A Glowing Rebrand?
Back in early 2023, we got hands-on with the PDP Afterglow Wave Controller for Xbox for review. A humble controller, it managed to go toe-to-toe with the various standard offerings that frequented the gaming market at the time. As the name suggested though, it came with one unique gimmick – RGB lighting infused through the controller, capable of lighting up even the darkest of gaming sessions.
If we’re honest, the PDP Afterglow Wave Controller wasn’t a game changer, instead pleasantly placed to offer a unique, glowing, opportunity for those gamers needing it.
But Turtle Beach obviously liked what they saw, so much so that a year or so later they went and snapped up PDP, dishing out a reported $118 million dollars for the company as a whole.
It’s with that in which we get to the newly branded Turtle Beach Afterglow Wave Controller for Xbox.
Wired Wonders and RGB Glow
Let’s not beat around the bush, the Turtle Beach Afterglow Wave Controller for Xbox is very nearly the exact same controller as previously offered up by PDP, just now with some big old Turtle Beach branding on the box, a TB logo plastered on the front edge of the pad, stickered up around the back. If you have the PDP Afterglow Wave, then we really can’t see much of a reason to upgrade here. But if you haven’t…
So what do we have with the Turtle Beach Afterglow Wave Controller? Well, Designed for Xbox and officially licensed for Microsoft’s finest, this is a wired controller that is compatible with both Xbox consoles and PC. All you’ll need is to be able to get within 3 metres of the device at hand, utilising the USB-C to USB-A cable that is included in the box. Without that cable, the Afterglow Wave fails to wake; as dead as a dodo.
Get plugged in though and this thing comes alive, pulsing with veined RGB lighting across the front plate and around both thumbsticks.
Standard Layout, Subtly Enhanced
As you may expect to hear, it’s mostly standard Xbox controller fare. Face buttons feel decent without being mind-blowing, whilst the usual Xbox Nexus button is flanked by the triple treats of Menu, Select and Share. There’s also a mic-mute button on the frontplate; something that is super handy when in the heat of battle.
Thumbsticks wise and the Afterglow Wave is well equipped. Each are of a good length, slightly hybrid in style with a concave, yet convexed, touch to them. There’s a good amount of depth to these, with a rim prominent enough to ensure your thumbs won’t slip whilst playing.
Further is the D-Pad. super flush to the pad itself, again it is absolutely fine. The problem is, going from the D-Pad on our Elite Series 2 and alternatives, to this, fails to allow it to sell. It’s tactile enough though, and works without issue. As this is a Turtle Beach product, we’ve got some audio controls assigned to that D-Pad too, so if you need to move volumes from party to game chat, it’s simple enough to do so.
Trigger Stops and Textured Grips
The Afterglow Wave wouldn’t be an Xbox controller if it didn’t have bumpers and Hall Effect triggers to pull on either. We’re disappointed that neither are properly textured (the triggers have the most minute of texturing that it is negligible), instead running super smooth vibes. Again, it’s all fine and that, but we would expect any controller that releases in 2025 to at least have some proper texturing and grip on the triggers.
What is present on the Turtle Beach Afterglow Wave which we don’t remember from the previous PDP pad though are some trigger stops. If you want to make those triggers less travel-y, more precise for certain in-game situations, you can do so. A sliding switch sits around the back of the controller, with three settings. We’ve preferred to keep things standard and allow our triggers to run the full length of travel, but it’s a nice touch for Turtle Beach to be adding such an option. Kicking around inside the controller are a couple of rumble motors for added immersion too.
Also around the back are a couple of programmable back buttons. Fairly oversized to many other competitor buttons, these sit nicely under the middle finger as you grasp the controller, ensuring they are super easy to hit and pull on. If you’re in need of such an addition to your controller (and we know of many gamers who just couldn’t do without back buttons in this modern gaming scene), then you’ll be liking these ones. We’d probably have liked it if the slight controller texturing that is present on both arms of the pad had managed to merge onto the back buttons too, but that’s an extremely personal thing.
Personalizing Your Glow
Of course though, we’re some 700 words into the review and so we must touch on that lighting. In a word, it’s extremely pleasant to sit with a controller that emits such glows, and with the grey version we’ve been testing (black, white, purple and blue editions are also available), we feel that the light show really stands out. We particularly like the thumbstick rings that bring the pad to life.
Turtle Beach state there are eight RGB lighting zones and a similar number of preset lighting modes on the Afterglow Wave, and it’s easy to move through the options at hand. For us, we’ve very much settled on a pulsing rainbow effect. Some Xbox green lighting is never too far behind either.
With control of that lighting coming about via the pad itself, holding the same button that mutes the mic and twiddling thumbsticks and hitting bumpers, or through the free Control Hub companion App, getting this to complement other gaming products is a cinch. That App is pretty good too, giving the opportunity for you to mess around with digital dead zones, vibration, button remapping and the like. But we’re super surprised to see Turtle Beach sticking with the PDP name for this App, combining brands and products. We’ll just assume that at some point in time, everything will settle down under the usual TB umbrella.
A Glowing Value for Money (If You Don’t Own the Original)
Turtle Beach branding will immediately see many gamers drawn to the Afterglow Wave controller for Xbox; probably more so than the slightly-less-known PDP that came before it. But again, this is nothing but a rebranding of a controller from a few years past, with the most minute of changes pushing it forward in 2025.
By all means, if you need some glow in your gaming life, something to brighten up the darkest of nights, crack on, as the £34.99 price of the Turtle Beach Afterglow Wave Controller for Xbox means this feels good value for money. But if you do have a PDP Afterglow Wave already to hand, there’s nothing that warrants an upgrade here.
Huge thanks go out to Turtle Beach for providing the Turtle Beach Afterglow Wave Controller for review. Hit Turtle Beach up direct if you wish to purchase a controller – it comes in a variety of colours.
