Gambit Tournament Controller for Xbox
Victrix has been around for just over 5 years and develops gaming accessories with a strong focus on the professional esports community. COGconnected recently reviewed the Victrix Gambit wireless gaming headset. Although I have reviewed many gaming accessories, this is the first Victrix accessory I have personally reviewed. Needless to say, I was excited to see what kind of innovation Victrix would bring to a controller. The Gambit Dual-Core Wired Tournament Controller is designed for the Xbox platform and my testing was exclusively done on the Xbox Series X. I mainly focused on First Person Shooters such as Fortnite, Call of Duty Vanguard and Halo Infinite. Accuracy, timing and comfort are all critical factors that come into play here. Does the Victrix Gambit have what it takes to compete with other Pro controllers on the market? We'll take a look.
If looks could kill
Let me start by saying that the controller is absolutely stunning. It comes with two different faceplate options; a plain white faceplate and a purple silicone faceplate. I chose to use the purple faceplate – loved the feel of it and it looked as smooth as heck. The purple faceplate is attached via magnets to the controller. Super easy to attach, but some parts would accidentally come loose during use - not really a problem, as it didn't impact gameplay, but was annoying. In addition to the faceplates, the Gambit also includes 2 different styles of back paddles, 2 additional thumb sticks, and 2 interchangeable doors. For the rear paddles, you can opt for two buttons or four buttons. Unfortunately, the rear paddles are incredibly sensitive, and I found myself accidentally pressing them too often. I've used other pro-style controllers that handle the rear paddles much better. And finally, the controller also comes with a separate 3 meter purple cord – as noted, this is a wired controller.
Features Pro Miss The Mark
Although the controller looks cool, its shape leaves a lot to be desired. For one, the controller is actually slightly wider than a standard Xbox Series X controller. Despite my hours of testing, I never felt very comfortable. Everything seemed… off. Another issue was the positioning of the Menu, View and Share buttons, opting for a sort of inset approach that keeps their profile low and very difficult to access. When playing Call of Duty, I often like to check out the dashboard, but I constantly find myself fumbling with the appropriate button. Worse still, the controller's "multi-position smart triggers" don't work at all. I've tried, unsuccessfully, to adjust the trigger locks, but they just don't work. The included instruction manual didn't help matters either, nor did the downloadable Xbox app. I've used at least half a dozen controllers with different trigger locks and never found myself in a situation where I couldn't actually get the locks to work as expected. As noted, the Gambit controller has a downloadable Xbox app. As soon as I started the app, I was prompted for a controller update. After that, I was able to program the buttons on the back paddle, and… well, that's about it.
One of the highlights of this controller is its dual-core processor, which dedicates one processor to controller inputs and the other to audio, specifically Dolby Atmos. The benefit is supposed to provide faster inputs, reducing input lag. But in practice, I didn't notice any improvement at all. Is it possible that my input lag was reduced by a few nanoseconds? Maybe…but again, I just didn't notice. The other side of the coin is dedicated Dolby Atmos audio. So when you plug in headphones, you get the best audio. Since I'm using Dolby Atmos compatible wireless headphones anyway, I had no way to test if there was a difference in audio quality. Apparently this controller will also provide lifetime access to Dolby Atmos, but since I'm already a subscriber, I have no way of confirming that.
Missed opportunity
The Victrix Gambit is touted as the world's fastest Xbox controller, but to be honest, it's too hard to tell if that's true. At no time did I feel like I had an edge over the competition. In fact, because the controller was so inconvenient, I felt like I was constantly at a disadvantage. The controller isn't quite as comfortable as the standard Series X controller – however, if you have incredibly large hands, the extra width may actually be an advantage. Pro features aren't nearly as well implemented as competing Pro controllers. The trigger locks don't work and the rear paddles are far too sensitive. The Xbox app is pretty handy for updating the controller and programming the back paddle inputs. Make no mistake, this wired controller looks absolutely stunning, however, in the end, I was ultimately disappointed. I'd be very interested to see what improvements Victrix makes to its future Gambit controllers – the only thing I recommend they don't change is the sleek purple look.
***Victrix Gambit controller provided by the manufacturer.***
