Microsoft announces the Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller

By Jez Corden
published

Microsoft's E3 2015 conference is in full swing, and Phil Spencer just announced a brand new controller designed for Xbox One and Windows 10.

The Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller enjoys a ton of improvements over the original, and adds various new features to give gamers more control over their play.

  • The d-pad and joysticks are customizable. You can swap from concave to convex joysticks for example, in addition to selecting different d-pad layouts.
  • The new controller features new paddle buttons that are mounted beneath the controller.
  • A new "hair-trigger dial" can be adjusted, giving you control over how much you can press before the system recognises it as an action.
  • The new controller will ship with an app that allows you to fully customize the buttons, supporting over 250 new button combinations.

The price and availability has yet to be announced, but stay tuned for more info.

Jez Corden
Jez Corden
Co-Managing Editor

Jez Corden a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by caffeine. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his Xbox Two podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!

48 Comments
  • It really does look cool, however I wonder what the cost will be. 
  • I concur, pretty schweet indeed.
  • My guess is close to $100. might be awesome though. I'm kind of hoping stores will ahve them out to check out so you can feel it before buying it.
  • Take my money Microsoft
  • OH YEA SWEET, now i really have something to look forward to :)
  • It's $150. What the hell....
  • The only reason why I have a PS4 instead of an Xbox One,because the XboxOne lacks many offline capabilities.Right now I'm using my phone data.If they update were you can have many offline capabilities as the Xbox 360,I definitely will get the Xbox One.Hopefully Microsoft realizes that not everyone has access to internet. But the controller looks cool .
  • Yeah, I agree. They should've put more power under the hood so it wouldn't be so dependent on being online.
  • Ummm...ok.
  • Hrm. That seems a burden for Developers. My nephews play theirs all of the time and are offline because my sister wont give them internet connectivity. Sure, they cant do some (many) stuff, but that's because the developers chose to go online or use compute in the cloud for multiplayer games. They aren't forced to build it this way. Microsoft gets the flak because they didn't communicate capabilities of the platform properly versus their hopes and expectations for how they could be leveraged. Not their first mistake. No one complains then they subscribe to Netflix but cant watch movies when they don't have internet... It sucks that so much content being developed is being developed with multiplayer longevity in mind. I quite enjoy single player story games. I chose XBO because my partner has a PS4 and its too tedious to manage/ use nevermind the flashlight controller and ports. Ok, and I'm a Microsoft fan.
  • What's a "PS4"? ;)
  • Well my Young Padowan,It's a console that has better offline capabilities and you probly notice the stunning graphics on Star Wars Battlefront 3
  • Gotta reinvent the wheel somehow...
  • Will it have the 3,5mm audio jack?
  • Yes
  • WANT!!
  • Still no built-in rechargeable battery?
  • Man, forget the damn battery. It sucks. If one proprietary battery like this becomes bad, and it will eventually happen, no matter the technology utilized, you will have a hell of time and money to buy a replacement. Just buy a cheaper Rechargeable AA like the ones you use in your gameboy and be happy.
  • Rechargeable AA or AAA batteries is my prefered choice, I can't say how thankful I am to battery companies, since before rechargeable batteries, I spent a lot of money, while today, my spent is about 5 pennies for every charge. (Including energy bill).
  • Been using usbcell by hipstreet along with a controller + cable edition xb1 controller
  • I have rechargeable AA batteries in my current XB1... I meant built-in in the sense.. something similar to Xbox one plug n play battery kit... if it fails we can buy a replacement for the battery or use thirdparty or use AA then... chargin using a cable or mounting on charge pad is much more convenient...
  • Which you can do now. There are 3rd party options available, and with a long enough USB cable you can plug it into the controller and it will power it during play. I really don't see the complaint.
  • Nobody wants built-in battery.
  • Wow
  • Meh
  • I'm going to guess $79.99
  • It's $150. Lol. No thanks Microsoft
  • I hope they sell this controller with the wireless adapter to connect to your Windows PC, I saw that adapter was announced about 1 week ago, but it can be months or even years on some countries before that wireless atapter arrives to retail stores, it could be much better if that is sold with this new controller, as many PC users want to play on their large TV with a game controller instead of a Wireless keyboard and mouse. 
  • At the end of the announcement it was confirmed for Xbox and Windows 10. Sent from my Nokia Lumia 735 using Tapatalk
  • "The new controller will ship with an app that allows you to fully customize the buttons, supporting over 250 new button combinations" App will probably be available for iOS/Android first.
  • I bet they'll make it a universal Windows 10 app
  • Lol
  • So awesome. Can't wait for this
  • Paddle shifters? What else would you use those for?
  • Shifting in racing games, macros, remap to make any single key more comfortable for you to reach.
  • Really good option. I will no doubt pick one up.
  • S type mothers f#%%
  • Was considering getting a Scuff, but I'll be getting this instead.
  • As long as it fully support Windows 7 then might be worth a look. If it's limited to Win10 Microsoft can keep it.    
  • I honestly watched this and was confused. I don't get what's going on with half of this thing.
  • I've had friends spend $200+ on controllers like these for destiny. I would imagine closer that that price range.
  • I want to rename the bumpers R1, R2, L1, and L2, and have the game recognize it.  Can you do that?  Because that would be awesome.  It's my number 1 issue with the controllers, I always mix up T and B, thinking "top" and "bottom", instead of "trigger" and "button".  I blame my heavy college playing of Gran Turismo...
  • That's the best controller ever!
  • The price is $150. A bit steep to my liking. :(
  • Where was that revealed?
  • Here: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/accessories/controllers/elite-wireles...
  • Still a mouse an keyboard kinda guy but will get this for racing.
  • Is a controller really worth $150?