Hyperkin Competitor review: "Hyperkin's build quality is not too far off Sony's"

Has the DualSense ever lived up to its promises? Going into the PS5 generation, it was maybe the thing I was most excited about. A controller with vivid haptic feedback, trigger resistance, and a refined PlayStation feel - what wasn't to get excited over? But more than five years on, its signature features feel underused at best, and gimmicks at worst. Stick drift issues have been a standout narrative of its lifespan, and honestly, I'd rather use an Xbox Series X controller or revert back to the more comfortable DualShock 4.

The Hyperkin Competitor seems to feel the same way as I do. It's a DualSense knock-off controller at a first glance, but there are subtle details to it that make me think it's been made by people who echo my sentiments. It's cheaper than the $70 DualSense, it has rounded corners to make it more comfortable in your hands, its rumble and feedback are a lot more understated - perhaps a comment on how excessive and distracting the PS5's haptic feedback can be.

Despite my dismissing it as a lawsuit waiting to happen back when it was first revealed, I think there's a lot for gamers to like about the Hyperkin Competitor. For starters, it's a symmetrical layout controller for Xbox, and those seldom hit the shelves. For a full price of $49.99 / £49.99, it's way more affordable than most Xbox pro controllers, but that more modest approach inevitably brings some limitations to it as well.

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Design

What you see is what you get with the Hyperkin Competitor. It doesn't just look like a PS5 controller, it feels like one when you hold it too. The overall shape, size, dimensions, and weight all feel like they've been made from the mould of the DualSense. Although it's available in a fully black colorway as well, I don't really know who wouldn't want to enjoy the novelty of the white version, which even shares the same transparent face buttons as Sony's gamepad.

Finer details are all here, from the shape and grippiness of the thumbstick tops to the dotted texture on the controller's handles. Granted, there aren't any tiny sacred symbols on the grips of the Competitor, but similar tiny ridges do trick my brain into thinking I'm holding the DualSense.

Now obviously, there are a few signature PlayStation frills missing. The touchpad in the middle of the controller is replaced by an Xbox button and a clever aesthetic X shape where the white and black face panels meet. But pretty much everything else is an authentic recreation of the PS5 controller.

What feels like an intentional departure though, is the corners on the bottom of the grips. I've always disliked the sharp corners on the bottom of the DualSense, and I was happy the DualSense Edge replaced them with a more comfortable and ergonomic shape for my pinkies to sit comfy on. The Competitor feels like it's making a comment on that design aspect, because its grips are rounded at the end, just like the DualShock 4 and the much more expensive DualSense Edge.

Features

Most officially licensed Xbox controllers released in the last year have gone wireless, come with charging stands, and offered some kind of carrying case with swappable parts inside. It's not exactly fair to expect the same of Hyperkin here, since most of those controllers cost around $200. The features here are good, especially for folks looking for a fairly accessible Xbox Series X controller. It's not quite as budget-friendly as the GameSir G7 SE, but for Xbox players looking for a quick fix or an extra player two controller, this doesn't stack up too badly.

Unfortunately, the Competitor's feature set is a bit limited when you compare it to its rivals for PC. Even around this price, there are plenty of best PC controller contenders that can give you more bang for your buck.

In terms of pro features, you get two back buttons (which are lockable if you don't want to use them), but that's sort of it. The Competitor doesn't offer a customization app for you to whittle down into its nitty-gritty settings. No deadzone customization, no turbo mode, or profiles. Hyperkin has gone for a scaled-back approach, and while two back buttons still make it better value than the actual DualSense controller, that does hold the Competitor back from standing out against the GameSir G7 Pro, 8BitDo Ultimate 2, Manba One, and 8BitDo Pro 3, among others, which offer all sorts of pro-level support for under $100.

There are some swappable thumbsticks here, but they don't add more playstyle options; they just give you a more indented shape. Thankfully, for a wired controller, you do get a generously long cable in the box, and connectivity is standard. There's a USB-C port on the top, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom.

The buttons are membrane ones, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's used a DualSense. The impulse triggers and thumbsticks use Hall effect technology, which will shield the gamepad from the stick drift plague that the official DualSense has become infamous for. Maybe the most noticeable difference in terms of button feel is a set of clicky bumpers. These aren't microswitches, but do click in with more of a hollow plastic reverb than Sony's more premium R1 and L1 buttons.

Performance

There's a snappy feel to the Hyperkin Competitor. Just like the DualSense, it feels responsive without all of the clicky microswitch fluff that comes with a lot of modern pro controllers. I think the weight and broad shoulders come into play here too. These are simple attributes in a controller, but they're things that the DualSense always got right too. What may surprise many a reader is that despite this budget price, Hyperkin's build quality is not too far off Sony's. If you've ever questioned why the DualSense costs as much as it does, Hyperkin's build quality will make you hungry for answers.

What's difficult to evaluate from a reviewer's point of view is the rumble.

As I've already stated, I think the haptics of the DualSense are underused most of the time - the only games I can really think of that used it to a full advantage were Astrobot and Returnal. Most of the time, adaptive trigger resistance is so weirdly distracting and kind of painful to use, and a lack of resources on the developer end means not enough games find creative and specific uses for them. Play games that just have a very broad "yes" level of support to these controller features, and it's all very overstimulating and a bit too in your face. Not exactly the hyper-detailed feel I was hoping for from this generation's games.

I have no idea if the folks at Hyperkin feel a similar way, but the Competitor's feedback is very subtle and light. That makes me think it could be an intentional feature, but chances are, it's just a bit weak. I'd love to give the brand the benefit of the doubt and say that this is a comment on PS5 haptics, but it could very easily be cheap parts used, or a drawback of not having software to customize how much rumble rears its head.

In FPS games, the Competitor feels as stable as any other symmetrical controller, and two back buttons do help to give me a bit more functionality in my go-to game, Hunt: Showdown. Despite a lack of ways to personalize them, the deadzones on the thumbsticks don't feel massive out of the box, which is a relief. The Competitor wouldn't be my first recommendation to FPS players though, because under $100, there are lots of others that feel more dedicated to this genre specifically. In particular, a TMR controller would do these players wonders.

There's quite a high stick tension to the Competitor, which helps it achieve that snappy feel I mentioned. I think there's an argument to be made for this making the Competitor feel a little slower too. While playing third-person action games like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (which I revisited for a nostalgic moment during testing), swinging the camera around during the game's intensive combat felt like hard work, and that was true even after I cranked the game's sensitivity settings up. Speed is not this controller's strong suit, especially when compared to those microswitch rivals, where frantically tapping buttons in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero becomes really easy.

The four-way PlayStation-style D-pad will be familiar to many, but although I grew up on these types of pads, I can't say I enjoy using them all that often in 2D games like Towerfall Ascension or its mountain-climbing sibling, Celeste. I prefer a circular D-pad, but I could still get the diagonal inputs in with this DualSense impersonator. It's a shame this isn't a swappable aspect though, because alternative D-pad shapes are something that other controllers up and down the price range are providing these days.

Should you buy the Hyperkin Competitor?

I like the Hyperkin Competitor for a lot of reasons. It refines some of the aspects of the DualSense controller that I'm not such a huge fan of, with rounded corners on the grips, two integrated back buttons, and Hall sensor thumbsticks. With those three features alone, Hyperkin has made the DualSense Edge and its $200 price tag a laughing stock.

For Xbox players, symmetrical thumbsticks can be hard to come by. Hyperkin may have taken things a step further than it needed to by so intimately copying the PS5's controller while providing people with a symmetrical option. But in fact, that adds so much appeal to the competitor because it stands apart in the market with a beautifully unique identity. Xbox-style offset controllers are a dime a dozen, but this is the only controller willing to offer symmetrical sticks besides the jack of all trades that is the Victrix Pro BFG for Xbox.

And all the while, this is a super affordable controller. Naturally, when its attempts to mimic PlayStation are executed to such lengths, it is held back slightly compared to what other brands are making. All-in-all, this is a solid controller to buy if you're looking for a reasonably priced Xbox controller with a few pro features that doesn't demand a massive budget. If you're buying to play on PC, however, I'd really have a look at what else is available for this sort of price before adding it to your cart.

How I tested the Hyperkin Competitor

As with all controllers I test and review here at GamesRadar+, I adopted the Hyperkin Competitor into my setup and used it for over a week before writing up my thoughts. I've been using it to play all sorts of games, and I've made a point to test it across a variety of genres to get a feel for who is the best market for it. This is to be expected, but my main point of comparison for this review was the DualSense controller for PS5. Besides that, I did use other Xbox and PC controllers within a similar price range to make alternate comparisons.

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

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