Is Xbox Elite Series 2’s A button not registering when lightly pressed a QC issue or a design issue?

[Right]

Just received my Elite 2 controller, and while it feels great in hands and everything seems to work out of the gate, I noticed that the A button would miss half of the hits unless I intentionally press it down fully.
After some googling this seems to be extremely common, and some even claims that it's an design issue.
Can anyone with an Elite 2 controller share some inputs? Shall I try my luck with an exchange or shall I simply return it?

 

[TeenageFBI]

I tested three separate Elite 2s and they all had this issue. Got a full refund in the end.

Some people say theirs doesn't have the issue but I've never been able to confirm it. It's possible some are actually fine. That or the other people don't press the button the same way I do.

 

[True Prophecy]

I'll give mine a go when I get a chance I use A on one of my rear paddles so I've never even tried the button!

 

[Jokerman]

Had it on both my elites. It was a nightmare playing Ori but otherwise it doesn't seem a big deal, although you could argue that a premium product shouldn't be sold with such a glaring flaw. I definitely won't be buying the next generation without confirmation of a fix. It is when you glance the A-button with the edge of the thumb that it doesn't tend to register, in my experience. Pressing it dead on is fine. It is not sensitive enough.

 

[apieceofstrange]

Last year I bought the Magenta Phantom controller and it had the exact same problem you're describing. Was immediately noticeable in Spelunky 2 as half my jumps wouldn't register. Ended up returning, which was a shame because that was a really cool looking controller.

 

[HorseFD]

This is really unacceptable given the price of the controller. The standard SX controller has no issues that I'm aware of.

 

[HardRojo]

I got the regular controller that came with my Series X and noticed this issue when playing Ori, sometimes it won't register if pressed lightly (but not too light, I'm still pressing the button).

 

[PinkCrayon]

Yeah when my replacement had the same issue I just fixed it myself

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

IIRC it's a design issue with how the board is mounted. It allows the whole corner of the board to depress when you hit A, so you need to press harder than other buttons to ensure the button itself is fully depressing. Could be wrong, but I think that's what year downs showed back near release.

 

[Defect]

My free Taco Bell elite v2 has no issues with the face buttons and I've used it since before it launched.

My second Elite V2 that I got like a month ago has the B face button not registering unless I put more pressure on it. Kinda ridiculous

 

[Kolle]

The standard SX controller has no issues that I'm aware of.

Click to shrink...

Mine has this exact problem, it sometimes doesn't register if I press the A button lightly or at an angle.

 

[Hoggle]

Went through multiple replacements and they all have it. Even the start and select buttons fail to register unless you apply a ton of pressure.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I tested three separate Elite 2s and they all had this issue. Got a full refund in the end.

Some people say theirs doesn't have the issue but I've never been able to confirm it. It's possible some are actually fine. That or the other people don't press the button the same way I do.

Click to shrink...

Mine did have this issue when I bought it, and it persisted for the first three weeks. The only reason I kept it is because I was using the paddle to replace A in the shooters I was playing at the time (for jump).

I'd gone on to continue using it on Game Pass titles of different genres in the end stages of the Xbox One X generation and now my A responds reliably. I was playing Ori and the Will of the Wisps on my Series X with it and had no issues.

That said, I don't think my case is something people should actually persist toward and tolerate. The thing should work reliably out of the box.

It's worth noting that my Y button was also sticking out of the box and stayed that way for the first week or so, and repeatedly pressing it eventually made it function normally. Again, for how much customers pay up front for this, I do not suggest people just "deal with it" this way.

 

[Dan-o]

First one I had, it was basically unusable.
Second one, it's better, but still a problem. I kept it because I do like the controller...

 

[Sophistry]

This is really unacceptable given the price of the controller. The standard SX controller has no issues that I'm aware of.

Click to shrink...

My SX had this same issue only with the Y button. Horrible feel to it. Only worked with a full-on direct press down.

 

[Duxxy3]

So in the RE2 remake there an obstacle that you have to move out of the way, just after arriving at the station. You have to hold down the A button to do so. When I use a keyboard it's no issue. When I use a PlayStation control, again no issue. But I noticed with an Xbox controller (seemingly any of them, from what I tested) I have to use just a little bit more than light force or the obstacle falls back in place. The button itself can be pushed down, but not quite hard enough for it to activate. So it's not just the elite controllers with this odd behavior.

 

[Deleted member 87246]

My Series X launch controllers A button was fucked from the start so I just bought a new red one rather than jump through their return hoops. Same issue - feels like it doesn't register half the time unless pressed really hard. Pathetic really.

 

[FairFight]

It's a design issue. I have an elite and elite 2 and both have issues with the A button. Life pro tip though map the A button to the bottom left paddle for the new Doom games.

 

[Dannepannepuff]

I've had three different Elite 2 controllers and they all had problems with input not registering. One of those were a repair/replacement from MS.
So yeah, it's just shitty quality. Which is a shame because the controller itself feels very nice albeit way over priced.

 

[AllMight1]

I had this problem with the regular Xbox one S white controller, a friend of mine opened it, cleaned the contacts very thoroughly and it went from sometimes not registering to now registering 9 out of 10 times. button A.

 

[SunshinePuppies]

Design flaw, return it. I gave up after the third v2, and I value my hard earned money too much to make accommodations for a subpar product sold to me by a gigantic company

 

[Stopdoor]

This isn't just an elite issue, I bought an Xbox One in 2019 and went through a few regular controllers with this issue, but at the time it seemed less known of. I wonder if it's something that wasn't present in earlier Xbox One controllers? But seems to be very common now and infuriating. But maybe not inevitable like drift, just bad batches?

 

[Deleted member 19533]

Xbox Series X Controller Button Problems? You’re Not Alone

Nintendo and Sony have their drifting joysticks, but Microsoft is currently faced with its own set of controller button problems for the Xbox Series X and S this generation, partially a carryover from last generation, and if you’re experiencing them, you’re not alone.

www.forbes.com

I went through 3 elite 2s. Ended up getting a full refund. They feel great, but the buttons suck.

 

[Charpunk]

I've had this problem on random Xbox controllers since they introduced the Bluetooth model. The one that came with my one x, the replacement, a red series controller, and a blue series controller.

 

[JAT]

Have had both elite controllers fall apart a little after a year. It's insane that such an expensive controller is so faulty. Here's hoping the v3 is better.

 

[eXistor]

I never bothered to look it up, but I have that on my regular-ass white controller (second revision). Seems like it's a common issue.

 

[JohnnyUtah]

It's a design issue. I sent back multiple for warranty and they're all the same. There is a diy fix but it's a bit janky. Basically you can cut a small piece of sticky tape, fold it iver so that there's no sticky side and then place it between the button on the top right side. I totally get why people would want to avoid this and I agree 💯 that it should ship working properly but this fix dramatically improves the (a) button's responsiveness.

 

[Tarantism]

I had this problem and just got a refund. Use a razor wolverine tournament edition instead now.

 

[msdstc]

While I love the weight, the feel, the customizable aspects, the controller is a quality nightmare.

I got mine in an Xbox bundle. I rarely use my Xbox bit it developed drift almost immediately. Luckily the warranty is great. Sent it out, got it back, all good. Just this past week playing apex I noticed a button misfiring every once in a while. I actually thought maybe it was some sort of lag, or a weird angle I was trying to jump on causing it to just cancel out, but nope after testing it a bit, the button misfires. Glad to see I'm not the only one. Gonna use the warranty one more time, but I'm not expecting it to hold up for very long.

 

[Brazil]

I've had similar issues with every single Xbox controller I've had since the fat XBO one. There's always been at least one finicky face button.

 

[foolishoptimist]

Isn't it an OS issue? I thought I saw a thread where they acknowledged there was an issue with input reliability.



Is the Elite 2s a completely different issue?

 

[Railgun]

I went through four (yes four) before I got one that didn't have this issue. Though it's not just A it can happen with any of the face buttons. Either I'm extremely unlucky or people just don't notice the missed presses or blame the game I guess

 

[FUNKNOWN iXi]

Not sure, but for ~$200 the product should work flawlessly and not have something break soon after purchase.

Had a friend buy an Elite v2 and literally the first time he used it, the left joystick would stick to the right. These controllers have been poorly made since last gen, Sony and Nintendo included.

Made this thread to track issues, if interested -- https://www.resetera.com/threads/let’s-track-our-broken-controllers-this-gen.434288/

 

[P40L0]

It's a design issue. I have an elite and elite 2 and both have issues with the A button. Life pro tip though map the A button to the bottom left paddle for the new Doom games.

Click to shrink...

I agree with this one.
I've the same issue with my Elite v2 (as almost everyone as it's probably a design issue) so mapping A to the left paddle basically fixed it permanently for me, while even improving my gameplay ;)

 

[nikasun :D]

Also happens with normal controllers. Sometimes no registration, sometimes double taps.

 

[Lowrys]

This has been a design issue with Xbox controllers for some years now.

I went through 5 regular Series X controllers with this problem.

I think part of the issue is that the buttons are very large/deep and have a lot of "play" or travel in them. So if you don't press them dead centre firmly, they sometimes don't depress completely to make the contact at the bottom.

You'll notice that if you hit the A button lightly and to the right side like I do, it doesn't go down all the way and it tilts to one side a bit.

 

[Sec0nd]

Quality Control of the Elites are fucked up. I'm currently on controller 5 or 6 with various issues that came up during the course of using them.

They are the best controllers out there. But they are so flawed it's incredibly frustrating.

 

[Tarantism]

Isn't it an OS issue? I thought I saw a thread where they acknowledged there was an issue with input reliability.

Click to shrink...

I suffered from it using the Elite 2 on PC. You can open the controller properties and see what inputs are being registered. If you don't press perfectly straight down on the A button it doesn't register. The A button cutout is just too big. This is why the work around was to stuff the A button cutout with tape.
I don't expect this can be fixed through software updates.

 

[Herr Starr]

I have no faith in Xbox controllers anymore. I've owned plenty of them for use on my PC, and in every single case, without exception, they've had some kind of fault, sometimes to such a degree as to make the controller literally unusable, while in others I can power through. My latest one has the A-button problem (and this isn't an elite controller) as well as often being unable to connect to the computer wirelessly without first using a cable to establish contact. Before that, some of my controllers straight-up died on me, some got so squeaky that the noise would overpower the audio from games, and most of them developed problems with the buttons not registering reliably.

In the meantime, every single Playstation controller I've owned is still going strong. If it wasn't for the fact that Xbox controllers are much better supported on PC, I'd be using the PS controllers there too. I know others have had trouble with those controllers themselves, but this is merely my personal experience with the two brands.

For this reason, I would never consider buying the elite controllers. They cost too much for me to accept them failing after only a few months in some way or another.

 

[SinkFla]

I wanted to buy an elite so badly but I remember seeing nothing but QC complaints online. I really just wanted to try paddles for the first time ever lol. Strangely I found an alternative... For $40 on clearance at Walmart. Maybe I'm crazy but this is a legitimately great controller:

Best Buy PowerA Fusion controller

It's actually on sale right now. I just got a killer deal lol.

 

[JoJoBae]

This has been an issue for me off and on across a dozen different Xbox controllers from the V1 2013 pad, the V2, the Elite Series 1, V3 Bluetooth, and now the S|X pad. It's a design issue that may or may not manifest on any Microsoft controller. Like 40% of the controllers I've bought have had it or drift out of the box (on PC anyway).

 

[Rubblatus]

Return it. My controller has the same issue. I powered through the problem and adjusted to hitting the A button on the controller's terms with full, deliberate presses because I really wanted those paddles for multi-button shortcut macros on PC. But if you aren't as hellbent on making it work, drop it and wait for the Elite 3s whenever those come around to see if they address the issue.

 

[SixelAlexiS]

It happens since Xbox One (S for sure), it's a design issue and it's baffling that MS didn't do a thing to fix it even if they claim how much are tested their controllers. It's sad since is a serious issue but everyone is on stick drifting now and doesn't care about this. I was fortunate to have a white Series S controller that get A button right 90% of time, but I'm the lucky one (can still lose input or double input but is more rare if you learn how to press it).

 

[Pandable]

I would return it. After about a year my Elite V2 started having issues with the bumpers registering twice whenever I pressed them. Microsoft sent me a brand new controller and this one has been working perfect so far luckily. Never had any issues with normal Xbox controllers in the last 15 years though.

 

[Tiny Chihuahueño]

Same thing happened to my regular xbox one x controller, i guess it's an xbox feature

 

[Tora]

2 of my Series X controllers registered double inputs half the time when I pressed A

I swear the quality control of these controllers is so hit and miss

 

[Nuclear Detergent]

I noticed the same thing on my regular Xbox Series S controller when I first got it. Took a lot of getting used to - sometimes It would even register a single press twice. The latter problem seem to have gotten away, and I've grown acustomed to pressing the face buttons harder, than what I used to.

I remember reading about others having similar problems in the initial launch threads.

 

[Hasney]

I've never had a problem with it, but I fully believe it's more just that it works how I press it rather than it not being an issue.

 

[leng jai]

My right bumper double presses which seems to be a common issue. On paper it's the perfect controller for me but the quality control is atrocious especially for something priced at 200. For that it should have infinite warranty a straight swap anytime something goes wrong with it.

 

[Relly]

Changed it 7 times in hopes to get a good one, sadly never ever have i seen a good one. Every one of them had exactly the same problem. Its absolutely disgusting for the price they are asking.