Amazon’s latest round of Lightning Deals includes an excellent controller — three colors, in fact. The 8BitDo Ultimate 2.4G Wireless Controller costs $39.99 in its purple, whiteor black color schemes until the deal expires in a few hours. Both are great choices for Steam Deck, Windows PC, and also for use wirelessly with Apple and Android products. This 8BitDo controller costs a fraction of the modern gamepads from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, but it’s superior in one key area: Hall effect joysticks, which in practice means it doesn’t suffer from the drifting joysticks many of us have experienced on various controllers.
The Ultimate 2.4G borrows the Xbox layout, with asymmetrical sticks. It uses a rechargeable battery that draws power via a USB-C port, but each controller includes a dock you can rest it on to charge via pogo pins. To connect the controller to your device, simply plug the included 2.4GHz adapter into the USB-A port on your device and it will pair automatically. When pairing with your phone, this controller supports Bluetooth connectivity. 8BitDo makes a €69.99 controller called Ultimate Bluetooth which is almost identical except it is compatible with the Nintendo Switch.
