PowerA OPS V3 review: "With less shiny RGB to pull your attention away, epic functionality does the talking"

One of my favorite controllers of the last few years is the PowerA Fusion Pro Wireless for Xbox. A flashy, RGB Rorschach test on the outside, the controller within is fantastic, hiding four back buttons, excellent comfort, and some really intuitive, adjustable thumbsticks. All that, and it launched to the tune of $160, which is ~$40 less than most comparable Xbox controllers. The PowerA OPS V3 is an enhanced version geared to be one of the best PC controllers available.

And boy, does it succeed. PowerA is one of the controller makers I'd consider a dark horse in the market. It's not the biggest name, it hasn't created the massive headline, flagship pro controllers. But PowerA is a veteran that's been around for a while, and has made a name for itself with plenty of budget options. The Fusion Pro and the OPS V3 feel like this brand showing what it can do against the biggest players it's up against, all while staying true to the reasonable price tags it's made a name from.

So much so that PowerA has done what very few controller brands are willing to. More functionality usually means a higher cost for consumers, but the OPS V3, with more features than the Fusion Pro, only costs $99 / £99. In short, this controller is excellent value for money.

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

Design

If you're familiar with PowerA's previous Xbox Series X controllers, you'll know what to expect here. The PowerA OPS V3 feels like a grown-up version of the PowerA Fusion Pro Wireless, and it carries over the same build quality and eyeliner-like RGB highlights as the PowerA Advantage controller.

The OPS V3 is an asymmetrical controller with microswitch face buttons and a four-way D-pad. It's got an Xbox feel to it, but this time, no official Xbox licensing to lock it to a console platform and inflate its price. This is specifically geared at PC players who want maximum utility.

Maybe the most notable aspect of the design is the grip texture, which feels reminiscent of the PS5's DualSense controller. Embossed along the grips are hundreds of tiny PowerA logos, although they're a bit larger than the PlayStation sacred symbols found on the stock PS5 controller. This has a bit of an impact, because firstly, it feels almost itchy on your hands as the rough plastic bites into your skin. It's not caused me any irritation, but it's a little too strong for my liking.

Even if you have a lot of hard skin on your hands, this design point isn't ideal. In the ~four weeks since I've been testing it, the OPS V3 has picked up all manner of lint and dust because the grips grab all of it, and it's very hard to clean after that happens.

Still, this thing is absolutely solid. Just like the PowerA Advantage controller was a brick, this thing has zero give, and although there are a couple of creaks when you twist it, it feels a lot more premium than its $99 price tag would suggest.

The OPS V3 is available in one colorway so far, black, with the brand's Lumectra lighting around its borders. As standard, this lighting is set to green, but you can change it with the PowerA PC HQ App.

Features

Hands-down, my favorite feature of the Fusion Pro returns here. Its height-adjusting thumbsticks are by far and away the best all-in-one solution that no other controller maker has managed to crack. No arguments over the costs of supplying extra thumbsticks in the box, no difficulty over what height thumbsticks should be as standard. Give these ones a quick turn to the right, and they pop upwards. Give them another turn, and they extend even higher. Once more, and they'll return to normal height. No lost parts falling off, no need for a carry case that keeps them all safe.

Usually, when controller makers try to make it seem like you can change your profile or settings mid-match, it's marketing speak; don't believe them. On the contrary, the height of these thumbsticks is absolutely something I've been changing mid-game depending on what I'm doing. Driving around in Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't require precise aiming, but if I enter an FPS stealth arena during a gig mission, you'd best believe I'm giving the right thumbstick a twist as I get out of my car. It's a fantastic feature, and it gives the modular design of the Victrix Pro BFG for Xbox a run for its money.

The OPS V3 features tactile microswitch buttons that are clicky, but in a subtle way so they still feel have the feel of membranes. I wouldn't say these are quite as premium-feeling as the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited, but they're very close, which is a big win for the PowerA controller that's $100 cheaper.

There's a USB wireless dongle, a cable, and a charging stand supplied in the box of the OPS V3. The charging stand is absolutely tiny though, and really reaches to be called a "stand" at all. To connect it to the gamepad, you simply lay the OPS V3 down on top of the charger. It doesn't prop the product up, so it sort of limits your ability to put it on display. I'm glad there's a charging stand included here, but compared to the others that have come out in 2025, like from the Manba One, GameSir Tarantula Pro, or the GameSir G7 Pro, this one feels like a lacklustre attempt from PowerA to tick a box.

The wireless battery life of this controller is quoted to be 30 hours long, but based on my testing, that's a tad generous. You'd still get 20 hours out of this pad, but I've also noticed the charging time of the OPS V3 is also a little slower than other controllers, too. You can connect the controller wired with a USB-C connection, wirelessly using the USB dongle, or via Bluetooth.

The thumbsticks and triggers here are Hall effect, which means they'll be resistant to stick drift, but they won't be quite as helpful in FPS games as a set of TMR thumbsticks. There are four back buttons and two additional shoulder buttons, allowing for massive functionality and mapping potential. Elsewhere, there are three-way trigger locks, rumble motors, and turbo functionality for the button mashers among us.

Performance

Besides the textured grips which, honestly, feel a bit like holding sandpaper, the OPS V3 is a very comfortable controller. It's a good shape and size, and although it's not that heavy, its solid casing means it feels substantial in the hands, and decent rumble power only enhances that. I've played ~35 hours of Cyberpunk 2077 in the two weeks leading up to this review, and the OPS V3 felt perfect for the hybrid perspectives of that game. It has the general use comfort for driving around Night City, but also has big FPS potential thanks to its extra buttons and clever thumbsticks.

Where the design falls a bit flat is in the back buttons. This is actually one of the bigger departures from the Fusion Pro controller; for some reason the back buttons are placed higher up, meaning it's not as easy to actuate them with your middle and ring fingers. If anything, I'd argue the Fusion Pro's back buttons could do with being moved down, so I'm not sure why the brand decided to go even higher up with the ones on the OPS V3. Thankfully the OPS V3's back buttons are easier to press. I love that I could map the back buttons and the extra shoulder buttons without using the software - that's always going to be a win in my book.

In dedicated FPS games, this controller has a lot of potential thanks to that extra utility, but it was occasionally let down by a slightly dodgy wireless connection when using the USB dongle. Sometimes with controllers, these tiny goobers can only boost out a limited signal, but this is a fairly basic thing to get right when it comes to a controller aimed at PC players. Most of the time, my connection was fine, but sometimes, the controller would register phantom inputs in Hunt: Showdown, and there were definite lagging sensations too. Your mileage may vary, but if you want the most stable connection, I'd stick to a wire.

The face buttons have a really lovely feel to them, and the clicky mechanical nature means they also have the speed to keep up with silly tapping speeds in Dragon Ball Sparking Zero. They also added some really fun feedback in platformers like Towerfall Ascension. It is a shame there's only a four-way D-pad on the OPS V3 though, because it does make the controller as a whole feel a little more limited in 2D games than I'd like.

Should you buy the PowerA OPS V3?

At the time of writing, the PowerA OPS V3 is available at Amazon for $66.99 in the US and £88 in the UK. That's reduced from a price tag that's already a very reasonable $99.99. Keep in mind that most Hall sensor controllers with six extra buttons and adjusting thumbsticks will be officially licensed for Xbox or PlayStation and cost much closer to the $200 mark. The PowerA OPS V3 has an excellent position in the market that primes it for some attention from PC players who want as much functionality as possible without overspending.

As a controller, the OPS V3 is super versatile, and its twisting thumbsticks especially are a standout feature that is worth every penny. It's a shame the stunning ghost RGB from the Fusion Pro hasn't made its way onto this pad, but the colorful underlines of this controller encapsulate it; this is not a controller that's here to mess around.

How I tested the PowerA OPS V3

I tested the PowerA OPS V3 over a period of four weeks before coming to a verdict in this review. I compared my time with it closely with the Fusion Pro, and with the previous PowerA Advantage controller for Xbox.

Having reviewed over 10 controllers this year, I used the same testing process for this one as I have for the others. I played a wide variety of games and tested both how the OPS V3 could perform in each genre and how well it adapted to different titles. Mainly, I played lots of Cyberpunk 2077, Hunt: Showdown, Towerfall Ascension, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Dragon Ball Sparking Zero. I paired the controller with two different PCs to test its connectivity, and used a wired connection when all else failed.

For more on how we test controllers, check out the full-length GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

Kicker