PowerA is known for its diverse range of third-party controllers available for consoles, PCs, and mobile gaming. The release of their OPS (Overpowered) series brings PowerA to the forefront of the industry. Between the PowerA OPS V1 Wireless Controller and the higher-tier V3 model (Our Review Here), the team at PowerA have proven themselves to be a reliable and cost-effective alternative for the PC and Cloud Gaming controller market.

Out of the box, you’re given a USB-C Cable, an RF dongle, two raised joystick grip caps and the PowerA OPS V1 Wireless Controller itself. The black, lightweight controller could be easily mistaken for a Microsoft-produced Xbox controller with the PowerA logo in lieu of the Xbox logo on the large middle button at the top of the face of the controller. The three Start, Select, and Turbo buttons are in the centre of the gamepad. Textured grips around the handles give the controller a great feel to them, with the smooth front of the pad giving it a sleek finish.

On the back of the controller are two trigger lock switches that adjust the responsiveness of the trigger buttons. The 3 settings range from the standard full push of the trigger to light tapping. These are handy if you play a range of games, going for the deeper setting if you’re playing a racing game or the lighter setting for fighting games that require quicker response times.

The Hall Effect triggers and joysticks are very comfortable to use. The layout of the joystick is great and well-spaced away from the other buttons, so there’s less chance of accidentally bumping them when using the D-Pad or ABXY buttons. I couldn’t feel any controller drift when using the PowerA OPS V1 Wireless Controller. The buttons feel great as well, but the D-Pad could benefit from a bit more tactile feedback and feels a bit squishier and less crisp compared to the other buttons.

There is also a Program button along with 4 programable buttons on the back of the controller that can be programmed to any of the existing buttons. Holding the Program Button for 3 seconds, pressing the button you wish to assign and then assigning it to one of the four on the back make it really easy to utilize this feature. These can also be reset for quick reprogramming by holding the Program button down for another 3 seconds. Aside from its great functionality, they’re a little awkward. Sometimes, in the early days of using this controller, you’re hyper-aware of them and can’t quite grip the controller properly in case of accidentally pressing one of them, but you do eventually get used to it.

Plugged into the PC or other charging source, the LED Battery indicators between the bumpers signify its charging status. When charging, the LEDs are amber, red if it’s low battery or green when it’s fully charged.

Connectable by Bluetooth, USB-C or with its included 2.4ghz RF dongle, the controller also has an LED indicator on the front under the logoed button which indicates how the controller is connected: green for wired connection, blue for Bluetooth and white for RF connectivity. Connectivity can be selected with the switch on the back of the controller.

Using the controller in either wireless setting was great, with little to no delay in responsiveness compared to using it in its wired state and the batteries last around 20 hours before needing a good recharge. The standard USB-C cable that comes with the controller is a little short, but the cable slots well into the charging port and doesn’t feel like it’s going to fall straight back out.

All in all, the PowerA OPS V1 Wireless Controller is a fantastic budget-friendly controller for any PC/Mobile/Cloud Gaming enthusiast that feels and looks like the big-name brand competitors. The controller feels good to use because of its textured handle grips, the joystick and trigger responsiveness and the crisp feeling of the buttons.

Although a little weird to get used to, the programmable buttons on the back are really handy to use and quick to program and reprogram for optimisation. The PowerA OPS V1 Wireless Controller proves that PowerA are a reliable brand with gamers at its heart with such a great product.

Written by: Emily France