It may be controversial, but this 8,000Hz TMR controller doesn't feel as good as its original 1,000Hz model with vibration and wireless play

The GameSir Tarantula Pro is one of my all-time favorite controllers, and that's some of the highest praise someone like me, who reviews a new one almost weekly, can give. I'm still not sure why it was discontinued, but I loved it for its DualShock 4-reminiscent feel that made it incredibly comfortable and very versatile across so many genres of gaming. It was like the enhanced, pro model of the PS4 controller I had always yearned for.

So as you can probably tell, I was very excited to report earlier in the year that GameSir was bringing back its symmetrical TMR controller as an entirely new product range. One with official Xbox licensing, and one on PC with an 8K polling rate. But to my dismay, they'd both be wired-only despite the first Tarantula Pro's wireless connectivity and excellent charging stand. Moreover, the PC version would remove its rumble motors for a stripped-back, lightweight feel. Finally, there would be a third, "Ultra" PC model which would have 8K polling, wireless play, and rumble motors - a much more fitting sequel, in my eyes. Sadly, at the time of writing, that version is still missing in action and hasn't been launched alongside the other two.

The version I've been testing is the blood orange 8K model for PC. It's certainly an update to the controller I love, but it feels bred for a very different purpose than the original, and I'm not sure it appeals to me quite as much. I used the first Tarantula for all sorts of gaming, multiplayer and singleplayer. It's a versatile feeling pad that's comfortable in any scenario and sits beautifully in the hands. This new version is for the competitive, elite players, and that's not what I want out of this particular product. It's available for £79.99 / $69.99, the same price as its officially licensed Xbox sibling.

Design

As I explained in my review of the original GameSir Tarantula Pro, it's essentially a carbon copy of the DualShock 4 from the PS4 era. It has long, cylindrical grips with a bit more girth than Sony's official one had, but besides that, is clearly cut from the same cloth. There are symmetrical thumbsticks, a four-way D-Pad, and even a small touchpad which, in this instance, you can customize as an extra button.

This time around, GameSir has kept the two excellent back buttons but answered my prayers for a little extra functionality. There now sit two additional shoulder buttons on the top of the controller. They run off the end of the touchpad, offering a back paddle feel as opposed to two individual buttons. They even click in, giving a sense of microswitch consistency across the entire peripheral. It's a design I've never seen before, but it rocks.

Not much about the physical design of the controller has changed from its original outing, although, as I say, this one is without any rumble motors inside. As a result, it's a lot lighter in the hands. That's not to say that build quality has suffered; the Tarantula 8K still has a sturdy, made-to-last air about it, as all GameSir products tend to, but with such little weight in the hands, it doesn't feel as substantial as other controllers out there. Then again, this could be a preference thing and may not be a problem for you.

I'm glad to see a lot of consistency in the design for the most part, though. The comfortable shape of the Tarantula Pro was one of its best assets. The grips here have a dotted texture, and feel every bit as nice to hold as they did before. There's also consistency in the convenient 3.5mm headphone jack and locking switches for the back buttons, should you not want to use them.

So far, there's one colorway of the 8K model, which is this vibrant bright orange. The Xbox one is white, and the so-far absent Ultra version has been seen in white, but I'd be interested to know if these get more colorways as time goes on. The GameSir G7 Pro has received colorway after colorway and limited edition after limited edition. It's clearly the golden child of the GameSir pantheon, but will its symmetrical cousin get the same kind of love?

Features

On one hand, I'd love to say that the GameSir Tarantula 8K has more advanced features than its predecessor, but on the other, it feels like a step back, and I can't really understand the decision process as to why. Nine times out of ten, I feel like I'm on the same page with GameSir and the decisions it makes when it comes to iterating on what worked and what didn't. Other times, like now, I'm left scratching my head.

The new Tarantulas feature updated Gen 2 MagRes TMR thumbsticks, which is an update from the Gen 1 modules in the original Tarantula Pro and Cyclone 2. You'll find the same thumbsticks here as on the GameSir G7 Pro 8K. The tops are even swappable this time, and you get a taller and shorter option in the box.

But without a wireless dongle, there's no need for a charging stand here, which makes this orange imitator feel like a step back. For over a year, I kept my first-gen Tarantula Pro on my TV unit, sitting on its very nifty charging stand, and ready to pick up at a moment's notice whenever I wanted to kick back with a game at my couch setup. With a wire trailing from the PC to the TV unit, and then messily dragging along my living room rug, the Tarantula Pro 8K doesn't have the same appeal whatsoever.

Clearly, the 8K Tarantula has been bred for a different purpose, and this much is clear from GameSir's socials, which shared a whole lot of impressively speedy AimLab clips when it was first launched. This one isn't for me to kick back on a couch and enjoy some singleplayer games with; this is a multiplayer performance PC controller. Its lightweight 180g build is designed for Esports, competitive athletes who have never felt at home with a mouse and keyboard; its 8K polling rate and in-depth customization in GameSir Connect lend it to players who sit at a desk, never far enough away from their machines to warrant a wireless connection that could bring with it more latency.

That intent is clear in every inch of the Tarantula 8K. The face buttons have abandoned their somewhat retro membrane press and raised, dome-shaped form factor for a slicker, flatter surface and a clicky microswitch actuation. The D-pad responds with a deep click in any direction too, and the trigger stop switches give you the same options for the controller's back.

The extra face buttons remain too, programmable for macros or for any in-game function you see fit. As per usual with GameSir pads, you can set these on the controller itself via the M button on the back, but the software allows you to dive deeper and ultimately access that 8K polling rate you bought it for. Under "report rate", GameSir Connect offers 250Hz, 1,000Hz, 4,000Hz, and 8,000Hz. The sticks have the usual options for controller deadzones and whatnot, and motion controls are also customizable. As is the RGB strip under the touchpad, but with such a bold colorway, you have fewer options here that will actually work in combination with orange.

Personally, I found the deadzones to be finely tuned out of the box and didn't feel the need to change them when I booted up to an 8K polling rate, which likely would have made them too unruly. Unlike the GameSir Super Nova, you have access to four profiles you can swap between.

Performance

This might be controversial of me to say, but I can take or leave an 8,000Hz polling rate. As much as I was happy to be back testing the GameSir Tarantula for this review, I found there was absolutely nothing wrong with the 1,000Hz polling rate and first-gen TMR sticks of the original controller. Besides upping the sensitivity to levels that could be unruly for most users, an 8,000Hz polling rate doesn't add all that much to a controller besides peace of mind that latency isn't impacting things. But then again, I got that peace of mind from a 1,000Hz speed. If you're really blaming latency in your controller past that point, I hate to inform you it's probably you, your gameplay, and reaction time that are the issue.

I very much understand that the intention of this controller is a bit different from what I'm looking for from a successor to one of my all-time general-use gamepads. The aim here seems to be to bring that 8,000Hz, TMR experience to the market that likes symmetrical thumbsticks, and as ever, I applaud GameSir for doing it. I love symmetrical controllers, and I'm glad folks who want to use one in highly competitive situations have the chance to try it here. It's not all that expensive compared to Razer's TMR-wielding Raiju V3 Pro or Wolverine V3 Pro 8K. It offers the full potential of those TMR modules to shine at a much more potent resolution.

I guess what I'm lamenting in this review, then, is that for symmetrical fans, that all comes with drawbacks that aren't present in the GameSir G7 Pro 8K model. Why are there no vibration motors here? Why is there no wireless play? These things feel like basic rites of passage for any GameSir controller these days, and aren't drawbacks that symmetrical players had to make for a similar price. So even if this does come down to highly requested changes from the community I don't align with, it's hard not to view them as weaknesses - especially because, for me, the main appeal of the original Tarantula Pro wasn't competitive play; it was the DualShock 4-like comfort that suited it to gaming in any genre.

Sure, in first-person shooters like Hunt: Showdown and Battlefield 6 up at an 8,000Hz polling rate, I felt like I had ultimate precision to make small corrections with my aim. Like with the G7 Pro 8K, I felt like I had as close to a mouse aiming experience as any controller can give because flicking between targets was smooth and incentivised me to use the right stick to find my target, not use the left one to help move me over it like with most gamepads. The precision here is some of the best I've found in any controller, and yet I'm reluctant to recommend it because there's a real lack of feel here. Even if the lack of any vibration is a preference thing, I think you can still add some heft to a gamepad to make it feel robust when you're wielding an in-game weapon. GameSir hasn't done that.

Does it feel light and sporty? Sure. Does that amount to gameplay that lacks a feeling of substance and oomph? Sadly, yes, and I think you need that in a pro controller. Down from about a 270g weight in the original Tarantula, it's a real stripping down of some important feel.

Thankfully, the comfort of the original Tarantula Pro is still here, and it's hard not to get lost in it for hours at a time. I did most of my testing with this controller by playing Tennis Elbow 4, and I fell completely into immersive and dramatic sets with this thing in hand, all because those rounded grips, nostalgic triggers, and the overall ergonomics made it so easy to focus on the game I was playing rather than what my hands were doing.

The same was true in Forza Horizon 6; driving a myriad of cars across virtual Japan was lovely, although just like in Tennis Elbow, I felt like an integral level of feedback was missing because there was no haptics or rumble telling me how aggressively I needed to brake or how hard the engine was working. This stuff is fundamental to games like these, so I just don't feel like the 8K variant of the Tarantula is going to be worth it if those are the games you usually play.

There's certainly a responsiveness to the new PC-tilted Tarantula that can't be ignored either. Towerfall Ascension felt as snappy and precise as it can with a controller in hand. It felt amazing playing a game I've developed total mastery and muscle memory over with a controller that responds to my every twitchy movement and instinctive press. There's so much great performance to be had here, but my personal preferences want a bit more feel for my money - especially in games like Towerfall that have such pivotal, crunchy feedback.

Should you buy the GameSir Tarantula Pro 8K?

This one is going to come down to preference, ultimately. It's hard for me to be really excited about the return of one of my favorite controllers here because GameSir has removed wireless play and vibration motors from the equation, and these are two things I really like in my gamepads.

But then again, the 8K Tarantula doesn't feel cheaply made, and there's a lot for people to like about it if they enjoy a lighter feel, symmetrical thumbsticks, and play games to a competitive standard that warrants an 8,000Hz polling rate. If you're one of those players who does enjoy a lighter controller and thinks feedback is outdated and doesn't add anything but distraction, I don't doubt you'll love this.

Still, I can't really understand the thought process here. The original Tarantula was received really well, was popular, and was one of the leading TMR pads on the shelves when that technology was first introduced. Then it was discontinued, so I can't really recommend it anymore, but I can finally point you toward the revived models, and they feel like lesser versions despite their modernizations.

If any of my criticisms and nitpicks seem relatable to you, I'd hold off for now and wait for the Ultra 8K PC model that GameSir announced a while back. There's no indication of when this will hit the shelves, but if it has wireless play, vibration feedback, and an 8K polling rate, it'll feel like the all-encompassing sequel I've been waiting for, and the true symmetrical equivalent to the G7 Pro 8K.

How I tested the GameSir Tarantula 8K

I had a good couple of weeks using the GameSir Tarantula 8K for all of my PC gaming before I came to a verdict on it. I tested it across a multitude of gaming genres, as I did with its predecessor. I used the GameSir Connect app to get the most out of it and test its various polling speeds. I played with different configurations of thumbstick heights, and compared it to the GameSir G7 Pro line, as well as the original Tarantula Pro and other TMR pads on the shelves.

For more on how we test controllers, take a look at the GamesRadar+ hardware policy.

There's more GameSir where that came from - take a look at the best Xbox Series X controllers, the best Switch 2 controllers, and the best mobile controllers to read more.