Xbox Elite Series 2 after 3 years: How did it hold up?

In this video, I go over my experience with the Elite Series 2 after three years, addressing the issues I've ran into and how the controller has held up over extended use.
Xbox Elite Series 2 After 1 Year: Did Microsoft Fix The Durability Issues?: • Xbox Elite Series 2 Af...
#xboxeliteseries2 #review

[@GlowingOrangeOoze]

In my opinion, 3-year check-ins are the kind of review that REALLY matters for controllers. Thanks for doing this.

[@PaulHale]

Thanks for doing this review - I'm so done with my controller, For the price of the controller there should be a lot better longevity

[@RealziesCuts]

My OG Elite held up better 💫 335 days no alcohol 🏆

[@Austioperosis]

Mics

[@luisandresantelo2497]

My first Elite series controller (V1) lasted around 3 years, the rubber grips started peeling after 2 and by the time I shelved it, I had peeled the rest of the grips off myself because it was getting uncomfortable. Stick drift was an issue, albeit a minor one. By this point I was planning on buying the V2, so I confidently opened it up with proper tools and tinkered with the potenciometers, which resulted in a short lived recovery, eventually they gave out. So I bought the V2. V2.0 lasted about 2 years, rubber grips again becoming a problem on year 2. Stick drift, now massively problematic, trying to compensate with custom REWASD deadzones (check REWASD out btw) and even opening it up to clean the potenciometers did next to nothing. Finally, I decided I got a low quality roll and replaced the controller with another series 2. Second V2 held up well for about 8 months. Again, stick drift... massive stick drift. At this point I was pissed off. I shelved the controller in an almost pristine state physically (I live outside the US, so warranties are a pain in the ass). I grabbed my old Xbox One controller (7-8 years old) whose thumbsticks rubber had cracked and basically disintegrated at this point, replaced them with thumbsticks salvaged from the Elite V1 and have been gaming on that for about a year now. Still no sign if stick drift, no mechanical problems at all. I just sorely missed the back paddles. About 3 weeks ago, shuffling through my electronics closet for a spare part, I bumped into my Elite V2 in almost pristine conditions. Hey maybe it fixed it self right? Paired it. Nope. So I said y'know what, I'm gonna do something about this. Looked up the OG potenciometers online, bought them, got them shipped and I took my controller and spare parts to an electrical repair shop. I sat with the guy for about 2 hours, we removed and replaced the entire joystick from the board very carefully and after a little trial and error managed to get it all working. Total cost between parts and repair... around 30$ US. So yeah the controllers are, feel and utility wise, the best. But the quality control is dogshit. If you're not prepared to do some repairs on your controllers post year 2, don't buy one. Their normal Xbox one controllers have proven to outlast these elite versions by a mile in my experience at 1/3 the price.

[@COSMICWILLIE]

lol bro wrote so much

[@alexsalazar1985]

These controllers have a year warranty. You can ship them off to Xbox and they will replace the sticks or give you a new controller at no cost

[@luisandresantelo2497]

@@alexsalazar1985 Like I said, I dont live in the US, so sending it overseas and getting it back costs about as much as the controller would.

[@Meatman2042]

@@luisandresantelo2497 damn you gotta ship it to US for repair, that's tragic

[@calvinsallee]

Here's my experience. I got a white series 2 core 2 months ago and then bought the case and charger and paddles separately. When I got it i was still playing on the old Xbox one, but it was a very worn out system & the sync button didn't work anymore on the console, so when I had connection problems with the controller I thoight it was my console, fast forward a few weeks and I upgrade to a series x still would randomly loose connection or do things I wasn't doing with the sticks right before dis connection would happen. And then 2 nights ago I handed the controller off to my gf to play before we go to bed, and she played for 30 mins & the controller dis connected, would not re sync to my series x, and if I turned the console off manually, the controller would turn the console back on and light would stay on as if connected. But not a single one of the buttons would give me any response out of the xbox. Tried turning it off. Doing a wired connection. Nothing worked. The controller was just dead in the water, so I took it back to target to make an exchange and thankfully they did the exchange for me even tho I couldn't find my reciept. I got a blue series 2 core to replace it & so far I haven't had a single issue like I had with the other one. I guess I just got a bad one when I got the white one, idk. Was pretty frusterating tho to spend the kinda money they cost and have the kinda problems I was having with it. Which sucked to feel that way because I actually like all of the features the controller has to offer. I use almost all of them. I haven't adjusted too much in the settings as far as the sticks and the triggers. But the 3 stage trigger stop js something I use all the time. I only use 2 of the 4 paddles because I just can't get used to using that many paddles which isn't a bother to me. They are there and I have the option to use them or take them off. And I really love the adjustable thumb stick tension. It has made my aim in shooter games so much more precise along with the proper thumb sticks. Awesome controller. Hope this new one works good for a long time unlike the first one.

[@AP5.12]

I got all of the phantom series controllers for X1 and recently bought the core version of this which only adds the colors on the center of the controller and removes the accessories which are now being sold separately, I definitely see no difference with a regular Series X|S controller since I don’t really care about about the feeling of it but it looks more elegant and advanced hence the name. I only know that with any Xbox controller, mostly exclusive releases or unique designs like the phantom series there’s always an issue with the rb/lb buttons since it gets stuck on the carcass of the controller (the plastic between the inside component and the outside) so it’s definitely going to be an issue someday. However this can be fixed by taking it apart and moving the button upwards again unstucking it from the no response or wrong input problem or buying a piece off of some Xbox controllers component seller if there’s any if this doesn’t work

[@orclord5719]

I just got mine, the A button has been noticeably bad. I have to push it in deeper than I'd like for imput. For games like gears (of war), you need to hold it to run. As my main game, it was very obvious, very quick.

[@xlibshua]

Ive had loads of issues with my elite controller ever since i got it ive been through 4 replacements cause ive gotten the LB n RB double clicking n such and now the leather grips are starting to peel off it has two small bumps its annoying 180$ for a controller thats built to break

[@JordanEst]

sad when you think about it. most of my ps2 snes gamecube n64 controller etc mostly work great still.. all so very much more than 3 years old

[@Txnhunter]

Do you use those controllers everyday for 3 years

[@TomTom-jl9zd]

Had one and after a couple of weeks the LB button stopped working so I costumized it to under buttons for the rest no problems like some people had with ABXY

[@freedonx]

After many videos for honest years of usage . This is the only I really wanted to see.

[@inote7415]

I have an Elite 2 last December 2023 and now button LB weird.

[@wreckinplayz4329]

My elite remotes, been holding out, been having it since January

[@alamak12]

I have an elite 2 since january 2023 until now it works great,no issues

[@RAWKINGCOMEDY]

How is it now

[@jurgen951]

Had to go back to my Elite 1 controller after struggling with the Elite 2.

[@TrippyMV]

Just had to replace mine today after 1 month of use😭 A button wasn’t always registering and some stick drift on the right thumb stick

[@thesombrayt5477]

Dude that sucks

[@austinw9327]

Did you send yours into Microsoft? Or did you just buy a new one?

[@insanetharapy6948]

I just bought a brand new one and i gotta return it cause the stick doesn’t stay down. I also tried to just get a regular one last week and had drift. If anybody wants one of these controllers you BETTER get a WARRANTY

[@philipp594]

Peeling grips again ... okay I'm not buying an elite again any time soon. Where did you get the black d-pads?

[@MadWinter889]

ugh its heartbreaking to see the rubber grip peeled off like that. I dont believe a single owner of the elite v1 did not experience the grips falling off. Nobody would have complained if they just made the textured grip out of the same soft touch plastic as the rest of the controller, it still would feel great and premium.

[@1989bakerboy]

So true.....I have only owned my elite 2 for 7-8 months and already peeling :( its very well looked after and I don't live in a hot country and only play couple hours a day :(

[@coreythebludragon1986]

My bumpers are already starting to go after 6 months

[@1989bakerboy]

Only been using mine for 7 months and only play couple hours a day and the grip has already started peeling and getting uncomfortable :( so annoyong as dont expect this from a £150 controller, also i live in england so not exactly a hot country lol....proper gutting as tbf everything else is working perfect with it

[@swa_shotz556]

What keyboard is that?

[@jidenshaotoko]

It's a Logitech MX Mechanical Mini.

[@kavar7075]

The LB and RB button is a cheap piece of plastic that uses the plastic tincile strength instead of a spring, to push it/register it. Once that plastic wears out, it's useless. Same on the elite 1. Goodness for the price they kept this....

[@novocaine88]

Mine didn't last 12 months. Absolute trash for this amount of money. Every other controller I've ever had lasted longer than this POS

[@lucky3rd]

Microsoft complete is highly recommended sadly

[@user-ye9hw6qk4q]

Make the buttons spring loaded already god this rubber pad shit is such weak material already not even few months right bumper also for my control dose the same for me major delays also the A B Y X they need to make them spring loaded image how long a controller would last

[@EdwarioERS]

Everybody says Xbox Elite Controls feel amazing immediately once you start using them. They also say that they fall apart much faster. The Series 2 is better than the 1st, so here's to them making a Series 3 that finally resolves these faults. Something tells me Microsoft would prefer people with money to burn to keep replacing their expensive controllers at their current rate. Accelerated Planned Obsolescence.

[@matyashorvath2141]

Im not trying to offend you at all keep that in mind while reading this. I’ve had mine for 2 years now and almsot 0 issues outside of a little stickdrift which is still easily fixable with some electronic cleaner (i used bw-100), or just updating the controller in the accessories app sometimes and if not you got unlucky with a faulty modul or you have been throwing it around the room. And about the price, you keep saying ‘for how much it costs’ look, its a premium pro controller which is THREE years old the newest competitors cant even keep up with the price for this much features. It has unlimited customizability in the Xbox accessories app which can usually fix some issues too. And about the grip issues, i don’t think u would like a hard plastic grip because it does not serve a grippy texture which a grip is supposed to, and btw u can get some grips online too which wrap around the controller are made out of fabric and do not block the paddles. All the quality issues you had would be showing with any pro controller after 3 or 2 years because we are not on the level of putting so many features in an electronic and having no quality issues. And yes the bumpers are a little weak or bad should i say but every controller has a weakpoint especially the pro ones. And once again no offending this is just my opinion.

[@georgeenstock4980]

did you have to take off the face plate when using bw 100 or did you just spray it

[@mikedergalev]

i disagree and here's why. ive had an elite V1 for 5(!) years and it works perfectly fine to this day (except one bumper) sticks do not have drift at all. thats insane if you ask me. no rubber means nothing peels off, no grease NOTHING. so i decided to buy elite v2 and all issues aside it became very sticky where rubber is - disgusting feeling and i cant do anything about it. cleaning doesnt help. add here stick drift out of the box, faulty button presses etc. i mean this product is bad from durability standpoint. and i just cant understand why so happened. elite One was awesome. elite 2 sucks. im using Razer v2 Chroma btw. not so comfy and not so premium but build quality makes this thing top notch.

[@leonydus9889]

People like YOU are the perfect example of why these companies are allowed to get away with poor manufactured products, you defend it like it’s your own child, elite series 2 is one of the worst reviewed products, there was even a class action lawsuit be cause of the poor durability.. A controller that cost this much should have 0 to very minimal problems

[@boxerboy602]

BUT SIR! FOR 200 BUCKS FOR A FREAKING CONTROLLER, THE BUMPER BUTTONS BETTER LAST 10 YRS!! MY PS4 CONTROLLER BUMPER BUTTONS STILL WORK VERY GOOD WITHOUT ANY ISSUES! SO STOP BEING A ELITE SERIES FAN BOY!!!

[@matyashorvath2141]

@@boxerboy602 as i said every controller has weakpoints, you cant have anything with buttons on it that will last even close to 10 years if you use it frequently. And your not paying only for the bumpers, i said that its only my opinion and i wasnt trying to be a fanboy i was just talking about my experience with the elite series 2. I apperciate how you said sir and kept it respectful but i was only trying to tell my personal experience with this device

[@PedroKin]

Rubbish controller mine went 2 times to warranty in less then 2 years both times because the RB doesn't work, what a piece of crap

[@HUNTSPOINT.]

You say you use this controller mainly, then go ahead and say all my other controllers, which cost less remain cleaner with less care. Ugh, yeah, because you never use them..... 😂😂😂😂😂

[@jidenshaotoko]

My wife uses them while I use the Elite, but I didn't feel like bringing it up in the video to keep things simple :)

[@shadeliquid]

Even my xbox series controller still look good after 2 years barely have to clean it

[@jidenshaotoko]

Good for you buddy.

[@Thundergun5]

The bumper buttons are designed from cheap plastic and WILL wear out over time, and overall, have about the SAME ability to fail over time and are no more drop resistant than the standard controller... this is an overpriced waste

[@bobmarley2140]

Why does it seem like no one in this comment section has heard of glue before

[@1989bakerboy]

Cause once the rubber starts peeling it somehow stretches so even if you wanted to glue it back down you can't without cutting some of the rubber, for £150 I dont think we should have to be doing that, mine has started doing that after only owning for 7-8 months and only playing couple hours a day

[@nasari2160]

These are by far the worst quality controllers for the overly Expensive price. Just get a scuf

[@blacke46coupe10]

I had the prestige and i loved it but the quality was very very bad, especially the paddles on that one

[@TheTrueGodOfMinecraft]

Scuf Is garbage

[@killvapkillvaps3719]

Anybody fixed issue with rubber? Maybe glue the rubber or it’s possible to replace it?