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I've noticed the rubber on my Xbox controller's analog sticks is so worn down it's become completely smooth on top. The blue plastic underneath has even become visible on the left stick. So I figured it's only a matter of time before it starts breaking apart entirely and the stick just becomes annoyingly uncomfortable to use like my old Steam Controller. I briefly looked into buying replacement parts but the options I found seemed kinda crappy and I don't really feel like opening up the controller to mess around in there anyway. So that flimsiest of excuses was enough for me to get a brand new one. I'd been wanting to get a white one for a while now to go along with everything else in my current setup and I've always thought those Elite ones looked really cool. Haven't had time to actually try it yet but but I took a quick look when it got here and the first impression was pretty good. I'm especially digging the d-pad. Didn't realize it would be magnetic. I kinda wonder if it popping off during play will be an issue but it also gives it a much "looser" feel, which makes me think it might actually be a solid option for fighting games because it makes circular motions feel way more natural. Had to get the components pack separately because the white model is only available as Core but it definitely seems to have been worth it. At least this time I'll have spare parts for the analog sticks and it also comes with a charging dock, which is neat. I've been using the play and charge kit for my regular controller because I'm not gonna keep buying batteries. I mean, what am I? A caveman?! But my experience with it hasn't been the best. It doesn't seem to hold its charge for very long (and it almost always decides to die when I'm in the middle of a boss fight!) and I always need to fiddle with the cable and the pack itself before the LED will turn amber to indicate it's charging. I end up playing wired most of the time because of it. So yeah, really glad to have a controller with a built-in battery again. It's kinda baffling that it still isn't standard for Xbox controllers... Oh and I'm finally playing Trails from Zero and fully back on the Trails hype train, so I just had to get these. Not opening them just yet for fear of spoilers...

Yeah, I wondered about it at first because of how much the opposite side lifts when you push a direction (and because it actually came loose during shipping) but now that I've actually played with it for a few hours I can tell it's anchored in there pretty well and won't come off from normal use. This has to be the best d-pad I've ever used, I just can't get over how good it feels to use.

Hell yeah, I love the white ones, if my Elite ever starts having problems that's definitely the one I'll get. FWIW I've never had a problem with the dpad coming off.