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Since its arrival in the gaming peripheral market in 2023, CRKD has been one of the standout brands in this space, but it's mainly specialised in making quirky, niche products that no other brand has really been targeting. It kicked things off with the Nitro Deck handheld mode controllers for Switch; it's made tiny, retro, and rhythm game controllers, but now, at long last, it's launching a "regular" pro gamepad that will take on some of the best PC controllers on the market.
The CRKD Ult Pro looks anything but regular, however. It's only going to set you back $69.99 / £64.99, but for that money, it gives you a whole load of features that might even give the value kings like the GameSir G7 Pro a run for their money. You can already pre-order the Ult Pro, and it'll release in June of this year.
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The Ult Pro will have three versions you can choose from: Pal Grey and Smoke Black with Switch layout buttons, or Smoke Black in PC layout (which will give you the Xbox configuration face buttons).
“Ult Pro has been engineered to take advantage of the lessons we have learned from previous hardware releases, listening to community feedback and delivering a controller which we believe to be unrivalled in performance and unheard of at this price point,” said Jack Guinchard, CRKD Global Brand Manager.
"From advanced TMR Thumbsticks which eliminate Stick Drift and are more precise than Hall Effect sensors, through to the deep customization options available via the CRKD Companion App, we designed Ult Pro to deliver the precision, flexibility, and performance professional gamers rely upon for the winning edge, and are excited to lower the cost barrier so that all gamers can enjoy a truly premium experience,” he said.
I must say, as someone who reviews and keeps tabs on the best Switch 2 controllers, there is a really impressive selection of features here for the asking price. Sometimes, that can have an impact on build quality, but if CRKD's excellent track record is anything to go by, the Ult Pro will be built to last.
Especially impressive is the inclusion of TMR thumbsticks, as the list of TMR controllers is still coming into maturity. Moreover, six extra buttons are usually reserved for $200 PS5 or Xbox controllers. The Ult Pro also has a 1,000Hz polling rate, wireless play, adjustable rumble, swappable thumbstick tops and D-pad options, a charging dock, and lots of options for connectivity.
What I'm really pleased to see detailed in the Ult Pro's press release is that it'll work with the CRKD companion app, since a lot of brands that take an initial crack at making a pro controller like this often don't have the wisdom (or resources) to make a companion app for it that helps early adopters customize it to their liking. There's even a no-deadzone mode on the Ult Pro, which is something I know I'll be switching to if I get the chance to test it out.
Something else CRKD is putting emphasis on with the Ult Pro is profile switching, which allows you to make different controller settings profiles for your games and platforms, so that switching between them and having different button assignments is easy.
This became a norm for pro controllers, but it's been less of a focus in the last year or two - I have to admit, I usually tend to only use one profile for all my games. But CRKD has put some handy profile button switchers down on the bottom of the controller's face, which will make it easy for you to toggle between them if you so wish.
Overall, I'm really excited to see what CRKD has made here. With such a strong track record of controllers that have targeted really specific niches, I've been wondering when this brand would be dropping into the proper pro controller arena to duke it out with the likes of GameSir, Nacon, PowerA, Razer, Flydigi, and Gulikit. If my suspicions are correct, we could have a new name to add to that pantheon soon.
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