Nacon RIG Pro Compact Controller - Review

Let me start with a little bit of backstory, before I get into the meat of the review. At the start of this year, I developed a tendonal nerve injury that made gaming anywhere from a little bit difficult to downright impossible. After some minor surgical procedures, I’m now a bit more able to play games again… but not so much on PC. Using a mouse and keyboard combination requires hand positioning just a little too awkward and painful to be worth it. I started using other controllers I had on my PC, things like the DualShock 4 and the Switch Pro Controller, which work (mostly) fine for games on Steam, but if a game isn’t on Steam then non-Xbox controller support is iffy at best, and input wrappers can only do so much for a controller not designed to work natively in the Windows environment. Enter the Nacon Pro Compact. 

I do not have an Xbox. I do not own any Xbox controllers, and there’s a reason for that: they’re just a bit too big, a bit too unwieldy. I don’t know exactly how to quantify this into words, but something about the physical size of the Xbox One/Series controller makes using it uncomfortable over long gaming sessions. Nacon seemingly has picked up on this extremely vague, and yet also specific complaint, and as a result, the Pro Compact is reportedly 17% smaller than the classic Xbox controller you know and love. You might think that this is targeted towards people with smaller hands, and yes, I could see a market for those people too, but even with my big, meaty, gargantuan hands, the Pro Compact felt like it fit right in. To give a better idea of what you’re getting here, in terms of both size and general ergonomic profile, it’s about halfway between the PS4’s DualShock 4, and the Switch’s Pro Controller. That puts it in a pretty comfortable sweet spot between the two controllers I enjoy using the most. 

In terms of build quality, I was also very impressed. The Compact Pro comes with a matte white finish (though a black version is also reportedly available), which is comfortable on the hands and doesn’t attract fingerprints and oils in the way a gloss, or even semi-gloss, finish would. The face of the controller is adorned with four huge face buttons for its ABXY layout, which are very easily accessible and easy to switch between, or when pressing multiple buttons at once. The d-pad is also reasonably nice, though I’ll talk a little bit more about that later in the review. System buttons like the Menu, View, and Share buttons are small, and comfortably out of the way of potential slippery analogue stick fumbles, which is also a big plus. LB and RB are both satisfyingly clicky, and the analogue triggers have a nice, springy tension to them that’s reasonably even in its pushback across the length of its travel. And despite my preference for slightly stiffer analogue sticks, I have no major complaints about those on the Pro Compact either — they are a teensy bit too loose for my liking, but it’s very very easy to forget about that when you’re actually playing something. 

To put the controller through its paces I decided on a gamut of games from the various genres I enjoy: Kingdom Hearts 2, Rebel Galaxy, Hollow Knight, Thumper, and my latest obsession, Knockout City. There’s a couple big genres missing there, namely sports and fighting games, but I’m confident that the games I did try are representative of the input experiences and drawbacks you’re likely to run into when using a controller like this. 

Kingdom Hearts 2 and Hollow Knight are fast-paced action games, where every input and angle of controls can mean the difference between life and death. While playing with the Nacon Pro Compact, every hit, every dodge, every jump, and every spell cast was exactly when I wanted it to, with zero noticeable input lag and every button exactly where it felt like it should be. Sometimes, when adapting to a new controller, there’s a bit of a breaking in period where your muscle memory has to adjust to the feel of the new layout and form, but I found that the Pro Compact was just innately intuitive, and my decades of experience and muscle memory  on other controllers quickly adapted just fine for the Pro Compact too. 

Rebel Galaxy is a much slower game, the stakes are lower and the action now quite as snappy — but it does make frequent use of the analogue sticks, and it’s an easy game to get lost in longer sessions in. I have no complaints about this controller’s performance here. I shot down dozens of spaceships, trucked cargo across galaxies, and spent about 4 straight hours in the game with no major discomfort. Turning up the stakes was Thumper, a fast-paced rhythm game where even the slightest amount of input lag is always noticeable. Again, no complaints here, it performed exactly as it should, and any missed notes on harder songs were entirely down to my own skills (or lack thereof). 

And so we come to Knockout City, an online team-based dodgeball game that you should definitely play because it is so much fun. It also transitions me smoothly into the next big selling point for the Nacon Pro Compact: its insane customisation options. I found that, on its default settings, the dead zones for the Pro Compact’s analogue sticks were a little too big, its analogue triggers took a little too long to register, when playing Knockout City. I needed precision, I needed hair triggers. And thankfully, when you plug the Pro Compact into a Windows PC and download the appropriate app, you can fiddle with all of that. The range of customisation options and presets here is staggering, better than just about any other controller I think I’ve ever owned. It allowed me to finely tune the experience to my liking, and I was suddenly dunking dodgeballs on the opposing team like there was no tomorrow (note, I may be overselling my abilities here). Downloading the app (while the controller is connected) also gives you access to Dolby Atmos for Windows while using the headphone jack on the controller, which certainly isn’t a primary reason to use it, but is a nice little addition nonetheless. 

My only real complaint is that the d-pad, while high quality and very good in most situations, is just the teensiest bit squishy. There is still a clear and tactile place for each of the four primary directions, so for the vast majority of gaming (even platforming!) you can probably expect it’ll be just fine. However, if you fancy yourself a bit of a fighting game buff, you might not find everything you want from the Pro Compact. It’s also a wired controller, which might not be for everybody, but it does have a 3m long nylon-braided cable that is very nice. Both of these are far from dealbreakers, but it’s worth knowing before you drop cash on it. 

After spending some time with the Nacon Pro Compact, it’s become exceedingly clear that Nacon is one of the best third party controller manufacturers around. Outstanding build quality, unrivalled customisation, and fresh, comfortable ergonomics all make the Pro Compact not just the best Xbox controller I’ve ever used, but easily in my top two controllers of all time. I’ve only tested it on PC, but I imagine it’s just as good on Xbox, and that “just as good” is damn near close to perfect for me. If you’re in the market for a new Xbox controller, either for a console or a PC, you’d be missing out by not seriously considering the Nacon Pro Compact. 

The Score

9.5

Review unit provided by Nacon

The Pros

+Insane level of customisation options

+Comfortable ergonomics and fantastic build quality

The Cons

-Wired controller only, no option or variant for wireless

-D-pad is just the teensiest bit squishy, and probably not suitable for fighting games