I have always enjoyed using a controller on a PC. There is something more relaxing about sitting back in your chair with a controller in hand for long stints of gaming. Guilkit has got you covered with the ‘Guilkit KK3 Max’. Like a Swiss army knife with features galore, how comfortable can gaming get?

In the box, you will find the controller with a nifty case to keep your gear in and inside the travel case is also a cute little button puller and the Hyperlink Adapter. Also in the box, you will find a neatly ravelled-up USB-C charging and PC cable, a sweet small storage box with six new paddles and buttons and a cool little sticker sheet.

Boy oh boy for a controller, the Gulikit KK3 Max is impressive. Xbox in style, this satin matte black controller is smooth to the touch but rough in all the right places. Subtly ribbed in the palm support area, it feels comfortable without fear of finger slippage even in the sweatiest battles. Running in all black there are a whopping ten buttons on the face, if you don’t include the D-pad and right stick and left stick buttons.

You will find the traditional A, B, Y, and X buttons, a home button, a button for lighting, a square button, a select button, and a plus and minus. The buttons feel great and very tactile, this is due to the Second Generation buttons, which are almost like tactile PC switches. These are all used in conjunction with the D-Pad or each other for a range of settings I will elaborate on later. The joysticks are what I would consider an average height and probably one of the only customisation options missing.

The left and right triggers are Hall Effect lock triggers, and while they are springy they are quite tight when locked, perfect for pinpoint actuation. On the underside with the triggers is space for 4 paddles, two on each side. With 6 metal paddles, I preferred the short, button-shaped ones to the longer flat paddles because I could comfortably hook my fingers around them. I had never seen them before but they were so efficient. It is a slick-looking controller.

As I mentioned before the buttons in combination with each other adjust an insane amount of features. I won’t list all the direct combinations but the features that can be adjusted on the keypad are as follows; Firstly, the ‘Set Motion Aim Assist’ is great for those FPS games and has a setting from low sensitivity to high, you can also disable it altogether. This does help with smoother aiming instead of steady swings. ‘Joystick Dead Zones’ and ‘Adjusting Joystick Sensitivity’, meaning you can adjust the pressure to move. ‘Star Ring Lighting Effects’ means you can change the flow of your lighting but not the colour, unfortunately. You can change the ‘4-Direction’ of your D-pad, changing it from 4-directional to 8 if you desire, perfect for games like side scrollers or fighting games.

My favourite feature, ‘Rapid Fire’, allows you to change to auto continuous fire, great for any twin-stick shooter. A feature I would never use is the ‘AB XY Swap’, probably good for the Nintendo Switch, but for me, I would get too confused. ‘Adjust VIbration Intensity’ and the ‘Adjustable Vibration Mode’ welcomed additions as you can change the weak to strong, and with the Guilkit Maglev vibration motor you can 6 types of vibrations, a very powerful rumble indeed.

Finally and lastly, we have the ‘APG Recording File Share’, which allows for auto-pilot gaming, recording all your inputs for up to 10 minutes, and saving that game code for later use. While all these features are great to have on hand it means you need to manual around to remember them all.

I would have much preferred a software launcher to manage it, especially for the APG recording so you could analyse what you recorded for later dates in your place to adjust other features then more quickly. Despite all the features, how were they in action? This controller is a beast to use on the gaming battlefield.

From Diablo IV to Cult of The Lambs, Rainbow Six Siege, to Palia, it was a smooth ride. The under paddles allowed for quicker reloading and the Hall Effect triggers at full lock made for faster responsiveness at firing your weapon. Rapid Fire was great for Siege and Cult of the Lambs and easily enough to turn off for calmer games.

I loved toying around with the ‘Joystick Sensitivity’, especially not having to push so hard forward to sprint or run in games. It also connected perfectly to the Nintendo Switch, pairing almost instantly for more comfortable Switch playing.

This controller also has 3-way connectivity. Wired-in is still my favourite way as it is plug-and-play with the USB cable, or wirelessly. Wirelessly is with Bluetooth, a not bad method, but it ties you to a range point or with the Hyperlink Adapter. The Hyperlink Adapter, with a 1000Hz polling rate allowed for some lag-less, responsive connectivity without being teether to your PC. I do enjoy using receivers but in this case, I had to go through a tedious firmware update to get it to work when I did though it was some flawless connectivity finally.

With an impressive battery life of up to about 15 hrs give or take and is very affordable in price to boot, the Guilkit KK3 Max is a considerably decent controller. Making for a very comfortable and customisable tool, this is an addition to your gaming experience.

Written by: Stacey