Steam Controller Review - This Was a Triumph!

Dave2D reviews the new Valve Steam Controller, arguing its TMR sticks, touchpads, and gyro finally make controllers competitive with mouse-and-keyboard for PC gaming.

• New Steam Controller uses TMR (tunneling magnetoresistance) sticks, claimed superior to Hall effect in dead zone, durability, and battery efficiency.
• Dave measured ~30 hours of real-world battery life; Valve claims 35+ hours.
• Priced at $99 USD, launching May 4 — Dave considers this the upper limit of acceptable value.
• Steam Deck sold ~8 million units, so the controller inherits a large library of community control profiles out of the box.
• 2.4 GHz dongle connection felt as responsive as wired; up to 4 controllers per dongle with no measurable latency impact.
• Touchpads enable position-based input (like a mouse) rather than rate-based joystick input, which is the core advantage over traditional controllers.
• Two-stage trigger from the original Steam Controller is removed to maintain 1:1 mapping with Steam Deck profiles.
• Battery is not glued or screwed in and swaps easily; TMR sticks are soldered to the board but Valve is confident in their longevity.

2026-04-27 · Watch on YouTube