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Valve Steam Controller (2026) one-minute evaluate
Valve’s again within the {hardware} recreation, however no, this isn’t the much-hoped-for Steam Deck 2, however as an alternative a brand new model of the Steam Controller that’s been refreshed and refined for contemporary players.
That wasn’t the tip of Valve’s {hardware} ambitions, nonetheless, and since then it’s had some massive hits, together with the Valve Index VR headset and the good Steam Deck, which primarily kicked off a brand new class of gadgets: the hand-held gaming PC.
(Picture credit score: Future)
So, when Valve introduced a brand new and improved Steam Controller, alongside a revamped Steam Machine console-like machine (the unique was one other worthy failure) and VR headset, my hype was excessive, as I hoped that Valve’s newer {hardware} successes would positively affect the brand new Steam Controller. Now that the gamepad is in my palms, I’m happy to say that’s precisely what’s occurred.
Probably the most noticeable distinction between the Valve Steam Controller (2026) and its predecessor is that the design is extra standard, with it now coming with two analog thumbsticks, that are positioned beneath the face buttons. This makes it a lot simpler to familiarize yourself with when you’re used to different gamepads (particularly the PlayStation 5’s DualSense, as, just like the Valve Steam Controller (2026), the thumbsticks are horizontally aligned, not like the Xbox controller.
Valve hasn’t fully dropped its revolutionary ambitions, nonetheless, with the Valve Steam Controller (2026) nonetheless coming with two touchpads, although smaller, sq., and positioned beneath the thumbsticks. If you happen to’ve used the Steam Deck, then the feel and appear of those touchpads will appear acquainted, although on the brand new Steam Controller, they’re angled inwards barely, which does make them extra snug to make use of together with your thumbs.
The Valve Steam Controller (2026) comes with 4 extra buttons on the again, and these can all be simply configured through the Steam software program. Connecting the controller to a PC is straightforward, with the Steam Controller Puck – a plug-and-play dongle with a pre-paired low-latency connection.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Place the Valve Steam Controller (2026) on prime of the Puck (which connects through magnets), and the Steam Controller will cost, in addition to pair with the PC (and you should utilize multiple Steam Controller with the identical Puck).
You can even unplug the Puck and use the cable to straight join the Steam Controller to the PC through USB-C, and you may as well use Bluetooth, although for anybody who has used Bluetooth on a Home windows 11 PC to attach a controller, you’ll perceive that that’s in all probability a way you’ll wish to keep away from in any respect prices.
Valve Steam Controller (2026) evaluate: Worth & launch date
- How a lot is it? $99 / £85
- When is it out? Goes on sale Could 4, 2026
The Valve Steam Controller (2026) goes on sale on Could 4, 2026, for $99 / £85 (round AU$140), and also you gained’t have the ability to purchase it from a bricks and mortar retailer – as with different Valve merchandise, you’ll want to purchase it by means of Steam, Valve’s on-line storefront. The excellent news is that when you’re a PC gamer, you’ll already probably have Steam put in for purchasing and enjoying video games.
Regardless of this, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) can be utilized with video games you’ve bought outdoors of Steam, and whereas Valve recommends you add the non-Steam video games to Steam for the very best expertise, I discovered it labored nice when enjoying video games from the rival Epic Video games Retailer with out including them to Steam first, although the Steam Controller acted extra like a generic gamepad.
Worth-wise, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is among the costlier gamepads on the market. It’s virtually twice the worth of the 8BitDo Final 2, which is presently our prime choose as the very best PC controller, and the Sony DualSense Wi-fi Controller, which I presently use on my gaming PC, each of which price round $60/£50.
Nonetheless, it’s a good bit cheaper than many different gamepads geared toward professional players, such because the Razer Wolverine V3 Professional, which sells for $199.99 / £199.99, and the Xbox Elite Wi-fi Controller Collection 2, which prices $179.99 / £159.99.
So, it is a mid-range value for the Valve Steam Controller (2026), and whereas it’s expensive, it does really feel about proper, because it affords extra options than funds gamepads, however not the acute customization that costlier gamepads provide. One factor to notice is that I didn’t have an opportunity to attempt the Valve Steam Controller (2026) with a console. Valve claims it’s not appropriate, although you would possibly have the ability to get fundamental performance when you join through Bluetooth. Nonetheless, when you’re on the lookout for a gamepad that you should utilize on each a PC and a console, you then’d be higher off trying elsewhere.
Valve Steam Controller (2026) evaluate: Specs
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Compatibility
PC, Mac, iOS / Android
Connectivity
Steam Controller Puck, USB, Bluetooth
Battery life
35+ hours
Inputs
TMR magnetic thumbsticks, grip sense, ABXY buttons, D-pad, L/R triggers, L/R bumpers, View button, Menu button, Steam button, QAM buttons, 4 remappable grip buttons, 2x haptic trackpads
Haptics
HD haptics
Further options
Steam Controller Puck charging
Valve Steam Controller (2026) evaluate: Design and options
- Rather more standard design than unique
- Two TMR thumbsticks
- Gyroscope and touchpads additionally included
Valve has overhauled the design of its new Steam Controller, and to be brutally trustworthy, that’s an excellent factor. Whereas I admired Valve attempting to do one thing totally different with the unique Steam Controller, it wasn’t a design I used to be notably eager on. It had two massive trackpads the place thumbsticks often are positioned, which have been purported to make enjoying video games in genres corresponding to RTS (Actual Time Technique), which work finest with a mouse and keyboard, simpler on a gamepad.
This need to attraction to PC players on the expense of a extra standard console-like gamepad ended up pleasing virtually nobody, and the unique Steam Controller was discontinued just a few years later.
The Valve Steam Controller (2026), alternatively, has a way more standard design, and whereas it doesn’t really feel like a daring reinvention of the gamepad, there are nonetheless some distinctive options and improvements to be discovered.
(Picture credit score: Future)
In contrast to the unique, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) options two thumbsticks, horizontally aligned and positioned beneath the D-Pad and face buttons. The location of those thumbsticks feels snug and pure, and anybody used to gamepads with aligned thumbsticks, such because the DualSense, ought to have the ability to familiarize yourself with the Valve Steam Controller (2026) fairly simply.
The brand new thumbsticks aren’t any slouches, both, because of tunnelling magneto-resistance (TMR) expertise, which is the tech of selection for many premium gamepads. This makes use of small magnets to measure even the smallest of actions, which improves precision, and excels in genres corresponding to shooters and racing video games, the place even the smallest of actions should be precisely recorded and mirrored in-game.
As a result of the TMR thumbsticks of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) don’t depend upon bodily contact throughout the gamepad, not like conventional thumbsticks, there’s much less danger of harm or efficiency degradation over time, and it ought to imply the Valve Steam Controller (2026) isn’t vulnerable to the dreaded stick drift points which have plagued many a gamepad.
The inclusion of the D-Pad can also be noteworthy. Regardless of being discovered on just about each gamepad ever made, the unique Steam Controller didn’t embrace one (the thought was that the left-hand touchpad would work). This was one other design choice that made the unique mannequin unpopular, so the return of a bodily D-Pad could be very welcome.
(Picture credit score: Future)
The Valve Steam Controller (2026) doesn’t fully ditch the improvements, nonetheless, because it nonetheless comes with two contact pads. This time, nonetheless, they’re smaller and sq., and positioned on the backside of the controller’s face. The touchpads are visually just like those discovered on the Steam Deck, although they’re angled to make utilizing them together with your thumbs extra snug.
The touchpads provide haptic suggestions, which makes utilizing them really feel responsive and pure, with delicate vibrations that allow you to know when they’re touched.
The remainder of the face of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is house to 4 face buttons (in ABXY structure, which the unique Steam Controller, Steam Deck, and Xbox controllers all use. There’s additionally a Steam Button within the center, identifiable by the Steam brand. Urgent this turns the controller on, and urgent it once more launches Steam in Huge Image Mode, which is a full-screen interface that makes discovering and booting up video games through a gamepad a lot simpler (and appears good when you’ve received your PC hooked as much as a TV, as I do).
(Picture credit score: Future)
On the left, there’s additionally a Again button, whereas on the left a Menu/Begin button. Between the 2 touchpads is a Fast Settings button as effectively. You additionally get the common bumpers and triggers on all sides of the highest of the Valve Steam Controller (2026), and on the again, there are 4 extra buttons (two on every of the grips) that may be assigned to in-game features. The location of those buttons makes it simple to achieve them whereas holding the Valve Steam Controller (2026) – perhaps a bit too simple, as I tapped them just a few instances by mistake whereas enjoying some video games (particularly throughout hectic moments).
The again can also be house to a magnetic port that allows you to rapidly join the Valve Steam Controller (2026) to the Puck, which connects to a PC and is used to each cost the controller and act as a low-latency wi-fi dongle. It’s small and unobtrusive, and it’s a pleasant manner of incorporating charging and connecting the controller, and with the prolonged included USB cable, you may place it to make sure a dependable wi-fi connection.
The Valve Steam Controller (2026) additionally has gyroscopes, so bodily transferring the controller round can management the onscreen motion. Whereas it’s a little bit of a distinct segment characteristic, there are many video games, particularly from Sony, which, like Valve, see the worth in together with gyroscopes of their recreation controllers. I’m presently enjoying by means of The Final of Us Half 2 on PC (taking my time as I’m a huge wimp), and swapped out the DualSense for the Valve Steam Controller (2026), and was nonetheless in a position to make use of immersive gestures corresponding to shaking the controller when my flashlight’s battery begins to die. On that word, the touchpads of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) are a wonderful different to the DualSense’s touchpad, which implies the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is a wonderful controller for individuals, like me, who play a variety of PlayStation video games on PC (which makes the rumors that Sony is slicing again on porting its video games to PC notably disappointing).
(Picture credit score: Future)
One factor that’s lacking, nonetheless, is an audio jack on the controller. Rival controllers typically embrace one, permitting you to plug wired headphones and listen to recreation audio with out having to path an extended cable to your PC or console. I, like many PC players, have a wi-fi headset for once I wish to hold the noise down when gaming, so this isn’t an enormous challenge for me, nevertheless it is perhaps disappointing for some, particularly because of the value.
General, the design of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is an enormous enchancment over the unique, with a extra standard really feel that’s broadly used for a motive: it’s snug. That doesn’t imply it’s fully with out revolutionary prospers, with the twin contact pads and extra buttons on the again. Nonetheless, it does lack the customization of costlier skilled gamepads.
It feels mild and comfy to carry, and it appears Valve has taken a variety of what it learnt from the unique controller, in addition to the Steam Deck (which may really feel massive and ponderous in-hand), and utilized it to the Steam Controller (2026).
(Picture credit score: Future)
Valve Steam Controller (2026) evaluate: Efficiency
As you’d count on from a product made by Valve, the Steam Controller (2026) works brilliantly when enjoying video games on Steam. The corporate had clearly been prepping for the launch of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) for some time, as most main video games I performed already had controller profiles arrange for it. Which means most video games will be performed with the Valve Steam Controller (2026) and make use of its extra options, such because the gyroscope, out of the field without having to tweak any settings.
It additionally implies that on-screen prompts will show the right button – that is notably vital for QTE (Fast Time Occasions), the place it is advisable to hit the correct button on the proper time. When enjoying The Final Of Us Half 2, for instance, the button prompts that have been for my PlayStation controller have been changed with the corresponding buttons on the Valve Steam Controller (2026), corresponding to changing the triangle image with Y for interacting with objects.
These profiles are additionally extremely customizable, so you may tweak the plentiful buttons, trackpads, and gyroscopic controls to your liking, and you may share these profiles with different customers. For video games that don’t have a Valve Steam Controller (2026) controller, I’m certain that can quickly change as soon as it’s in additional individuals’s palms, and plenty of video games have a Steam Deck profile, which maps very effectively onto the Valve Steam Controller (2026).
Enjoying Portal 2, which is a Valve recreation, has glorious integration with the brand new Steam Controller (2026); the controller felt quick and responsive. Turning on gyroscopic controls allowed me to manage the digital camera by tilting the controller, and the default settings have been very correct, to the purpose the place I wanted to show it down a notch, because it was choosing up the slightest motion or tremor of my palms. This was simple to do because of Valve’s sturdy customization choices for the Steam Controller. The haptic rumble throughout the controller lets you recognize when the gyroscope is getting used, and you may toggle it on and off with a press of the touchpad or button, or holding down a button – all of which will be simply custom-made.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Whereas I’m extra fascinated by gyroscopic controls for immersive interactions (such because the aforementioned shaking the controller to repair a flickering flashlight in The Final of Us Half 2), it’s a terrific characteristic to have and works effectively. For individuals who primarily use a mouse and keyboard to manage video games, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) affords a technique to play video games on a gamepad with a stage of precision that you just typically solely get when utilizing a mouse to manage aiming.
The touchpads will also be used to imitate mouse/touchpad controls, and their placement on the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is straightforward and comfy to make use of. I’d by no means play a first-person shooter (FPS) recreation utilizing a keyboard and laptop computer touchpad, however the touchpads on the Valve Steam Controller (2026) are inside simple attain of my thumbs, so I can select to make use of both the thumbstick or touchpad, relying on the sport. With the unique Steam Controller, you didn’t have this selection.
The touchpads additionally really feel responsive, and the haptic suggestions on every pad provides you a transparent concept of what you’re controlling and the actions you’re performing. One factor I like is that when both touchpad is just not wanted in a recreation, the touchpad locks in place, so you recognize it will probably’t be used (and in addition means when you brush or contact it whereas gaming, it gained’t mess up your recreation).
The touchpads, as with the gyroscopic controls, are designed to can help you play video games in genres that don’t often work effectively with gamepads, and whereas I’d in all probability nonetheless use a mouse and keyboard for taking part in RTS (real-time technique) video games, I discovered the Valve Steam Controller (2026) and its touchpads labored effectively with administration sims like Planet Coaster 2. The touchpads additionally work effectively when on the Home windows 11 desktop, with the left-hand touchpad controlling scrolling up and down, whereas the right-hand touchpad strikes the mouse cursor.
For anybody who has tried enjoying PC video games on a non-traditional setup, corresponding to from the sofa and enjoying on a TV, you’ll know that even with console-like interfaces corresponding to Steam Huge Image Mode, Home windows 11 has an annoying behavior of throwing up a dialogue field or menu that may’t be chosen with a normal gamepad, that means you need to swap to a mouse and keyboard, simply to do away with the pop-up. With the Valve Steam Controller (2026), you don’t want to try this.
(Picture credit score: Future)
The TMR thumbsticks really feel nice, and with the Puck protecting wi-fi latency down, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) affords an excellent gaming expertise that’s responsive and correct, even when you’re utilizing it as a generic gamepad with out the extra options. For PC players trying to get pleasure from a extra console-like expertise, it’s a incredible peripheral that bridges the gaps between keyboard and mouse and a gamepad. Utilizing it for video games like Crimson Desert labored brilliantly, with the touchpads giving me a mouse-like management when aiming, together with no perceptible lag when stepping into frantic fights. Whereas the rumble by no means blew me away because it does with appropriate video games and the DualSense (which wants to connect with a PC through a cable for the complete expertise), it nonetheless labored effectively and added one other stage of immersion.
Valve additionally guarantees a battery lifetime of over 35 hours, and through my time enjoying with the Valve Steam Controller (2026) with an entire method of video games and utilizing the gyroscopic controls, touchpads, and with rumble turned on, I didn’t expertise the gamepad operating out of battery. To be truthful, the magnetic charging Puck is so handy that I ended up inserting the controller on it after most play periods, which helped hold the battery topped up.
Ought to I purchase Valve Steam Controller (2026)?
Swipe to scroll horizontallyValve Steam Controller (2026) scorecard
Attribute
Notes
Rating
Options
This controller comes with a great deal of extra options that can particularly attraction to PC players.
4/5
Efficiency
Stable and reliable, with minimal latency, lengthy battery life and responsive and dependable TMR thumbsticks.
4.5/5
Design
An enormous enchancment over the unique, with the brand new touchpads positioned in handy places, and loads of extra buttons. You may’t swap out switches or thumbsticks like you may with some professional gamepads.
4/5
Worth
At $99 / £85, it is a expensive controller, however the value feels justified because of the options it consists of.
3.5/5
Purchase it if…
Don’t purchase it if…
Additionally contemplate
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Valve Steam Controller (2026)
8BitDo Final 2
GameSir Tarantula Professional
Worth
$99 / £85
$59.99 / £49.99
$69.99 / £69.99
Compatibility
PC, Mac, iOS / Android
PC, Android
PC, Nintendo Change, Android, iOS
Connectivity
Steam Controller Puck, USB, Bluetooth
Wi-fi (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)
Wi-fi (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)
Battery life
35+ hours
10-15 hours
Round 12 hours
How I examined the Valve Steam Controller (2026)
- Performed a number of video games over a number of gaming periods
- Examined over the course of a number of days
- Video games embrace The Final of Us 2, Crimson Desert, Planet Coaster 2
Throughout my time testing the Valve Steam Controller (2026), I performed quite a few video games from totally different genres to get an concept of how the gamepad performs, together with video games that I’d often solely use a mouse and keyboard for.
Whereas a lot of the video games I examined have been on Steam, I additionally examined out Hitman: World of Assassination on Epic Video games Retailer to see how it might work with non-Steam video games. I’ve been reviewing PC gaming peripherals for nearly 20 years, and have been an avid gamer for over 30 years on each consoles and PCs.
