The 8BitDo Ultimate Wired Pad for Xbox comes in three colors; white, black and pastel.

After covering 8BitDo’s Pro 2 Controller last year, I genuinely thought that was probably the best third-party pad we were going to get for a while. Well, it looks like I was wrong about that.

The 8BitDo Ultimate Wired Controller for Xbox is exactly what you’d expect. In that, it is a fully customizable game pad with all manner of extra features, but retains a excellent feel in terms of its input.

Firstly, it uses the Ultimate Software setup from 8BitDo. This means you can customize the pad to your heart’s desire. From button layouts to individual profiles you can switch between on the fly.

Secondly, you have all manner of extra controls on the pad itself, from options to control game volume via the pad as well as extra inputs underneath.

So on customization gimmicks alone, there’s a fair amount going on here for a third-party game pad. However, what really matters here is how the pad feels in terms of its button input and in this regard it doesn’t disappoint.

I played a variety of games across PC and Xbox, and I actually prefer this pad to both the standard and Elite controllers by Microsoft.

The 8BitDo Ultimate Wired Controller for Xbox also uses 8BitDo's own Ultimate Software app that ... [+] allows for a great deal of customization.

The fact its wired also makes using this pad very straightforward. There’s no need to sort out the varying Bluetooth connections depending on what device you are using. It’s just plug and play and lag free.

One final thing is that while the Pro 2 Controller was and is amazing, it uses a non-standard button layout for things like PC. There are work arounds for this, but out of the box it’s not really setup for PC or Xbox gaming.

By contrast, this is now my go to game pad for PC and Xbox gaming. It’s also surprisingly handy in a game development context as well, as the customization options are very useful in that environment.

Overall, this is easily the best game pad for PC and Xbox gaming right now and it costs a fraction of an Elite controller and is also cheaper than the standard Xbox pad to boot. So if you need a great game pad for PC and Xbox gaming, and one that is very affordable with it, then 8BitDo has very much got you covered.

The 8BitDo Ultimate Wired Controller for Xbox is available from retailers such as Amazon for $44.99 and is compatible with Windows 10, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

Disclosure: 8BitDo sent me this game pad for the purposes of this review.

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and do toy reviews over at hobbylink.tv.

Read my Forbes blog here.