Victrix Pro BFG Review: The True Xbox Elite Controller

Earlier this year, Turtle Beach acquired long-term rival PDP for $118 million–and by Turtle Beach’s admission when discussing its Q1 results, it’s proved to be a great investment. Then again, if all PDP products are as good as the Victrix Pro BFG, it’s no surprise.

After a short spell of PlayStation exclusivity, the Pro BFG is finally available for Xbox and PC players. On the face of it, it’s the total package: it looks great, offers an impressive selection of accessories, and boasts a lot of customization, especially for fighting game enthusiasts.

Thankfully, it delivers on these promises and then some. The Victrix Pro BFG isn’t just great–it’s the true elite controller for the Series X.

What’s in the box?

There’s a lot packed into the Victrix Pro BFG box, catering to casual and pro players alike. Its all-in-one case presents the pad in a sculpted holder, offering protection but still finding space for a well-curated selection of tools needed to make on-the-fly changes based on the game you’re playing.

The Pro BFG package contains:

• A Victrix Pro BFG pre-fitted with a reversible D-pad and left analog stick module, a four-button and right analog stick module, and two standard concave analog sticks;
• A wireless dongle;
• A six-button “Fightpad” module;
• Two interchangeable D-pads (cross and round);
• Two pop-on analog sticks (standard convex, long concave);
• Two eight-way analog stick collars;
• A module-swap screwdriver;
• A three-meter braided USB-C cable; and
• A zip-up carrying case with a net pocket for the cable.

When your only initial complaint with the Pro BFG bundle is that the carry case lacks a “proper” handle–instead opting for a small fabric loop you can barely fit two fingers in–you know you’re off to a good start.

If you’re used to standard Xbox pads but want to fine-tune your skills, the Victrix Pro BFG is a natural step up. It’s very close to the standard Xbox controller design–almost identical in size and shape, apart from notable changes to the shoulder buttons, which are larger and more prominent. It’s also among the best-looking pads of 2024, with a gorgeous but understated two-tone color scheme.

A smooth plastic finish with subtle rubber grips on the front and back makes it feel comfortable and premium. The trade-off for these soft-touch surfaces is an overpowering plastic smell, which stays with it for hours–on par with cereal box toys in the 90s–but it’s a small price to pay for how good it feels in your hands.

The Pro BFG is also incredibly well-made, combining a nice weight with superb build quality that doesn’t creak or crack with any twist or turn. If anything, it’s a little too well-made, which dawns on you when you first start swapping things around–especially if you’re trying out a few different configurations.

Rookie engineering

The excellent Nacon Revolution 5 Pro focused on weights, rings, and heads; conversely, the weird but wonderful Thrustmaster eSwap X2 cornered the market for modular, easily movable components to adjust the pad’s layout on the fly. The Victrix Pro BFG sits somewhere between the two but is more fiddly to customize than its competitors.

Each double-socket Pro BFG module is connected to the controller with a pair of screws on a two-window faceplate. The first attempt to remove these is laborious, but once you break the seal, the magnetic screwdriver makes light work of them. Tiny collars ensure you won’t lose the screws, too–a nice attention to detail.

The faceplates can be customized for analog sticks; the two eight-way collars are an inspired inclusion. As with the screws, they’re a tight fit and you initially worry that pushing the standard-fit O-rings out of their holders will break the plates–and then you have to ensure you align the new pieces to ensure they mirror the compass points, but they’re incredibly well made and feel great when playing fighting games.

Of course, the Victrix Pro BFG enhances Street Fighter 6 or Tekken 8 sessions with the excellent Fightpad. Its six mechanical buttons are incredibly responsive and satisfying; with the long analog stick topper, you can turn the pad into a tiny arcade controller. The Fightpad may have room for a couple of extra buttons, but the 3×2 layout and larger button sizes are just right, while their spacing is nicely balanced to avoid mistakes.

Removing and swapping the Pro BFG’s modules is mostly effortless; the two with analog sticks are straightforward, but removing the Fightpad is a nightmare due to its lightly rounded, low-profile buttons; it’s difficult to get a grip on it, and the best solution is to use a credit card to get under the buttons to lift it out.

The same can be said for the D-pad module. The four-way diamond initially attached to the Pro BFG isn’t to personal tastes, but it takes a lot of force to pop it off. The classic, four-way cross D-pad is seemingly impossible to remove; I initially gave up trying to remove it as I thought I’d break the controller.

Easily triggered

After that stressful and unsuccessful attempt to swap out the D-pad, the Pro BFG seemed broken–on the Series X dashboard, the menu started darting around. Thankfully, the controller was fine; the issue was its incredibly sensitive LT and RT triggers. I’m far from heavy-handed, but just resting your fingers on them sets them off.

Luckily, this can be fixed relatively easily through the Victrix Control Hub on PC, a great app–when it works. It had difficulties identifying the Pro BFG in the first instance; after that, the firmware update took a worryingly long time; finally, the first time I tried to customize the controller, it didn’t identify either of the removable modules.

As with most things in life, the turn-it-off-and-on-again approach fixed it. When everything’s working normally, the Control Hub gives you everything you need to customize buttons and inputs, balance dead zones, and run diagnostics on all inputs. Without this software, you’ll be stuck with hairline triggers, which aren’t even mitigated by the five stops you can use to restrict them.

On the other hand, the four rear buttons aren’t too sensitive–a common problem with other pro-level controllers–and are large and well-shaped enough to sit comfortably in big and small hands alike.

The best-value Xbox pro controller?

Aside from the hairline trigger issue, the Victrix Pro BFG is hard to criticize. Sure, you get a bit of a moisture trap between the standard buttons; the start, view, and share buttons are too spaced out, but at least they’re big; you never shake the feeling you’ll break something when you customize the D-pad. But when it matters, this pad delivers.

All in all, the Victrix Pro BFG offers everything you could want: layout swapping, wireless and wired play, unparalleled fighting game accessories, 20 hours of battery life, and all the tools you need to adjust and perfect your style of play. You might think $180 is a lot to pay for a controller, but this is worth every penny.