GameSir Kaleid Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One,Windows 10/11 & Steam, Plug and Play Gaming Gamepad, Transparent Video Game Controller with Hall Effect Joysticks/Hall Trigger

I just got the GameSir Kaleid controller for Xbox, and I’m pretty happy with it. After switching out the joysticks for some Scuff thumbsticks—long one on the right, medium on the left—it feels way better in my hands. The GameSir SE was a bit cramped, but this one has way more room, which is nice for longer gaming sessions.I’ve tried a bunch of controllers, including the Xbox Elite Series 1 and 2, PowerA Fusion Pro 1 and 2, and the Razer Wolverine V1, and I can say the Kaleid is a solid pick. The back buttons are super useful, and those hall effect joysticks are smooth, especially with the RAW mode in the GameSir app. The lighting looks cool, but if that’s not your thing, it’s no big deal.One thing I had to do was update the firmware to unlock the polling rate options. If you want to switch between 1000 Hz and 500 Hz, you have to connect it to your PC, since you can’t do that just through the Xbox. I tried using the 1000 Hz polling rate, but I ran into some ghost pressing on the left back button. It was acting like I was pressing it when I wasn’t, which was annoying. Switching back to 500 Hz fixed that issue, though, so just keep that in mind.Another thing I noticed is with the triggers. When I press them down, there’s a bit of friction that I didn’t feel before, and when I let go, they touch the inside of the controller, which is kind of annoying since it used to be smooth.Overall, if you liked the GameSir SE, the Kaleid is a nice upgrade, especially if you’ve got bigger hands. It’s comfy, works well, and you get some great features without dropping a ton of cash.

First off let me start off by saying that I chose not to mark off any points for any of the issues I had due Linux. This product is not designed for Linux, it is not advertised to be compatible with Linux, and any problems I faced are purely my own for buying this over something that does advertise Linux compatibility. That said, I will be talking about my experience on Linux as Linux users often have to make the choice between buying a worse product that will definitely work, or a better one that will maybe work.First, let me talk about the controller itself. This is by far the BEST controller I have ever laid my hands on. It is extremely clear to me that every single detail was painstakingly refined to bring us this product. Everything from the looks to the physical build quality is absolutely flawless and I am extremely happy when I am using this thing. The grips are hard plastic and feature a texture similar to knurling that not only really grippy, but seems like it will help minimize the impact of sweaty hands (though I haven't owned it long enough to say for certain if this is the case).As for the input, the sticks perform about as well as you would expect, but the feel of the sticks is really good. The edges of the stick cap are knurled so they are extra grippy and unlikely to slip in intense gaming sessions. The face buttons use clicky mechanical switches and they feel and sound exactly like clicking a mouse. In games I actually really appreciate this additional auditory feedback as in kart racers where you have to time when you start holding the gas, its good to be able to hear how far off you were.The D-Pad was my biggest worry and I can honestly say that I am relieved that this D-Pad is good. It is very easy to make a D-Pad that FEELS good and for most people that's all they need to speak highly of it. It's an entirely different challenge to make one that PERFORMS well. Most modern D-Pads I have used are too sensitive on diagonal inputs which makes certain retro games or fighting games pretty hard. With this each of the 8 directions have a noticeable click, and its hard to actuate a diagonal input unintentionally, even when you rock from 1 side to the other.Now on to the Linux sectionLet me start by reiterating that this DOES work... There are just a couple pretty nasty caveats. When I first got this controller, I saw that it supported both xinput and direct input and I assumed between one of those 2 that it would work. When the controller arrived and I go to plug it in for the first time it lights up in xinput mode... and then immediately turns off the light. I go around trying to follow the instructions to change the modes and it nothing happens at all. I then start poking around my system to try to debug whether the system even sees the controller and I end up spending 3 hours trying to figure out SOMETHING that would let me keep this glorious thing. Then later I found out that in order to change modes I had to HOLD the buttons as the controller is powering on and suddenly the first thing I thought to try turned out to be the solution. As for the "nasty caveats", the only mode on this controller that works with Linux is Android mode. Xinput mode immediately shuts off after it powers on, I couldn't figure out how to access the controller with direct input (though I didn't try very long), and Nintendo Switch mode ACTUALLY FREEZES MY SYSTEM. To add to this problem, this is a wired only controller that realistically you might want to leave connected to your system at all time. The problem with that though is that for some reason during the bootup process the controller tries to boot into Nintendo Switch mode so I either have to have it unplugged when booting my system, or babysit the controller so it boots into the correct mode. Also while I don't know exactly what is happening, I believe the controller is interfering with Steam's ability to launch as well, so it is best to not even plug it in until Steam launches.Once you have it working it performs really well. You lose access to features such as rumble and gyro, but a lot of configuration features of the controller are accessed from the controller itself, so you get access to stuff like hair trigger mode, switching A and B and X and Y, and most importantly, programmable back buttons. You can also adjust the lighting to one of four modes (which is better than nothing) and you can change their brightness or turn them off if you don't care about them. I do not have a windows machine to test if configuring it on windows will stick when you switch to Linux, but if that does then that would be great.Conclusion:Overall, if you are a Windows user, you are going to have absolutely 0 issues with this controller. It's an excellent controller and supposedly the configuration software is pretty good. If you are a Linux user and you are OK with all the workaround you need to do to get this controller to play nice with your system, then physically, there is nothing that should prevent you from enjoying this controller. Though again, on Linux, you DO need to leave it unplugged when you aren't using it.While I know that getting full Linux support is a lot to ask of any company, I would really like if GameSir at least tried to offer a bare minimum level of support for Linux (I.e. boots into a mode that works by default and not into a mode that hard freeze your system on boot). It is very clear from using this controller that the engineers considered every tiny detail of this controller and put a lot of love into polishing it to perfection, and I would love if future products by this company were more widely available on other platforms.

This controller is amazing, and I’ve been through pretty much all of the paces as far as controllers for Xbox goes. Elite Series 2, Scuf, Gamesir G7, modded original controllers, and even some PC controllers using an adapter. This beats ALL of them. The Elite Series 2 and Scuf are still the best for the “look and feel”, but as for the function, this controller is the best. The buttons are mechanical, which feel amazing to me. This difference means that instead of the button slowly depressing and then at some point making contact and giving input, a very specific amount of weight will make the button go down immediately, potentially giving you a tiny boost in reaction time. All of the buttons are mechanical, except for the home button, remappable buttons on the back, and the thumbstick buttons. Next, the thumbsticks and triggers. They are next level. The part you’re going to notice most is the thumbsticks, as you’ll be able to lower your dead zone in all games to zero or 1 without getting any drift. That is simply impossible on a normal thumbstick, since the standard margin of error for the dead zone of those style sticks is usually around 7%, meaning you’ll get drift in some direction anywhere under that number. Having no dead zone means every single tiny movement on the thumb stick is very accurate, allowing you to control recoil and aim better. Third, the look and feel of the controller is actually really good! As I said before, it doesn’t beat the Elite 2 or Scuf at all, but the clear plastic is surprisingly thick and has a quality feel. The mobo is on black PCB which looks nice. And the lights are an added touch, with a ton of customization, all the way down to making multiple color “phases” for one lighting profile so you can make all sorts of patterns and stuff. Overall, this controller is going to be the #1 all around controller in my books for a while, probably until Gamesir releases something else or maybe if Microsoft actually decides to make an Elite with hall affect sticks. We shall seeThere is, however, one critical flaw. On the current firmware, my controller sometimes turns my Xbox back on when I shut it down. It seems to happen intermittently so there may be a specific thing I’m doing that I’m not aware of, but that means it could probably happen to you too. The only way to stop this loop is by unplugging the controller. Furthermore, when the console is successfully turned off, the controller won’t wake the console up from sleep unless you plug it in. Pretty annoying but a price I’m willing to pay for a great controller. I’m hoping this could be fixed with a firmware update, but we’ll have to see.