Hyperkin The Competitor Xbox Controller

A couple of years ago, Gaming Nexus critic Joseph Moorer wrote a positive review of Square Enix’s open-world RPG Forspoken. The review is long, detailed, and heartfelt, but that didn’t stop Xbox fans from losing their collective minds. Forspoken was a PlayStation exclusive, and Xbox fans from all over the world came out of the woodwork, flinging the usual accusations at Joseph, calling him a “Pony,” and swearing up and down that he was somehow profiting from his enjoyment of a video game (never mind that Joe is a huge Nintendo fan and also preaches the glories of the Series S to anyone that will listen).

The internet noise reached a fever pitch, to the point where Joseph and I went on an Xbox-focused podcast based in Australia to explain our platform-agnostic views and to try to convince them that Joe actually just really enjoyed the game. The folks at the podcast turned out to be pretty cool after all—we liked them and they liked us—and that “confrontation” went about as well as could be expected. As usual, time went by, other games came out, and the Forspoken drama died down (but not before earning Joseph the rather stellar nickname “Joespoken”).

What does all of this have to do with a controller review? Well, I shared this anecdote because the controller I’m reviewing is The Competitor, and every time I pick it up I hear screams of agony and betrayal from millions of Xbox fans echoing in my head. If I listen carefully, some of these screams seem to have a distinct Australian accent.

The Competitor, produced by Hyperkin, is an Xbox controller that takes on the form factor of a PlayStation controller. As soon as I dropped an image of the packaging into the Gaming Nexus Slack, the chortling began. There is no mistaking what The Competitor is going for—the color scheme, analog stick placement, D-pad, and button placement echo Sony’s DualSense in a way that is simply unmistakable. I can absolutely see a PlayStation fan showing up at their Xbox-loving friend’s place for a night of gaming, plugging this thing in, and saying, “Let’s go.”

The Competitor is aimed squarely at those who prefer Sony’s controller layout. The wired controller works with both Xbox and PC and syncs to those devices immediately upon plug-in. Of course, a standard DualSense controller syncs to Steam just as quickly as The Competitor, so nothing stops Sony fans from using their PS5 controllers on a PC. But still, there is some value here for fans of this layout who want to play on Xbox.

I play on all platforms about evenly, so I switch between controller layouts without even giving it a moment’s thought. Frankly, the thing that messes me up more than anything is Nintendo’s insistence on its backward-ass button configuration. But where the sticks and buttons are? I haven’t even really thought about that since the N64 days. Since I got a series of surgeries to fix up my hands, a controller is a controller is a controller.

That said, there is no doubt that The Competitor is successful in what it is trying to do here. Holding the controller in my hands and closing my eyes, it absolutely feels like I’m holding a DualSense controller. The Competitor is a bit lighter (234 grams vs. 280 grams), most likely due to the lack of a battery. And, of course, it is corded—The Competitor comes with a generous 10-foot USB cord. It should be noted that the cord is standard rubbery plastic and not braided, as has become standard for higher-end controllers. No big deal, but it is one detail that makes The Competitor feel a bit less “premium.”

The other instantly noticeable feature is the inclusion of two programmable back buttons, which rest in the grips where your middle finger naturally lands. A nifty, unobtrusive lock switch can lock these in place so they don’t move, but they are there if you want them. I always immediately program these to replace the L3 and R3 functions, which I insist should never be used, particularly to toggle “run” functions in games. So I’m pleased that these buttons are as responsive as they are.

The Hall effect analog sticks feel pretty much identical to Sony’s, but they are replaceable with a couple of concave sticks that Hyperkin supplies in the box. In one nice improvement over Sony’s controller, the sticks are ringed with metal, which gives them a particularly smooth feeling when running them around the edges of the stick ring (stick ring? Is that a term?). It’s a small difference, but you’ll notice it immediately; a bit of friction you are expecting simply isn’t there.

And now for a bit of discordant weirdness—the buttons and D-pad on The Competitor feel ever so slightly smaller than those on the DualSense. I’ve been sitting here looking at the controllers, and I can’t really see a difference between the two, but I can’t shake the feeling that there is a size difference. Maybe this is due to the fact that the buttons and the D-pad are noticeably raised slightly higher from the controller than those on the DualSense, which makes them feel slightly poppier.

The triggers and shoulder buttons are likewise responsive. It must be acknowledged that this is not a DualSense controller, and it goes without saying that you will never get the adaptive trigger functions of Sony’s native controller, even if you are playing Sony games on Steam. That said, I spent a lot of my review period with The Competitor running around like a loony in the Simpsons Fortnite season, so the triggers got plenty of use. I’ll put my cards on the table here and admit that—due to my aforementioned hand issues—I pretty much hate the DualSense adaptive triggers, so I’m perfectly happy with The Competitor’s slick, non-clicky triggers.

Beyond that, The Competitor has all the buttons you would expect on an Xbox controller, including the download/screenshot button. A nice addition is the mic-muting button positioned at the bottom of the controller, right above where the headset jack is inset.

There aren’t really any other bells and whistles here—what you end up with is a very nice-feeling, if slightly light, Xbox controller with the layout of a PlayStation controller. As a fan of wired controllers, I find this one to be more than suitable for playing on my PC, but I’ll probably leave it plugged into my Series S to add a third controller to the mix on that system. While The Competitor isn’t really breaking any new ground (in fact, it is purposely treading all over old ground), it is nonetheless a solid controller for the $50 asking price.

In addition to the nice build and reliable functionality, The Competitor would make a great gag gift to give to the diehard Xbox fan in your life, if only to watch steam come out of their ears. I wonder if Hyperkin ships to Australia…