Victrix Gambit Tournament Controller for Xbox Review – The World’s Fastest Controller?

As the eSports scene has grown, and gaming as a whole has become a much more serious, profitable industry, manufacturers have cottoned on to the fact that the players themselves want to be able to dictate their successes for themselves. Controller personalisation has therefore come to the fore, with Microsoft and their Elite controller leading the way in what is possible. But others are fast catching those coat-tails and with Nacon having just delivered their Revolution X Pro Controller to the scene, PDP and their Victrix eSports/pro brand are following.

Victrix aren’t just interested in letting players customise things though – they want to push them on to the next level, and with the world’s fastest Xbox controller in the Victrix Gambit Dual Core Tournament Controller – Designed for Xbox, they may just have done it. 

We’ll start with that whole ‘world’s fastest controller’ business and whilst many may see that as a bit of nonsense, delving into the facts proves otherwise. Victrix have created this with the express intention of giving eSport and pro gamers the upperhand, and whilst the everyday gamer may not be too fussed by what it brings, there’s no debating the facts.

A dual core controller – one focusing on the gaming inputs whilst the other is primarily for audio – the Victrix Gambit is up to 8 times faster at registering input over industry standards. Decent numbers in themselves but the real power comes from the fact that whilst your Xbox console will look for an input every 4 milliseconds, the Gambit powers on through, at nearly half that rate. 

When in the heat of the battle this means that whilst your opponent may have just missed their input window, the Gambit will continue to deliver the goods. And yep, if you’re playing a one-on-one brawler, that lag time is hugely significant.

Granted, this is rarely going to trouble the average gamer and through use we’ve not really found the Victrix Gambit to make us better gamers; we’re still struggling around mid-pack of any racing title and consistently struggle to get those chicken dinners on PUBG. But that’s not to say the Gambit controller is of no use, because frankly, it’s a really well put together product.

For us, it’s the sheer amount of customisation and feel in hand that is the main draw. Sitting at roughly the exact same dimensions as the standard Xbox Wireless controller, the Victrix Gambit is a little lighter in hand, coming in at roughly 20 grams less; a smidge short of 250 grams in total depending on your faceplate of choice. It’s all setup exactly as you would expect of an Xbox controller too, with the two thumbsticks, the D-Pad, face buttons and both bumpers and triggers all easily accessible and within muscle memory reach. 

There are amendments to keep in mind though, but honestly, they are pretty much all of a positive nature. The share button, along with menu and view options are in slightly new places, each coming with a carbon fibre textured angular design, feeling great to the touch, whilst the face buttons themselves just come across as a teeny bit smaller. Getting the old measuring tape out doesn’t help confirm nor deny this, but we’re of the impression that the smaller ABXY font on the Gambit helps with this. 

What’s also very good is the sheer size of the triggers. Textured, just like both bumpers, these are beefier affairs than that of normal, and so missing the hit is nigh on impossible. We’ve found the opportunity to lay the forefinger on the trigger is a supremely comfortable way of playing. And whilst we’re working the backside of the controller, we need to point out a few further additions – namely those of clutch buttons and either two or four back buttons via a paddle. 

The clutches work with the triggers, letting you change up the length of travel before these reach their maximum point. It’s a clever system that works neatly once you get the hang of it, and even though it’s tricky to define an exact depressable length, for our needs it more than suits. 

The back paddles are decent too and whilst we’re not in love with them quite as much as the four back buttons on the Nacon Revolution X, they are certainly up to the job. In place via a changeable panel which either lets you have access to two or four buttons, these sit nicely where your third fingers grip the controller, letting you program them up as you see fit. They are certainly well positioned but we’ve found they are a tad too easily to press, hitting them up accidentally when we haven’t been looking for them. Like any Pro controller though, especially these which bring such a huge amount of customisation to the table, it’s very much just making use of the controller and attempting to understand what exactly you can do with it. 

The very best bit of the Victrix Gambit Tournament Controller Designed for Xbox though is the interchangeable hardware options. The controller itself comes packaged in a rather tidy little Victrix branded carry case, and in here are all manner of options. There’s a second faceplate for starters, so you can choose between a purple silicone affair (our favourite), or a rougher, more study white plastic option. Both look great but the brilliant feel that the purple silicone one brings makes this controller really standout. These plates connect with a series of preinstalled magnets, so switching them out when you feel the need takes a matter of seconds. 

The thumbsticks are also amendable and whilst the controller comes as standard with two concave shirt sticks, taking the faceplate off and giving a little yank on the sticks themselves can see them easily replaced by a convexed short stick, and/or a longer length precision stick with a concave top. If you’re a bit of a sniper in the plethora of multiplayer focused shooters that are on the market, this is going to be something you want to make the most of. Further to that, the carry case has two different thumbstick gate types too and so if you want to go really deep into the personalisation angle, you can do so. 

The D-Pad can also be switched up, taking off the standard version and switching it out for that of a more fluid diamond. Again this works well and we’ve been pretty impressed with using these secondary options in games where D-Pad usage is vital – hi, Boulder Dash Deluxe. The only downside to this is that you need to remove this prior to taking off the faceplate. Again, it’s a matter of seconds of work, but it is something to consider. 

For us, a combination of the purple silicone, the new Victrix-emblazoned diamond D-Pad and the standard thumbsticks has ensured that gaming with the Victrix Gambit controller has been a joy. With no less than 14 swappable components, your usage may well differ. 

But that’s not all the Gambit controller has, for the second of the dual core technology that is built in here is primarily used for your audio – and we all know that having the finest audio pumped into your ears whilst you game is something that elevates any session. 

With built-in Dolby Atmos support, no matter what headset you connect up to the Gambit, you’ll be treated to the power of Dolby Atmos. Yes, you’ll need to connect that headset via a 3.5mm jack, but from there the world is your oyster. We’ve found sound to be super rich when using this controller, but the main selling point is the fact that thanks to the inclusion of a face-mounted audio button, you can amend those sounds on the fly. You see, this button double-taps for full audio mute, but by holding it and pressing various directions on the D-Pad, you’ll be able to increase or decrease the overall volume, as well as put more focus on either the game audio or your party chat. It’s a super simple system that works brilliantly and ensures you never have to go messing around in your Xbox settings and menus ever again. 

At least that is unless you make the most of the Victrix Control Hub App too. Freely downloadable from the Xbox Store, the Victrix App allows even more controller customisation. 

It goes without saying that you can update the firmware and recalibrate the controller from here, but there’s also the opportunity to run diagnostics for each and every button should you ever happen across a problem.

The main draw of the App though is that you can easily remap the controller however you see fit. Any button can be switched out for another with utter ease, the rear-mounted paddles can have whatever needs to be assigned, and the thumbsticks can be swapped (great if you’re a lefty) or inverted.

You can also swap left and right triggers, play around with dead zones and adjust the strength of the rumble motors which provide the controller vibration. Sticking it to 100% and feeling the full force is our preference, but if you wish to tone things down, you can.

The Control Hub App also lets you mess around with the audio some more, creating up to three unique EQ profiles, and fine tuning most other audio bits and bobs if you feel the need.

Created in order to allow eSports specialists and pro gamers the chance to get one up on their opposition, the Victrix Gambit Dual Core Tournament Controller – Designed for Xbox is a stunning option to have. Highly customisable, well priced at just short of £100 and supremely comfortable to use, there’s little to dislike about what has been created. In fact, after using this for a good few weeks, the only consideration you need to make is pretty much whether you can handle this as a wired controller; it will not work unless you tie it down to a console. The included three meter long cable is certainly long enough for most use cases, but you’ll need to be aware that there is no wireless option here.

Huge thanks go out to Victrix for providing us with their Gambit Dual Core Tournament Controller – Designed for Xbox. If you wish to pick one up for yourself, hit up Victrix direct.

Unboxing the WORLD’S FASTEST XBOX CONTROLLER – Victrix Gambit Dual Core Tournament Controller