Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition Controller Review

Personally, I always think that when playing mobile games, using a handle is more enjoyable and easier to operate than directly "rubbing the phone screen". The same is true for PC games, using a handle is better than a keyboard. But not all mobile games currently support handle operation. Just like the mobile game "After Tomorrow" that I often play in the picture above, it does not support it. I have tried connecting to a normal Bluetooth gamepad, but the buttons on the handle are completely invalid and cannot be operated. Game characters.

After a lapse of 7 years (the last Xiaomi handle was the Xiaomi Bluetooth handle released in 2015 ), Xiaomi seems to have thought of its own "Xiaomi handle" series of products, so it launched a new generation of Xiaomi in April this year. The handle, that is: the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition, this handle supports the "key mapping" function, which enables mobile games that do not support handle operation to achieve handle operation, but only if it is a Xiaomi mobile phone.

So after about a month of experience, I think this handle can be said to be a dedicated peripheral for Xiaomi mobile phones, and you should start from this demand when you start. So, in this article, I will talk to you about the experience of using the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition. By the way, I will give a brief review.

Design

Let's take a quick look at the exterior design first. The Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition adopts a light gray appearance, and the overall design is relatively simple, without too many decorations and patterns. The handle shell adopts a relatively delicate matte process, and the hand feel and grip feel are not bad. After holding the game for a long time, there is no discomfort in both hands.

In terms of key layout, the front of the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition is equipped with ALPS large-size double joystick, cross direction key, A/B/X/Y four keys, Select key, switch key (the key with indicator light in the middle), Start key key and mode keys (keys with three horizontal lines).

At the same time, there are three indicator lights below the switch key, which represent the current mode of the handle, which can be switched by the mode button. For example, if the first light is on, it means the Bluetooth mapping handle mode is turned on; When the light is on, the wireless Win computer handle mode is turned on; the third light is on when the wireless smart TV handle mode is turned on; and when the first light and the third light are on at the same time, it is the Bluetooth native handle mode, which is the ordinary The mode of the bluetooth controller.

There are also two back buttons on the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition. In addition, the handle is also equipped with a 6 -axis gyroscope and a Minebea linear motor. The gyroscope can control movement and direction with the handle in a somatosensory way; and the linear motor can also give users different vibration feedback in different game scenarios. For example, the vibration of the gas pedal in racing games can make the game experience richer, but the vibration feedback has no effect when playing mobile games, and is only suitable for playing games on the Steam platform.

At the rear of the handle, there is a Type-C charging interface, a mobile phone clip slot, two shoulder buttons, and two linear trigger buttons. These two pairs of buttons also feel good.

The effect of the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition after installing the mobile phone bracket.

After the mobile phone holder is installed, it is firmly stuck, so there is no need to worry about loosening. In addition, the official mobile phone bracket does not clearly indicate what size mobile phone is supported. The largest mobile phone in my hand is the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra. After the phone case is installed, it can be placed in the bracket perfectly. At the same time, the bracket also supports multi-angle adjustment.

There are two ways to connect the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition, the first is Bluetooth 5.0 ; the other is wireless 2.4G . At the same time, the wireless receiver is cleverly stored on the back of the handle.

Features

The biggest highlight of the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition is "key mapping". If you want to use this mode, in addition to switching the handle to the corresponding mode, you also need to enter the game center in the Xiaomi phone to perform some operations. "My Controller" interface.

Then in the "My Gamepad" interface of the game center, we also need to add the game that we want to perform key mapping, for example: I added "After Tomorrow", after making sure that the handle is connected to the mobile phone normally, in the "My Gamepad" interface That is to say, the game is started in the interface shown in the figure above. At this time, the mapping mode with the handle is used normally.

To put it simply, all games that you want to play through key mapping must be started in the game center application. If you directly start it on the main interface of the system, the key mapping of the controller cannot be used normally.

In addition, in the game center, you can also perform some settings on the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition, such as: joystick calibration, controller key position test, somatosensory activation, firmware upgrade, etc. But I personally feel that Xiaomi should make a separate application for the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition, or integrate it into the "Mijia" application, and should not be integrated in the game center.

The effect of the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition installed on the mobile phone is real, and the mobile phone "changes" to the game console in seconds.

After the key mapping is turned on, click the floating ball of the handle pattern to adjust the mapped key position.

Then move the key that needs to be mapped to the corresponding position in the game, for example: I moved the left joystick of the handle to the direction key in the game, then I can use the joystick to control the movement of the character.

There are quite a lot of models supported by the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition. In addition to testing the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra , I also tested the Redmi 9A , which also perfectly supports button mapping. However, not all Xiaomi / Redmi phones are supported. For details, you can check the supported models in the game center.

Playing games with a controller does feel better than "rubbing the screen glass", and it has a whole new feeling. However, I want to focus on it here, because there are too many operation buttons in the game "After Tomorrow", such as changing weapons, throwing reagents, placing ammo boxes, etc. If you play this game, you are mainly PVP , then I don't think it's suitable to use the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition, like changing weapons quickly in the shortcut bar, the controller is difficult to achieve, if you play PVE , after setting the buttons on the controller, it is not enough, but PVE is not a big problem.

In general, as long as the game you play does not support the native handle mode, but you want to play with the handle, and you are using a Xiaomi mobile phone or a Redmi mobile phone, then you can use the button mapping method of the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition to play.

Usually, I also play PC games with the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition, and the experience is quite good.

However, I really don’t know how to play the somatosensory function of the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition. I feel that it is not as comfortable as using the joystick to control the direction. Maybe this is also related to the game I play.

Conclusion

After a period of experience, for small partners who only play mobile games, PC games, and TV games, the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition may be able to give a good experience, but the premise of this is a Xiaomi mobile phone and Xiaomi TV. If you often play game consoles, etc., the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition may have compatibility problems, which may not be suitable (Note: I don't have a game console now, and a PS5 has been sold before, so I don't know if it is compatible, but the official website not mentioned above).

But then again, the Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition supports button mapping, and a mobile phone bracket is included when it leaves the factory, so the handle itself is positioned as a mobile phone, and it does not indicate that it is a game handle suitable for the host, it can also be understood as Xiaomi GamePad Elite Edition is a peripheral specially launched for Xiaomi mobile phones, so there is no need to emphasize that this handle is not as good as other handles, so if you use Xiaomi mobile phones, Xiaomi TVs or like to play PC games, then start The Mi Handle Elite Edition is very suitable; if you only play console games, then don't focus on the Mi Handle Elite Edition, Ta is not your thing.

Finally, let’s talk about the imperfections, mainly that the key mapping only supports mobile phones, not the PC side, and does not support macro settings, etc. The custom gameplay is not very high.