Thrustmaster eSwap X Pro
With epic customisation, features and build quality, this is an incredible modular controller From £169.99 thrustmaster.com
et’s cut straight to the chase: this is a seriously good controller and one that offers truly phenomenal customisation and configuration options. Its party piece is its ability to swap out its joysticks, d-pad, triggers and grips at any time and replace or rearrange them as desired.
Straight off, the eSwap X Pro’s quality is evident, looking advanced and feeling weighty in the hand. It feels like a more spacious version of the new Xbox Wireless Controller, which makes sense considering it’s officially licensed and made for Xbox and PC gamers.
In terms of stock layout, it features all of the buttons and triggers you would expect, plus a pair of trigger locking switches, which allow you to lock trigger travel at your desired angle, and four circular rear buttons. There’s also great button remap-ability on offer, either via the ThrustmapperX configuration software or on the fly using a button on the bottom edge.
Okay, let’s get to the party piece: the eSwap X Pro’s T-Mod component swapping ability. The joysticks and d-pad sit in the controller’s body
Lvia magnetically enabled recesses, meaning they can be simply hot-swapped on the fly. The controller’s grips are also held on by magnets, while the thumb caps on each joystick simply twist off. Meanwhile, unscrewing a single screw on each trigger frees the trigger ready for a replacement to be slotted in. T3 tested this with the official Thrustmaster eSwap X Blue Color Pack: within one minute every swappable controller component had been changed out and the controller was ready to be used. The speed and the ease in which we made these changes proves that Thrustmaster has nailed this T-Mod system.
The eSwap X Pro is a wired gaming controller, not a wireless one. It can be connected to your Xbox console or PC of choice via its included 2-metre braided cable, which slots into the gamepad via a protective recessed docking port and to the machine via USB.
We really like the idea of the controller being customisable in terms of really key things like joystick and d-pad placement. For us, though, it’s to be first and foremost recommended just because it is a fantastic wired controller for Xbox and PC. It nails the basics, with accurate and precise joysticks, responsive triggers with a small travel distance and quality clicky buttons that communicate each press with aplomb.