I’m hazarding a guess but reckon it’s pretty unlikely you’ll find a brighter pair of thumbsticks than those offered by KontrolFreek with their Vortex range. Is bright and beautiful always for the best though?
In the case of these Xbox One thumbsticks…yes! At least to a certain extent.
The Vortex’s are quite frankly beautiful to look at. Two full chunks of bright orange plastic, there is little to show the switch from the softer, stickier rubber cover on the top to the hard uncompromising plastic grippers that ensure the Vortex range will hold firm on your Xbox One controller’s thumbsticks.
Roughly the same width as the standard sticks, the Vortex line does however come in taller than any previous thumbsticks I’ve used, especially the one that is usually destined for the right stick. This is in no small matter due to the domed, convex style stick that has been designed for accuracy – the stick that comes in at no less than 12.4mm tall in fact. Now, this may scare some gamers away without even getting a chance to put its case over, but unless you have very small hands (I mean extremely small), then you should be fine with the height of the stick. However, due to the style, and the dome that sits on top, you may find your thumb slipping at the most inopportune of times. Those with larger hands shouldn’t spot any form of issue though.
The second stick, that which has been created with comfort and grip in mind will happily cover your left stick. With only 6.1mm of height, it’s a stunning mid-rise solution which when combined with the concave design brings about a huge amount of joy to each and every gaming session.
Each of the sticks has a swirling design sitting atop and these are pretty grippy. The laser etched design works well but yet again, I personally prefer the grip afforded to me on the left stick a hell of a lot more than that found on the convexed right. KontrolFreek happily state that the unique design that the Vortex hold will adapt under the pressure you place on them. I’m not entirely sure I agree with them on that bold statement however as no matter how hard or light I caress the orange sticks, they feel pretty much the same all round.
The combination of the two sticks does however represent the perfect combination for any gameplay situation. To an extent I’d agree with fully with that but if only the taller stick had a flatter or inwards sloping design, then they’d be pushing the KontrolFreek Galaxy as my top thumbstick addition.
The Vortex’s do however come close…real close.
You can buy the KontrolFreek Vortex thumbsticks for Xbox One direct from KontrolFreek themselves.
