Take My Word For It: The Competitor by Hyperkin

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this. If you don’t know me, I am Brandon, known as Mothman in the gaming circles. I was an acclaimed esports and gaming journalist for years, with a specification in VALORANT.

I won’t lie, though, I miss the thrill of breaking a story, getting a banger quote during an interview, or simply guiding players towards an objective with my knowledge and my words.

And the one thing I absolutely wish I was able to do more of is review content. I thankfully dabbled in some, with the likes of Razer’s Viper V3 Pro and how it came to life, along with the Respawn 200 gaming chair.

Now, I find myself itching to do more and I can’t wait to create relationships, give my honest opinion, and help you decide what games, products, and more are up your alley.

Let’s get into the first edition of Take My Word For It, where I tell you what I think about something and you just simply believe me. Right? Okay, of course, try everything yourself, but if you use my review as a starting point, I’m forever grateful.

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I spend a lot of my time gaming these days with a keyboard and mouse as my tools to victory. Some games, though, I just love plugging in a controller and thumbing the sticks until they start to wear out. Games like Gears of War, Halo, Star Wars: Battlefront, and a few from my favorite genre of sidescrolling beat ’em ups like Shredder’s Revenge and Rita’s Rewind.

Sure, a keyboard and mouse works fine, but there’s a nostalgic beauty with those games when using a controller. I grew up playing Gears and Halo as a competitor, no pun intended, and love the classic feel of the newer beat ’em up titles. With a controller, they just hit different.

So, thanks to Overload PR in conjunction with Hyperkin for sending me The Competitor to review. Gears of War: Reloaded is out, Battlefield 6 dropped, and watching the Halo Championship Series finale each year always sends me back to Infinite for at least a little venture.

As soon as I got my hands on it, I plugged it in and went straight into Reloaded to wallbounce like it was 2006. I gave it a go on Battlefield, using it to take off heads with sniper rifles and pilot helicopters and jets, which admittedly I have not gotten the hang of with a mouse and keyboard. It is a thousand times easier on controller, at least for me, and with The Competitor, I had no problem racking up the aerial eliminations.

So, let’s get into the meat of it.

Everything to know about The Competitor by Hyperkin

The Competitor is an officially licensed Xbox controller. Its key features are the Hall Effect Joysticks and Impulse Triggers, Segmented Traditional D-Pad, and its Symmetrical Thumbstick Layout. That last part is what made me interested.

I love me an Xbox controller, but to me, the DualSense has always been a step above with the thumbsticks being side by side instead of diagonal from each other. The Competitor adapts that design and is a pseudo-DualSense for Xbox and PC players. The controller includes interchangeable thumbsticks, too, with a pair of convex and concave ones that were easy to remove and simply snap the others in place.

The Competitor is a wired controller, but the wire is quite lengthy at six feet long. Whether you’re on your PC right next to you or playing on the couch with the cord needing to reach your Xbox, it’ll go the distance. Without a battery in place, it lends a lightweight feel to it.

When they reached out explaining the controller to me, asking if I’d like to review one, I jumped at the chance. I was still using an old Xbox One Gears of War 5 ice-themed special edition controller that has been asking me to give it a break for over half of a decade now.

So, how does The Competitor compare to, well, its competitors?

Mothman’s Verdict: The Competitor by Hyperkin

There are quite a few things I really love about The Competitor. Of course, that comes with a set of things I’d prefer a bit differently. That’s completely my opinion on the controller, however.

Let’s dive in to the pros and cons before I give it a score:

Pros

• Very lightweight
• Two programmable buttons on the back
• Symmetrical and interchangeable thumbsticks
• Main layout puts distance between the buttons to prevent any misinputs
• Plug and play with no delay
• Cost efficient alternative

Cons

• Wire can get in the way, like with any wired controller
• Dedicated mute button has gotten stuck more than a few times
• Programmable buttons are very sensitive and in a location where its easy to press them on accident

Overall, I give The Competitor controller by Hyperkin a 4/5. I’ve had a blast using it and the cons are something that can be ignored. You’ll get used to navigating around having a wire.

If you use a headset with its own mute functionality or have it plugged straight into your PC, then the controller’s mute button might go untouched. And it sticking could just have been an issue with the controller I received and not all of them.

Then with the programmable buttons on the back, just don’t program them to anything if you have the issue that I have. The way I hold the controller makes me almost constantly tap those buttons. If they aren’t mapped to another button, though, there’s nothing to worry about.

The pros are just too good to let the minimal issues I ran into outshine them. For only $49.99, well over $100 less than an Xbox Elite Wireless Controller, you can enjoy a very good controller without breaking the bank.

Plugging it in to your console or PC allows you to use it right away. I’ve found zero delay. It didn’t need some random drivers installed or have a lengthy pairing period where you needed to press a button, hold another button for 10 seconds, then let go of the first button.

If you’re looking for a new controller to play Xbox or PC titles with, The Competitor lives up to its name. Use it to compete in your sweaty REDSEC lobbies or simply enjoy the view as you cruise around Forza.

The Competitor by Hyperkin Gets a 4/5