Verdict
The Asus ROG Raikiri Pro has the making of an fantabulous pro controller . It ’s comfortable to use and aboveboard to customise . But with no wireless Xbox connectivity and a for the most part pointless OLED screen inflating its price ticket , there ’s little to congeal it apart from other Xbox and PC gamepads .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The ROG Raikiri Pro is a perfectly serviceable controller with an obsolete organic light-emitting diode screen flump on the front and an inflated cost tag to bang . It ’s comfortable , it ’s robustly customizable , and even with its queerly angled back buttons , it served me well in private-enterprise shooters , soulslikes and even the odd RTS .
But for all Asus ’s claims that the ROG Raikiri Pro has been designed with the Xbox in mind , it can only link up to the console over a USB cable television service , not wirelessly . And the OLED screen might see flashy , but does n’t sum up up to much more than a glorified screensaver .
If you ’re an Xbox player , slop £ 149.99/$169.99 on the Rog Raikiri Pro while theXbox Elite Controller 2andScuf Instinct Pro Controllercan be had for a touching extra does n’t make a whole lot of horse sense . And if you play in the main on PC , most of our other pickax of thebest game controllerswill be superior . Do n’t be fooled by the OLED whatchamacallum .
Design
The main feature of the ROG Raikiri Pro is the inch - foresightful OLED screen at the top of its faceplate , though why it ’s been put there at all is still something of a mystery story to me . Its main purpose is to act as a screensaver , showing a splashy invigoration or chain of textual matter . By default , it ’s localise to a short , looped animation of a ROG logotype , which come in several varieties , although you’re able to spell a customs duty animations and string of your own . Other than that , it ’s used to change clitoris - map profile with the aid of a couplet of side buttons . That ’s it .
It ’s fundamentally a gimmick , and one that feels deliberately designed to serve as fodder for scoffing news headlines and keyword - laden Amazon listings . It ’s also something of a beguilement . I retrieve the default ROG logo animations so brassy that I terminate up turning the whole projection screen off only a few days into my testing , and am yet to turn it back on .
The back of the comptroller also looks a morsel peculiar . In the center of four rear buttons is a magnetic compartment hiding a USB dongle used to wirelessly connect the accountant to a PC . It ’s a snazzy way of integrating the pass receiver , although you could leave about it you ’ll just be playing on Xbox , as the ROG Raikiri can only be wired up to console . It does , as luck would have it , derive with a generous 3 m braided USB cable’s length . But even so , with wireless controllers the norm for console controllers , it ’s a grownup omission .
The rest of the ROG Raikiri will feel familiar to anyone who ’s used the standard Xbox Wireless Controller , bar a few adjustments . The d - tablet is gravid and flatter , which I find to be more easy . The in-between View , Share and Menu buttons are smaller and protrude less – ready to hand if , like me , you sometimes find yourself unintentionally catching those middle button with the tips of your thumbs . And the triggers have a more accentuated curved shape , giving them more of a trigger feel .
The 3.5 mm headphone jack and a handy contiguous wordless - microphone button round off what is a very well-fixed control , although its bourgeois RGB ignition sit passably at odds with the flashy , bizarre , and mostly functionless OLED screen slapped in the heart .
Performance
The ROG Raikiri ’s back paddle are eminent up on its body and stuffy to its spine . It ’s an unusual placement , and means your finger lie next to the buttons rather than on top of them . I found that worked nicely enough and prevented me from incidentally tapping them at any inopportune time , although it did take a while to get used to stretching my middle and ring finger upwards to extend to them . They do the usual , and can be delegate to specific in - game controls or used to switch more granulose configurations of the ROG Raikiri on the fly sheet , such as the sensitivity of its analogue sticks .
Their shape is a niggling unintuitive , too . They ’re lean and have a few grooves , but they ’re not exactly ergonomic . I often found myself hitting their edges rather the 2-dimensional part of their bodies , and while that did n’t cause any major job , I can imagine anyone who is used to precisely tap the rearward paddle of their controller with lightning speed will find it an irritate adjustment .
The hair triggers work better . They can be set to a short - cooking stove mode for minimal propulsion , which come in ready to hand when you ’re toy a twitch shooter and postulate to speedily pull the trigger , or a long - kitchen range modal value for standard travel aloofness . you could shift between them using a pair of sliders on the controller ’s back , and customise their utter zones and input thresholds using the accompanying Armoury Crate app .
That level of granular customization widen across the accountant . The response bend , dead zona , and threshold of each parallel stick can be adjusted , as can the intensiveness of the controller ’s four vibration zones . That covers essentially everything you ’d need to line up , and I found it powerful enough to change the controller to exactly my preference .
stamp battery life is also solid . I got over 40 hours of juice from the controller when using it wirelessly with my personal computer . Although if you ’re wire it up to an Xbox , you wo n’t have to worry about that .
Software
To access any of those adaptation feature film , you involve to employ Asus ’s Armoury Crate PC app , which did n’t go wholly smoothly for me . For starters , you’re able to only aline the ROG Raikiri ’s preferences when it ’s wired up to your personal computer – somewhat frustrating given its wireless functionality – and even pay off it coif up became a job . I had to reconnect the gamepad several time before the app would agnize it all , and was then repeatedly met with a wispy computer error subject matter for a few hours before it miraculously fix itself . Bugs like that do n’t exactly fill you with confidence .
Once it was up and running , using the app was smooth . The interface is responsive and absolved , and adjust the various parameters is uncomplicated enough . Even well , the changes are made in literal time , so you’re able to check what you just did and if any further change are needed .
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Should you buy it?
The OLED silver screen is the ROG Raikiri ’s big draw . It does n’t do much , but is a sport gimmick .
The ROG Raikiri Pro does n’t offer anything of substance you ca n’t find elsewhere at a comparable price .
Final Thoughts
The Asus ROG Raikiri Pro is a solid all - orotund gamepad that ticks most boxes . But the lack of wireless Xbox connectivity and the improver of an OLED screen that does little more than demote up the price does it no favour .
If you ’re going to spend this much on a personal computer and Xbox pro controller , you may as well shell out on something more satisfying , like theXbox Elite Controller 2orScuf Instinct Pro Controller .
Trusted Score
How we test
We use every plot controller we test for at least a week . During that time , we ’ll check it for ease of use and put it through its paces by play a sort of dissimilar musical style .
We also check the restrainer ’s software support and barrage animation if applicable .
FAQs
While the standard Raikiri connects to PC and Xbox via a USB cable , the pro model can also pair to PC through Bluetooth and a USB recipient .
Yes , but only when using it with a microcomputer . If you ’re connecting it to an Xbox , you ’ll have to wire it up with a USB cable .
Full Specs
