Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware
There are many ways the Turtle Beach Recon Controller resembles the most recent rendition of the Xbox Wireless Controller. For one, its shape is very similar to the official Microsoft gamepad. This includes the wide body with two extending arms where your hands would rest, the quad color ABXY buttons, and the layout of the two thumbsticks. I did notice, like the most recent rendition of the Xbox Wireless Controller, the Turtle Beach Recon Controller has an updated D-pad with a circular layout to make the diagonal presses easier. In the middle, we have an Xbox logo that doubles as a button plus three more buttons situated underneath. This includes View, Share, and Menu buttons for various functions. As you can tell then, the whole layout very much mirrors the official Xbox controller, which is not surprising. There are more buttons at the back and underneath. There is also a large cluster of Turtle Beach specific buttons, but we will cover all of these as we continue in our review.
In terms of dimensions, while Turtle Beach provides certain measurements on the specifications, these do not seem to be the measurements of the controller itself. Instead, I measured the Recon controller to be much more compact at 156mm in width, 110mm in depth, and 60mm in height, approximately. This is, once again, very similar in size to the controller from Microsoft. In terms of weight, the Turtle Beach Recon Controller weighs in at 228g without the cable attached. Comparatively, the Microsoft version weighs about 233g without batteries, making them once again very similar in weight. Both of the controllers feel very solid with their plastic build.
As for all of the buttons and triggers at the front, they all feel very good with solid feedback in both an audible and tactile sense. The primary ABXY buttons offer a good amount of travel without feeling loose or wobbly. The two thumbsticks offer a grippy surface around the edge with a concave middle for users to rest their thumbs in. The D-pad also naturally caves in for another area for resting your left thumb in without feeling awkward. Overall, I would actually say these buttons are very comparable to the original Microsoft feel, which is great to see.
Taking a look at the back, we can see the pair of shoulder and trigger buttons. Like the most recent Xbox Wireless Controller, these back buttons are marked with a textured finish to ensure your fingers do not slip off the back of the controller. While I doubt this would happen, I do appreciate the rougher texture for grip and a constant reminder of where you can press for the buttons at the back. These back buttons are also marked with LB/RB and LT/RT, for button and trigger, respectively. The two shoulder buttons are typical push buttons with a "thock"-like sound when pressed. It has a bit more give and travel than my own Xbox One controllers. The triggers are analog in nature and actuate in a range of how far you have pressed down. This is handy for racing games, where you can use this range to simulate accelerator and brake pedals. Otherwise, in the middle at the back is a USB Type-C input for users to plug their controller into their Xbox or PC. This is a wired controller and there is a 3m braided cable included, but I would like to see a wireless version, whether now or in the future.
Up to this point, practically everything has been very par for the course and as expected for a standard Xbox controller. However, the first change we see is the inclusion of two more paddle buttons under the Turtle Beach Recon Controller. These two inputs reside right where your fingers wrap around the controller for two more buttons. They have a tactile click with each press and are covered with the same speckled pattern so users can easily identify the paddles. With this, users can activate a Pro-Aim Focus mode. When this happens, it will automatically decrease the sensitivity to the right thumbstick to make it easier to aim. When using a controller, many shooter games rely on the right thumbstick for rotating the perspective, which will aim your gun, so this is a pretty neat feature. In addition, Turtle Beach allows you to remap these buttons to be any other single action on the controller for more user flexibility. While these back paddle-like buttons were originally reserved for the Xbox Elite controllers, it is nice to see this premium feature on the Turtle Beach Recon Controller. Finally, there are some Turtle Beach branding and certification logos on the back label.
One other feature that makes the Turtle Beach Recon Controller stand out can be found at the top of the Recon Controller. Traditional Xbox Wireless controllers have had a standard 3.5mm audio jack at the bottom for personal listening. However, these added buttons provide a physical switch for users' audio experience. Starting from the outer edges, we have a volume rocker on the left and a chat rocker on the right. These provide adjustments for game and chat volume, respectively. On the Xbox, these adjustments sync with the Xbox dashboard settings, but on a Windows 10 machine, these will work independently of Windows settings. Turtle Beach also notes the chat mix will not work on your PC. Moving on, in the middle, we have a Superhuman Hearing button, mode button, select button, and a mute switch for your headset microphone. Activating Superhuman Hearing is similar to what we have seen on other Turtle Beach audio products and it provides users with accentuated areas to hear audio cues like footsteps or weapon reloads.
The mode and select buttons are for users to cycle between the four different adjustment modes, as seen on the four indicators above the buttons. The middle diagonal pattern then illuminates to display different levels of each respective mode. The left most mode lets you adjust your own microphone monitoring. The EQ mode provides different Turtle Beach equalizer settings like their "Signature Sound", bass boost, bass and treble boost, or vocal boost. You can also turn it off if you so desire. The controller icon lets you select between four different profiles for button mapping with respect to the back paddles, as you have already seen. Finally, the last mode is where you can modify the Pro-Aim Focus mode, to adjust the tuning of how much you want the aiming mode to reduce the sensitivity. Once again, you can also turn it off altogether. All of these buttons illuminate when the Recon Controller is connected, but the audio specific items only illuminate when you also have a pair of headphones plugged in.
At the bottom, you can see a single 3.5mm combination audio jack to plug in your headphones. The other main difference are the two sets of grips on the back two arms. For one, this makes it easier for users to grip onto their controller, especially if they have sweaty palms. To add to this, Turtle Beach also has noted these should provide micro-cooling channels to keep your hands cool and dry. We will discuss these claims as we conduct our gaming tests. As I have mentioned already, the Recon Controller will work with Windows 10 as well as Xbox One and Xbox Series X or S consoles. All you will need to do is plug it in and start playing with it, which is exactly what I will be doing on the next page.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
