When it comes to Xbox Controllers, by default, they are quite big and bulky. Smaller hands, especially those of children, can find these controllers a bit harder to hold. Those who play games for a long time might find their wrists and hands getting fatigued from such large controllers, and that’s the niche that Nacon’s Pro Compact controller is looking to fill.
This controller is 15% smaller than a traditional Xbox Controller, making it a lighter and more, uh, compact controller that can be played with. It’s wired, with one of those fail-safe cables, which will keep you from pulling your Xbox straight off your stand if you pull too hard. I have pretty average sized hands, so I don’t often feel like a controller is too heavy or too bulky, however, changing to this controller I also felt very little difference.
The controller is lighter, it’s smaller (great when it comes to storing it to the side of my TV) and the kids seem to play with it just fine. Robin, who is five years old, can play quite easily and does seem to benefit most from the small size, but catering to a five year old might not be what this controller is ideally designed for. I found myself playing games as I normally would, as all of the buttons are in the same place – apart from the menu and view buttons which are higher up and further apart. I didn’t personally find this to be an issue as I don’t really use them.
The joystick was a bit more sensitive than our default controllers and the bumpers do take a bit of getting used to, but it’s not anything major. All of the buttons on the Nacon Pro Compact can be remapped as well, with a small switch on the back which allows you to toggle custom mapping on and off.
Much like any Xbox Controller, the Nacon Pro Compact has a jack so that you can listen to audio right through your controller, however, it also comes with a bonus. The controller has a license for Dolby Atmos, which is a really lovely surround sound service. This normally costs an extra licensing fee, however, the license comes free with this controller as a default — if sound is something you find very important to your game playing experience.
Although I don’t find myself in need for a lighter controller, I have found that this controller is pretty normal to play with — so if you have smaller hands or a need for a controller that is smaller and more compact, there is no one ready for you! I feel that there aren’t any huge negatives and I couldn’t tell too much when I was gaming that I was playing something more compact myself, but if you do have gaming children, they might gravitate towards smaller controllers like our family does.
You can purchase a Nacon Pro Compact from their website.
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