Valve released a new Steam Deck Beta update that includes a useful tweak to its Xbox controller detection.

Valve released a new Steam Deck Beta update that includes a useful tweak to its Xbox controller detection.

There’s a bit of a problem with modern Xbox controllers and Bluetooth, where they won’t properly connect up with SteamOS / Linux unless they’ve gone through a firmware update. I’ve seen a lot of support requests about this issue over the years and so it’s good to see Valve highlight it directly. While it’s a Steam Deck Beta Client update, it should apply to other SteamOS devices too.

  • Bruhh@lemmy.world
    4·
    6 days ago

    Trailling off the issue here but xbox controllers sucks ass. I swear they add input delay if you use bluetooth instead their own dongle. Joysticks feel cheap and buttons are super loud and clicky. The shell is pretty decent with nice color selection and easy battery swaps but that’s about it.

    Prefer the ps4 or ps5 controller which feel nice. The buttons are firm but quiet, joy sticks feel decent. Same with the switch controller but they have no analog triggers.

    Are 8bitdo controllers similar? Playstation controllers are expensive and don’t have hall effect joysticks.

    • soulsource@discuss.tchncs.de
      3·
      6 days ago

      What annoys me is that previous generations of Xbox controllers had quite good build quality. The Xbox 360 controller was amazing in that regard, and the Xbox One controller was pretty decent too. The Xbox Series X controllers (and I am explicitly not excluding the “Elite” model) feel like cheap trash in comparison.

        • soulsource@discuss.tchncs.de
          1·
          2 days ago

          There are several small differences between the Xbox 360 and the Xbox Series X gamepad. No single point by itself would be a very big difference, but overall it sums up. I have both gamepads in front of me, and will try to make a comparison:

          • The material of the Xbox 360 gamepad feels “better”. I can’t exactly say why, but I think it’s because of its smooth material on the bottom.
          • The Xbox 360 gamepad has bigger analogue sticks, with stronger springs.
          • Similarly, the triggers of the Xbox Series X gamepad are “weaker” than of the Xbox 360 gamepad.
          • I would have sworn that the Xbox Series X controller is a lot lighter too, but turns out, after weighing them both, that the Xbox 360 controller is slightly lighter. It does not feel this way though, with the Xbox 360 gamepad feeling way sturdier and heavier (but, as said, it’s actually lighter?!?).
          • The buttons on the Xbox 360 gamepad feel a lot smoother. They don’t make a “cheap, broken device” noise when being pressed.
            • This also applies to the D-Pad.

          I think the last point - the feeling when using the buttons and especially the D-Pad - is the most important one for me. On the Xbox 360 gamepad the buttons feel like actual buttons. On the Xbox Series X gamepad they sound and feel like a fidget toy. Using the D-Pad on the Xbox Series X gamepad is really annoying, because of the noise it makes.

          • soulsource@discuss.tchncs.de
            1·
            2 days ago

            Oh, and a small follow-up:

            I just asked my partner which gamepad feels “better”. She chose the Xbox Series X controller, so maybe my opinion isn’t the most objective one.