buy will swap out the controller, no questions asked. In the event that the controller isn’t available anymore, they’ll give you a credit towards something else in the store.
As for why it’s one sale, as it usually never goes up for sale, I have a theory on that. The first is that Xbox will be releasing a revised version of the Xbox Elite Wireless Series 2 controller. When Xbox announced the Halo-theme Elite Series 2 controller, it was mentioned that it would be a revised model with revised parts. They could be swapping out the older controller with the newer one. Ironically enough, Microsoft has a showcase this week where they’ll be showing off the Surface Pro 8, and they could easily reveal the updated Xbox Elite Wireless Series 2 controller.
Or then again, maybe Best Buy is just having a sale.
Keep in mind that the Xbox Elite Wireless Series 2 controller is compatible with the Xbox One, Xbox One X, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
