After spending several weeks testing 30 of the PC controllers, the Flydigi Vader 5 Pro stands out for its clicky mechanical buttons, long-lasting battery, and Hall-Effect thumbsticks whose tension you can adjust at any time.

But players who want a symmetrical stick layout or a pad built for large hands should look elsewhere.

I'm a journalist with more than 12 years of experience writing about games and reviewing hardware. I play most of my games on PC, and I switch between mouse input and a controller depending on what I'm playing. I rotate through several PC controllers every year, from brands big and small, and have a good sense of the strengths and weaknesses of different manufacturers.

Away from PC, I play my Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S with controllers, often third-party devices that are compatible with PC.

To pick the best controller for PC gaming, I first compiled a longlist of potential pads that I thought had a shot. I then cut that down to a shortlist and tested everything on it, arriving at a handful of recommendations.

When I began this process I didn't have a concrete blueprint in mind for the best controller, but I knew what attributes I wanted.

I wanted controllers with reliable, tactile face buttons – but I didn't care whether they were clicky and mechanical or the more traditional, softer-feel "membrane" buttons. ” I wanted smooth triggers, a comfortable shape, a bouncy D-Pad for navigating menus or playing arcade-style games, and a battery life of 6-8 hours at an absolute minimum, but ideally much longer.

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