HyperX, now fully its own standalone brand with only a few minimal connections to parent company HP, has been going ham on the 3D printing angle for the last couple of years. The latest entry in its growing catalog of mice, keyboards, and headsets to get the treatment is the Clutch Talon, an officially licensed Xbox gamepad in the vein of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller. But it’s been over six years since the Elite Series 2 launched, and there are several areas in which it can be improved.
The most obvious is magnetic Hall effect sensors for analog inputs. These mean stick drift and similar wear and tear issues are, if not completely absent, then almost completely erased. This will likely be the biggest differentiator for HyperX among those who don’t want to see their pricey controller brought down by component failure. The Clutch Talon has all the other goodies of the Elite design, like a series of six swappable thumbsticks, rear paddle buttons, and even two separate trigger designs, along with three stages of trigger locks for analog adjustments.
HP
In the zip carry case, you even get a phone adapter that screws into the top. Very cool. (It works in standard dongle wireless mode or Bluetooth.) The D-pad comes in a familiar cross or recessed hex shape, both metallic. The Talon only has two rear paddles, but they come with two flavors of buttons: either wide and flat or flared for more direct input. There’s a lot of customization here, including in HyperX’s desktop software.
HP
But the bigger deal, at least for a certain type of gamer, is the physical aspect of customization. The controller’s front and rear faces can be removed with very little pressure as they’re held in place magnetically. Like with the Pulsefire Saga mouse, Origins 2 keyboard, and Clutch Taichi fight pad, the Clutch Talon’s 3D painting files will be posted to Printables. That should allow a pretty high degree of variation… though I wonder how much use you can get out of that functionality, as these are two almost-flat parts. It doesn’t look like the controller’s base housing is designed to be easily removed or replaced, and I’d think that would be a much juicier target for gamers who want true customization.
HP
The biggest question I have for this controller versus the Xbox Elite is the price. Microsoft still wants $150 to $200 for its high-end Elite, and HyperX would be competing with the pricier version with its single all-in package. Its Hall effect powers will appeal to gamers who put their controllers through moderate abuse, and the included phone grip—which I have to admit is much more secure than the usual clip-on style thanks to its screwed-down construction—offers at least some extra value. But that value proposition will depend almost entirely on MSRP, and HP wasn’t ready to share either a price or a release date.
HP
The existing HyperX controller designs are older and decidedly budget, not counting the very premium Clutch Tachi fight pad. Exactly how competitive HyperX wants to be with the Clutch Talon will likely determine how much gamers are willing to give both the hardware and the brand a try. That goes double for PC gamers, who are waiting on the second-gen Steam Controller with its touchpads and extra inputs.
