Valve Steam Controller Review (2026): Wait for the Steam Machine

Fantastic physique quality. Incredibly close TMR thumbsticks. Highly customizable inputs. Included puck is simply a marvel for charging and connectivity.

Can’t usage with PC games extracurricular of Steam. Gyroscope tricky to decently calibrate. Thumbsticks beryllium somewhat excessively high. Can’t truly radiance until Steam Machine hardware arrives.

A decennary on from the archetypal Steam Controller, Valve is backmost with a modern update, ditching the unwieldy dimensions, splayed grips, and unusual trackpads, alternatively adopting a overmuch much accepted plan approach—and immoderate somewhat different trackpads.

This second-generation Steam Controller arrives astatine an unusual time, though. The caller joypad is portion of Valve's renewed propulsion into the hardware space, meant to beryllium utilized alongside the console-like Steam Machine gaming PC—itself different revamped foray into the field—and the Steam Frame, the company’s caller VR headset. Except some of those are delayed, mostly due to the fact that the AI bubble is sucking up RAM, GPUs, and CPUs with the gravitational propulsion of a achromatic hole. At the clip of writing, neither of Valve’s different projects has a merchandise day oregon confirmed price.

However, gamepads don’t typically request RAM, GPUs, oregon CPUs, making the caller Steam Controller beauteous overmuch the lone portion of hardware Valve can merchandise for the clip being, and for a comparatively tenable price. The Steam Controller arrives divorced from its intended context, making immoderate of its much awesome aspects hard to appreciate.

All Decked Out

The caller Steam Controller is beauteous impressive. It boasts a ridiculous fig of inputs and features, is astir overwhelmingly customizable to guarantee compatibility with conscionable astir immoderate crippled connected Steam, and, barring 1 tiny caveat, is alternatively comfy to use.

In presumption of inputs, it takes astir each power method from the Steam Deck, abbreviated of the touchscreen, and crams it into an 11 x 16 x 6 cm design. Valve tries to person it some ways erstwhile it comes to the much acquainted controls, utilizing Xbox’s ABXY look buttons and wide plan aesthetic but PlayStation’s symmetrical thumbstick layout, positive the duplicate enarthrosis buttons and brace of analog triggers. Players accustomed to either volition soon accommodate to this hybrid approach.

The Steam Controller goes beyond either of its console cousins, though, with a full fleet of inputs that neither Sony nor Microsoft has connected their default pads. A quadrant of other buttons sits connected the underside of the grip, and the thumbsticks are clickable, diagnostic capacitive interaction sensors, and are built connected passageway magnetoresistance sensors (TMR), which connection adjacent greater precision and durability than Hall effect systems.

There is besides an accelerometer and a gyroscope for question controls, and precocious rumble engines for nuanced haptics—it tin propulsion disconnected the aforesaid audio tricks that the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con 2s do, vibrating astatine specified precocious frequencies that the pad itself becomes an ersatz speaker, allowing for amusive Easter eggs similar a hidden Wilhelm Scream. Most striking are the aforesaid trackpads from the Steam Deck connected the bottommost fractional of the controller, allowing for mouse-like controls.

Despite cramming each this in, it weighs a specified 292 grams. It seldom feels burdensome, adjacent aft longer play sessions. However, I did person to set my grip somewhat to comfortably scope the thumbsticks, arsenic truthful overmuch existent property is fixed implicit to accommodating the trackpads, which unrecorded wherever my thumbs people privation to sit. The D-pad isn’t thing to constitute location astir either—entirely adequate, but lacking cleanable edges and suffering from a glossy decorativeness that robs it of grip. Aside from that cheap-feeling D-pad, the Steam Controller’s physique prime is exceptional.

Maybe I’m easy pleased, but I’m disproportionately impressed by the adorable "puck" that the controller connects to your machine with. Attaching via the included USB-C to USB-A cable, it serves arsenic some a wireless dongle and a micro charging dock, magnetically clipping onto the rear of the Steam Controller. Installation and setup were easy. Just property the Steam fastener successful the halfway of the pad, and it communicates wirelessly done the puck with nary discernible latency and nary other bundle oregon drivers required.

Once connected and turned on, a 2nd property of the Steam fastener shifts everything to Big Picture mode, Steam’s console-like interface that allows for clearer navigation of your crippled library. The Steam lawsuit volition already request to beryllium unfastened connected your strategy for this—pressing the icon fastener won’t enactment arsenic a launcher, though I fishy it mightiness nonstop a aftermath awesome to the Steam Machine whenever it arrives. There doesn't look to beryllium immoderate large changes to Big Picture mode to coincide with the Steam Controller’s launch—it’s inactive filled with chunky, bold tiles for each crippled successful your library, wide filtering, and ample text, each acceptable to beryllium seen from the different broadside of the country erstwhile you’re playing connected a TV.

Given that it features astir each the inputs and gizmos of the Steam Deck, the archetypal crippled I tried the Steam Controller connected was Aperture Desk Job, Valve’s Portal spin-off that served arsenic a glorified tech demo for the handheld. For the astir part, the caller pad was up to the task, mimicking the handheld console’s features beauteous well. The lone hiccup seemed to beryllium 1 infinitesimal that involves the touchscreen connected Steam Deck, but a rodent erstwhile utilizing a controller—I’d person expected to beryllium capable to usage the trackpads arsenic the rodent cursor here, but couldn’t.

The gyroscope diagnostic besides tripped up a little, seemingly deactivated successful the controller settings by default, and ne'er rather felt correctly calibrated adjacent aft I’d turned it on. Valve says this diagnostic should beryllium activated with “Grip Sense,” a ridge connected the underside of the grip that enables gyro with capacitive touch. However, this ne'er seemed to enactment for maine connected immoderate crippled I tried it with (I’m not wholly wide however it’s expected to work, since the portion you’re meant to clasp to crook the gyro connected oregon disconnected is wherever I’m ever holding the pad anyway). I was capable to representation it to ever on, ever off, oregon toggled with a fastener property successful the controller settings.

Customs Clearance

One of the Steam Controller’s neatest features is its insane customization done the Steam client. Whenever you motorboat a crippled from Big Picture mode, the Steam interface flashes up which of the pad’s inputs the crippled volition usage by default—highlighting, for instance, the thumbsticks, look buttons, and enarthrosis triggers connected enactment games similar Hades II oregon Crimson Desert—but if you don’t similar a peculiar power arrangement, you tin remap perfectly everything.

Tap the Steam fastener for speedy entree to communal features, specified arsenic whether to activate the rear grip buttons, what the gyroscope does, oregon the behaviour assigned to each trackpad. That’s particularly utile for games wherever you mightiness privation to usage a trackpad arsenic a rodent for finer controls, specified arsenic for strategy titles. You tin instantly set precision, dropping it arsenic debased arsenic 25 percent responsiveness oregon arsenic precocious arsenic 3,000 percent. At immoderate level, the trackpads connection their ain haptic feedback, giving a satisfying tingle arsenic you rotation your thumb crossed them, which helps make a sensory nexus betwixt wherever you interaction the pad and what happens onscreen.

For much nuanced power tweaks, you tin spell deeper and edit the full layout, meticulously changing what each azygous fastener connected the pad does, fiddle with those aforementioned gyroscope settings, oregon adjacent deactivate idiosyncratic inputs entirely. It’s a immense triumph for players who similar to tailor however they play oregon marque definite commands easier. Accessibility astir apt wasn’t Valve’s superior interest here, but the quality to precisely set controls volition assistance immoderate players connected that front.

Steam Pressure

Unfortunately, there’s 1 large objection to the Steam Controller's versatility. Notice supra that I said it's customizable for usage with conscionable astir immoderate Steam game, not immoderate PC game.

Most PC crippled controllers, whether high-end pads similar Thrustmaster’s ESWAP X2 H.E oregon much accessible offerings similar Hyperkin’s Competitor, link to Windows with the XInput API, which broadly allows immoderate crippled to admit the device. The caller Steam Controller exists mostly wrong Valve’s walled garden, utilizing the bespoke Steam Input. That means your machine won’t needfully timepiece it arsenic a controller, and it makes playing games you whitethorn person installed from different sources—rival storefronts similar GOG oregon Epic Games, oregon indies bought straight from developers—almost impossible.

I tried retired a mates of games done Epic, and successful each lawsuit I ended up successful a halfway location astatine best. Some inputs would beryllium recognized portion others would extremity up successful the incorrect spot oregon not look astatine each (“jump,” successful classical Metroidvania Guacamelee, mapped to what should beryllium the “talk” button, for instance). Often, pressing the Steam Controller’s X fastener would bring up an onscreen keyboard, adjacent for games that didn’t person substance input. And fixed that each of those vaunted customization options are handled exclusively done the Steam client, I couldn’t find immoderate mode to remap controls in-game to enactment with the Steam Controller.

For me, that raises questions astir who the Steam Controller is truly for, astatine slightest close now. It’s truthful intelligibly tailored for TV play done Steam Machine that it’s hard to spot different niches for it. Most PC players volition person a rodent and keyboard to manus arsenic they beryllium adjacent to their gaming rigs, rendering the trackpad controls mostly redundant, and a PC pad that lone works with Steam’s room is inherently limiting, adjacent if Valve is the largest crippled distributor connected PC.

The closest you tin get to the intended intent is to brace the Steam Controller with a Steam Deck docked to your TV, but that feels a spot jerry-rigged, similar an unfinished preview, lone reinforcing however overmuch it’s held backmost by the Steam Machine being MIA. The Steam Controller mightiness radiance erstwhile players tin acquisition it arsenic it’s meant to be, but until that people hardware arrives, it’s hard to warrant it arsenic a stand-alone PC gaming controller.