No controller is perfect, but the Xbox One controller comes close. A master of haptic feedback, its triggers don't shy away from kicking you with a jolt of battery-backed vibration every time you're running off the side of the road in Forza Horizon 4 or firing off your M30 shotgun in Battlefield V. But, out of the box, it does have a major disadvantage holding it back: although the Xbox One controller itself supports Bluetooth, most desktop PCs do not.
Two years after the launch of the Xbox One, its controller finally gained universal wireless connectivity on PC by way of a $25 adapter—on top of the $60 price tag of the controller on its own. Initially compatible only with Windows 10, Microsoft later added Windows 7 and 8 compatibility to the mix. And now that it's at its most formidable, the Xbox One controller is bundled with the wireless dongle included for $30 off at B&H Photo, effectively saving you 38%. That means you get everything for $49.95, but you'd better hurry as it ends tomorrow, January 31 at midnight ET.
The new $49.95 sticker price is just over what you can expect to pay for a new Xbox controller, without the adapter, elsewhere. It's also worth noting that this is the smaller, redesigned USB adapter for Windows 10. Whereas the previous version was twice the size of your average thumb drive, the new(-ish) 2017 model pictured here is 66% smaller. It works using Microsoft's proprietary Xbox Wireless protocol, which taps into a radio frequency module inside both the adapter and the controller it's paired to.
Steam Big Picture Mode players specifically will find the Xbox One controller's wireless functionality quite practical on PC. Because you can sit up to 20 feet away from the adapter without surrendering reception, at long last, you'll be able to play Anthem on the couch rather than squished up at your desk. And in case that disrupts your partner or roommates' much-needed slumber, the gamepad pictured has a built-on 3.5mm headphone jack. So you can natively plug your headset directly into the controller, no console necessary.
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