While it’s commonplace for every console you buy to provide you with one right out of the box, gaming controllers, like any form of hardware, are constantly being iterated upon. Professional eSports players know all about this, often searching beyond the Xbox One, PS4 or Nintendo Switch’s standard gamepad to find a controller that is more adaptable and suited to their preferred way of play. PowerA is a manufacturer that aims to help in this, having built numerous accessories that works to enhance the gaming experience.
Chances are that you’re already familiar with PowerA gaming controllers, but just haven’t really noticed them explicitly before. That’s because PowerA is known for doing an exceptional job with their gamepad designs – to the point that it can be extremely hard to tell the difference between their products and official first-party controllers engineered by the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo.
Here we’ll cover everything you want to know about PowerA gaming controllers, including which retailers stock them, what advantages they might grant you, as well as what platforms they are available for. So, without further ado, let’s get into it:
What we like about the PowerA gaming controller
You’re probably wondering why we’ve decided to highlight Power A gaming controllers specifically. And it’s a fair question! The simple reason is because it’s one of the few manufacturers to officially licence brands for their controllers, meaning you can get PowerA Xbox One controllers centred around Star Wars, Nintendo Switch controllers featuring characters like Mario, Link and Donkey Kong, and plenty more. A lot of third-party gamepads like to keep things simple from a design perspective, but PowerA has made a point of accommodating the tastes of all types of player.
PowerA Controllers also manage to strike the correct balance between being well designed and affordable, never sacrificing quality or comfort. Most of the PowerA controllers you’ll come across are also wired, which is ideal for players that don’t want to have to worry about latency issues. Your button inputs will always be well registered.
A few things we don't like about the PowerA gaming controller
While it's true that PowerA gaming controllers have a lot of great benefits, there are also a couple of drawbacks worth bearing in mind, The most obvious of which is the fact that there are currently no PS4 PowerA gaming controllers in development. This means players with a PlayStation 4 are ostensibly missing out on all the unique gamepad designs we'll list more in-depth later, forcing them to rely on other third-party controller manufacturers. This predicament is obviously a factor Xbox One and Nintendo Switch players needn't worry about though.
Another negative factor for some, might be in how few wireless PowerA gaming controllers there are on offer. Wireless controllers have become the norm ever since the days of the PS3 and Xbox 360, so the idea of suddenly being tethered again to your console might understandably less appealing. Cutting out the tech needed for wireless play, however, is likely what allows PowerA to keep the cost of its gaming controller selection relatively low, being more suited to younger children at risk of breaking them regularly or professional eSports players that don't want to experience any latency or lag during tournaments. It's not a deal-breaker by any means, but could be an issue for players that are used to being a certain distance away from their TV.
Cheapest prices for PowerA gaming controllers
While most other third-party gamepad manufacturers either only sell their products solely through their own site, PowerA gaming controllers are widely available at a range of popular UK retailers. This is because the company has built up well-established relationships in the seven years since its establishment, giving players the choice to grab their PowerA gaming controller from such places as GAME, Amazon UK, Smyths and Argos.
Below you’ll find the best prices on from all these retailers on the Legend of Zelda-themed Wired controller, just as an example:
