Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review: The king of controllers

I’ll just come out and say it straight away: the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is easily one of the best PC controllers I have ever tested.

The newest controller from Razer, this pad includes the now commonplace Hall Effect-duo of magnetic triggers and thumbsticks, alongside a wealth of other features. The Wolverine is one of the best high-end controllers that you can buy today, with a premium feel that demands few sacrifices for peak performance.

Although it isn’t priced quite as extremely as its PS5 sibling controller, the Razer Wolverine V2 Pro ($249), the V3 Pro is still more expensive than any non-pro third party controller I’ve ever seen. It's nearly $50 more than the first-party Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, for instance, and the same price as the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra.

With that said, nothing is gonna beat this pro controller for gaming on PC and Xbox. Read on for my full Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review.

Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? An Xbox-licensed elite gamepad by Razer
• Who is it for? Any Xbox or PC players looking to up their game
• What does it cost? It’s about double the price of its nearest third party rivals: $199 from Razer
• What do we like? From the build to the features, to the clicky buttons ported over from Razer’s mice, this is a near-perfect gamepad
• What don’t we like? The price brings a tear to my eye, but otherwise only minor complaints: the back-paddles affect grip and there’s only one color choice

Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review: Specs

Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review: The ups

The Wolverine V3 Pro is the ultimate third party pro controller. From its sleek design to its excellent in-game performance, it absolutely nails everything a controller should. Razer’s marketing of the Wolverine is spot on: “For the Pro”.

Design

The controller is very well built, with a substantive feel that helps justify the premium cost. The Wolverine strikes a perfect balance between lightness and quality, especially versus other third party controllers I have tested — the GameSir Tarantula Pro ($69), for instance, weighed only an ounce more than the Wolverine but felt hollow and much less substantial overall.

The controller also has a lightly textured plastic that feels really comfortable, with a grippier, rubberized texture on the back of the controller to keep it firmly in hand. The two sets of thumbsticks included are soft and rubberized too, while the face buttons have a high-end plastic finish that contrasts well with the matte controller case. The shaping makes it really easy for your fingers to find the right button, while ensuring hours of comfortable play.

Visuals

The Wolverine is also breathtaking visually, with a sleek, clean aesthetic. For anyone who prefers color and variety in their controllers, the Wolverine only comes in black — you might be more interested in the color options of the GameSir G7 SE ($44). With that said, if you buy the Wolverine directly from Razer, you can get an ‘interesting’ looking ‘Acid Sludge’ skin — too garish for my taste, but at least it's giving you some variety.

Nevertheless, you can customize the RGB glow of the Razer logo in the middle, which looks pretty despite being a rather uninspired aspect of the controller to have backlit. I still appreciated being able to mess around with this using the Razer Controller app.

Button performance

Thanks to an official license from Xbox, the face buttons on the Wolverine V3 Pro are laid out in the standard ABXY configuration, along with an Xbox logo as a home button. The face of the controller is a little bigger than other licensed third-party gamepads, like the GameSir G7, but everything required is spaced out perfectly fine, so there are no issues with reachability.

Upon pressing one of the buttons, you’ll notice that they are much clickier than your standard controller — Razer have imported their mouse switch technology into this controller, so it essentially functions the same way as a Viper or Deathadder gaming mouse. These switches take a bit more force to initially press down than you might expect, but provide ample feedback upon actuating.

In-game, the switches worked like a dream. They felt really responsive, and my inputs were very accurate. I’m not very good at fighting games, but the Wolverine lent me a considerable boost to my performance when throwing myself at Guilty Gear Strive. I felt much more confident that I was hitting the right inputs needed for a combo, and each punch or kick felt more under control than ever.

Triggers

The Wolverine’s triggers are Hall Effect, which means they actuate using a magnet rather than a physical mechanism. Both triggers have a separate switch to enable hair trigger, which turns the mechanism into a short, clicky press. This is perfect for FPS games, allowing instantaneous ADS and firing.

I tested the controller in Halo Reach. Piloting a Falcon felt great using the Hall Effect triggers, giving me ample fine control, and I could easily switch back to the hair trigger using the onboard controls when needed.

The hair triggers on the Wolverine V3 Pro are up there with some of the best I have seen on a controller. Before the Wolverine, my favorite triggers were those on the GameSir Tarantula Pro, which features similar mechanical toggles. However, the clicky, tactile feel of the hair triggers on the Wolverine takes the crown for me.

Thumbsticks

The asymmetrical thumbsticks also utilize Hall Effect technology, with magnetic sensors employed to determine the position of the stick. This completely eliminates stick drift, so you can expect the controller to last for much longer in peak condition than one with non-magnetic thumbsticks. What’s more, Hall Effect thumbsticks (especially these ones) have a much smoother action and are much more precise than traditional sticks.

Extra buttons

Matching the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, the Wolverine has 4 rebindable back paddles which utilize the same clicky switches as the face buttons. You also get an extra pair of buttons next to the bumpers that can be rebound to function as one of the face buttons, which is great if you use a different grip type or prefer an alternate button config to the usual.

All of these bumpers and paddles have a default binding which you can make use of out of the box, and they work just as well as any other buttons on the controller.

Other gaming features

The Wolverine V3 Pro supports up to 1,000Hz polling, putting it up there with the highest performing controllers on the market. This is only possible using a wired connection, but that’s standard in competitive gaming, where lower latencies are paramount.

With that said, you will likely want to make the most of the USB dongle — it’s pretty rare for a controller of this quality to come bundled with its own 2.4G adapter, although the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra ($199) also includes this. With the dongle, you can enjoy the benefits of wireless without completely sacrificing poll rates, as the controller polls at 250Hz over 2.4G, which is about the standard for controllers.

You can configure the controller using the Razer Controller companion app. This is easy to use and offers a great amount of depth for those who want to rebind buttons or adjust performance. Sadly, you cannot rebind buttons using third party software, like Steam, which would have elevated the Wolverine V3 Pro even further.

Extras

As you’re paying $200 for the controller, having high quality extras definitely eases the blow to your wallet — thankfully, the included carrying case and USB A to C cable are top tier. The case is both soft while being firm enough to withstand knocks and bumps. Inside the case are slots for the extended thumbsticks, as well as the USB dongle.

It also has a pocket, great for throwing in anything else you could think of — I used this to carry a pair of wired earphones, which I could connect to the controller’s included 3.5mm headset port.

A special mention goes to the cable. At 10 feet, or 3 meters, this is long enough to use for most console setups. The best part is that the cable is one of the highest quality USB cables I have ever come across — it never gets caught on anything, and doesn’t suffer any drag across my desk either.

Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review: The downs

There really isn’t much to criticize the Wolverine V3 Pro about. The back buttons got in the way of my grip a little, and for many the extra cost of this controller will result in diminishing returns over cheaper pads.

Grip

This will vary depending on your hands and personal preference, but I found that the grip on the Wolverine was a little tricky, and took a little while to get used to. You’re essentially forced to hold the gamepad in a specific and slightly unnatural way due to the prominent back buttons. These stick out quite far from the back of the controller, and force you to place your fingers on them even if you have no intention of pressing them.

This isn’t an overwhelmingly negative thing, but it limits the freedom you have in choosing your own comfortable grip. If you have smaller hands in particular, I can see the back buttons getting in the way. If you want something that will be unquestionably comfortable, it’s hard to argue with the universal appeal of the classic first-party Xbox controller.

Value

The Wolverine’s price tag of $199 is pretty extreme for a gamepad, putting the Wolverine V3 Pro up there as one of the most expensive controllers you can buy today. Sadly, while everything about the controller is superb, I don’t think any controller can be $200 good. What’s more, while the Wolverine packs some great features, it isn’t innovating or breaking any new ground here to justify such a high price tag — many of its features can be found elsewhere for less.

The Wolverine’s main competitor is the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra, although this controller comes with the extra features of an LED screen, allowing for customization without the need of an app. Arguably, the Stealth Ultra’s screen results in better value for money, but I much prefer the sleek, premium design of the screenless Wolverine. The closest first-party option in price, the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, retails at $179. It comes with a larger set of accessories, such as replaceable paddles, and a unique D-Pad design which isn’t available on the Wolverine.

Most third party controllers can be picked up for less than $100. The special edition PB Tails Metal Crush Defender, with its metallic case and TMR support, comes in at a more expensive $109. These are great alternatives, which offer the same level of performance for much less money, although the quality of the build and amount of customization is somewhat limited.

Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review: Verdict

Without a doubt, the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is the ultimate third-party Xbox controller. With performance and comfort in equal measure, the Wolverine has something to offer no matter your skill level, and enough features for you to really make the controller your own. This is a controller for someone who wants a different layout to the classic Xbox controller, and in this aspect it succeeds.

The price is going to be the main thing that will turn you away. There really isn’t any reason for a third-party controller to cost $50 more than the very best official gamepad available, especially when it actually offers fewer features. In spite of the high cost, though, the gamepad is so good I can forgive it — this Wolverine has really sunk its claws into me.