Nacon Revolution X Unlimited Review – The Apex of Controllers?
Summary: Thin on battery life but rich with features, it's not for the everyman gamer (though it'd surely delight them). The Revolution X Unlimited is the apex of modern controllers, with a price to match.
4.5
Pricey But Nearly Perfect
If you’ve seen the Xbox Elite 2 controllers, you’ve thought “that’s a nice controller”. They are nice. Rechargeable, built to last, comfortable, and they even have paddles on the back. You’d think they’re as good as a controller gets, the ultra-lux of controllers. They’re not. The Nacon Revolution X Unlimited controller is extra on top of extra– it even has a screen.
The Nacon Revolution X Unlimited has features you wouldn’t even consider. Besides featuring enough buttons for every finger and then some, it has customisable weights. The box comes with a selection of metal weights for you to slot into the handles for the perfect feel– personally, I hope they’d have some over-the-top options to make the controller feel heavy, but the selections are perfect for comfort.
Hardcore Mechanical Upgrades
For the techheads, the fine-tuned texture features include hall-effect sticks, mechanical face buttons, and hair-trigger stops with dampeners. For the layman that means sticks, buttons and triggers that never wear out. Instead, the sticks use magnets, the buttons use mechanical switches, and the triggers are more responsive and can be “locked” for short presses.
The New Screen Brings Bluetooth
Despite being the biggest feature on the box, the screen tends to be a minor feature– and no doubt a bit of a battery burner. If you were imagining a spot to put a sound visualiser or in-game stats like some keyboards have, it’s not that. Still, it’s what you use the screen for that makes it exciting– controlling sound mixing and bluetooth connections. With a bluetooth-connected controller you immediately open up all sorts of options when you connect your phone.
Beyond listening to whatever music app you like, you can play audiobooks, make video calls, or even have a business meeting. The screen includes some other options, like eco-mode, screen brightness, and assigning buttons (limited), but far more controls are found in the app.
The App Is Iffy
On the Xbox, the app is surprisingly awful, and really only works to update the firmware. To make the most of the controller you need to use the PC app, which allows you to edit stick curves, the LED lighting, and button assignments. The finer tuning options will excite the more specific players, but for the casual user, using the app is optional– allegedly, the Xbox version can work after some finagling, but however it’s done is neither straightforward nor described by the guides.
High-Powered Vibration
Adding a few more ERMs for vibration, the Unlimited does a great job at making Call of Duty explosions immersive. From the “FPS” and “Shooter” keywords written all over the box, it’s clear that CoD is the controller’s main design, and it’s felt when you play another game and the controller jumps out of your hand. Thankfully, you can tweak the vibration settings too, so it’s another great upgrade to any game experience.
Everything is Included & Adjustable
Unlike the Xbox Elite controllers, so much more is included in the box than just a controller. A charging station, a month subscription to Xbox Ultimate (Score!), a cable, the USB dongle, a study case, and a box of trinkets. The trinkets include, the custom handle weights, different sticks, and different stick tops too– concave and rounded tops– there’s even D-pad options for the fighting game fanatics. Trying out all the combinations is half the fun, and though switching some of the pieces can be a little fiddly, they’re all perfectly secure when in place.
The Downsides
As much as it is a pleasure to use such a featured controller, there are a few hitches. The lack of screen customisation is one, but it’s not major. The screen being always on is another, and that leads into the battery issue. The battery has an average lifetime of only 10 hours. For reference, a standard controller gets 15 on a battery pack, 30 on batteries, and the Elites get 40 hours rechargeable. With the eco-mode and low-brightness settings, the Unlimited lasts longer, but it’s no competition for the Elites in this regard.
The battery life is a big minus if you love to have your controller on your coffee table to pick up and play, but there is the upside that the charging dock is nicer than the Elite’s (and is actually included). The only other downside worth mentioning is that people have reported the controller feeling too big in-hand, which isn’t something I experienced, but for some it may be a concern.
Is the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited worth it?
Before anything else, this is the ultra-lux of controllers. For people who love gaming and want to squeeze every feature and function and customisation into it. It beats the Elite Series 2 controllers on everything but battery life (and price), and pushes the limits of what a controller– any controller– can do. Besides being a sturdy, last-a-lifetime piece of hardware, its endless customisation means it’ll fit anyone and any playstyle. If Nacon adds a few more upgrades to the screen customisation, like being able to design your own screen saver, it could become the ultimate statement piece that even streamers and e-celebs use, but it’s still doing more than any other controller available today.
It’s a great, expensive controller, and if someone asked me “what’s the best Xbox controller on the market?”, I’d say the Unlimited. Still, if a friend wanted to upgrade their controller, I’d recommend the Elite Series 2 first for its simplicity and battery life because all the customization is great, but the appeal is niche. The only asterix I’d add to that is the benefit of having your controller bluetooth-enabled is amazing for people who like to listen to things other than Discord or Spotify– their audiobook system is awful.
About the Author
Branden Zavaleta Based in Perth, Branden writes on the arts for a handful of Australian outlets. He's also a street & creative portrait photographer, who's work can be found @brandenzp on Instagram.
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