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The Gamesir G7 Pro Is Almost the Perfect Pro Controller… Almost

GameSir has delivered a nearly perfect pro controller in performance and features (and the price isn’t too bad either).

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Written by  Jason Cockerham
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Jason Cockerham

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GameSir G7 Pro Controller

Pros

  • Sleek design
  • Great ergonomics
  • Solid hardware
  • Good accessories included

Cons

  • Basic software
  • Limited design customizations
  • No wireless Xbox support

The term «pro» gets thrown around a lot, especially with tech gear, and it typically refers to a version of something with more features or more power than a stripped-down base model. When it comes to controllers, it’s generally used to describe one with features such as extra remappable buttons, the ability to connect to multiple platforms and, of course, Hall Effect joysticks. Well, kind of. More on that later.

GameSir has been making controllers for several years now. Unfortunately, they’ve been a bit hit-or-miss in terms of quality. Some, like the Super Nova, knock it out of the park, while others, like the Cyclone 2, just aren’t impressive. However, I’m happy to say its new G7 Pro controller has rightfully earned the «pro» in its name.

Design

The G7 Pro has a nearly identical design to the original G7, which in turn was similar to Xbox’s own controller. That’s a good thing, as the Xbox controller has been one of the best ergonomically designed controllers for many years.

The grips are one of the most noticeable upgrades from the G7. They made the top and bottom out of different materials for the Pro, which is genius. The plastic top makes it smoother to slide my palms around and less sweaty as I reach for different buttons. The rubberized bottom grips give me a firm hold on the controller. They aren’t the first ones to do this, but that attention to detail is welcome.

Another neat detail is that all the included accessories, including a docking station, wireless dongle, USB-C cable and cable retainer, all match the color of the controller. Not many companies do that, and I appreciate it.

The controller also looks clean. As nice as the Panda motif is on the original Xbox controller, the dual-tone gray and white of the G7 Pro is just cool. There’s also a black version with a red gradient faceplate if you want to go that route. The tops of the grips and the middle faceplate all magnetically detach from the controller, giving you a cool look at the innards.  

One big miss in my opinion is the lack of RGB lighting, especially since the entire top under the faceplate, as well as the triggers, buttons and extra mini bumpers, are all transparent. That could have been an awesome extra addition, but there’s no additional lighting other than a ring around the Xbox button.

Hardware

The G7 Pro comes equipped with a lot of great hardware, including GameSir’s TMR, or Tunneling Magnetoresistance, joysticks. TMR is essentially an upgraded version of the Hall Effect, which supposedly offers greater durability and responsiveness. TMR thumbsticks are still fairly new, but so far I’m enjoying them.

While the thumbsticks use TMR, the triggers use Hall Effect, and there are even physical trigger stops to switch from analog Hall Effect triggers to micro switch triggers for faster response times. Ever since I first used a controller with physical trigger stops, I can’t play without them.

Speaking of micro switches, the «ABXY» buttons are optical micro switches, and the four-way D-pad has mechanical micro switches. The D-pad is the weakest part of the controller for me. It feels a bit too mushy, and even though GameSir includes three different caps, including a smooth circle hoping to mimic an eight-way D-pad, it’s just not great. It’s also insanely responsive, and I occasionally accidentally pressed one of the directions while gaming. It’s not a deal breaker, but something to note.

Rounding out the hardware are two mappable back buttons (which can be locked if you don’t want to use them) and two mini bumpers up top, much like the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro, which is more than twice the price of the G7 Pro. At the bottom is a 3.5mm headphone jack, a mute button for the mic and a pairing button for the wireless connections.

Connectivity

The G7 Pro supports PC gaming via 2.4GHz wireless, Android over Bluetooth and Xbox over wired USB-C. It’s nice to see support for more than one platform, but GameSir could have done better here. The lack of Xbox Wireless support is likely a licensing issue, and not paying for it helps keep costs down, but I certainly would pay a few dollars more to have it.

The lack of iOS and Switch support is a big miss here as well. Again, I’m sure it’s partially a licensing thing and partially to encourage folks to buy another controller for different platforms, but it’s still not optimal. GameSir is absolutely targeting the Xbox gamers here, so it’s not a huge surprise that those other platforms miss out.

Software

Any controller attempting to call itself «pro» these days needs to have, at the very least, remappable buttons and trigger and joystick dead zones. Most, including the G7 Pro, give you quite a few more options than that in their accompanying software apps.

GameSir’s Nexus app is available for Android, PC and Xbox and gives you granular controls over almost every aspect of the controller. You can even store up to four different profiles for custom setups for your favorite games. The software is basic in terms of UI, but to GameSir’s credit, I’ve never had any issues with the app. Sure, it doesn’t look flashy, but it works better than some others I’ve used, and I’d rather function over form any day.

Easy to recommend

In the end, I have no problems recommending the G7 Pro to anyone looking for an upgraded Xbox or PC controller. The hardware is great, and while it’s not as colorful as some other options, the design is clean. It’s got all the features you could ever want, including TMR thumbsticks, Hall Effect triggers and extra remappable buttons. All that’s missing is wireless Xbox support. The included 10-foot USB-C cable was plenty long for me, however, so I didn’t mind. Plus: No recharging.

The best part is you get all of this for $80. While that’s still a lot of money, I haven’t come across many other controllers that give you such a complete package at that price. Sure, you can pay more for a couple of extra buttons, an eight-way D-pad or wireless Xbox support, but at the end of the day, the G7 Pro is a fantastic controller for anyone looking to explore the world of pro controllers.

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Verum Swap Activated — USDT & BTC Now Available

Verum Swap Activated — USDT & BTC Now Available

Congratulations to everyone — we did it!

Swapping is now live on our platforms: BitCoinPay TradeKarumX Exchange, and Crypto Bank. Every Verum Coin holder can now exchange their coins for USDT, Bitcoin — and all other available currencies.

Withdrawals will be available as soon as Verum DEX goes live — we’re actively working on it.

Thank you for being with us!

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Technologies

You Can See 2 Meteor Showers at Once This Week. How to Catch a Glimpse

Reaching their full glory on the same day this week are the Alpha Capricornids and Southern Delta Aquariids meteor showers. Here’s when to look up.

While meteor showers happen all year, a rarer occurrence is having two meteor showers that peak at the same time. It’ll happen this week, on Tuesday. 

The shooting star show comes courtesy of the Alpha Capricornids and Southern delta Aquariids meteor showers. The former is already happening and runs until Aug. 12, with a peak on Tuesday. Southern delta Aquariids will start on Monday, peaks early on Tuesday and runs until Aug. 12 as well. That means for one evening, the two meteor showers are peaking at the same time, giving stargazers a much better chance at catching a shooting star. 

Of the two, the Southern delta Aquarids is typically the larger meteor shower, tossing upward of 25 meteors per hour during its zenith. Alpha Capricornids is a lesser meteor shower, with about five per hour on average. Combined, they’ll output an estimated 30 per hour.

See 2 meteor showers at once

Since the meteors are coming from two different points in the sky, you would think spotting meteors from both would be difficult, but that is far from the truth. 

Alpha Capricornids, which hails from the 169P/NEAT comet, originates from the Capricornus constellation. It will rise from the eastern skies across the continental US around sunset and streak across the southern sky, setting in the western sky at sunrise. 

For the Southern delta Aquariids, its radiant — the point from which its meteors seem to originate — is the Aquarius constellation. Aquarius is right next to Capricornus. That means it also rises out of the eastern horizon, streaks across the southern sky, and sets in the western horizon around dawn. 

If you have trouble finding either of them, Stellarium’s free sky map will help you hunt them down. Set the time, date and location, and you’re off to the races. Once you find one, the other one is essentially right there next to it. 

Tips on watching meteor showers

As per the norm, the tips here are the same as they are for the aurora borealis and planet parades. Light pollution and weather are your two biggest enemies. Since you can only do anything about one of those, let’s focus on light pollution. You’ll want to drive as far away from the city and suburbs as possible, as the light pollution will make it difficult to see the dimmer meteors. The farther away you are, the better, as even suburban light pollution can obfuscate most meteors. 

Once out there, you just have to sit and wait. Since the constellations will move across the south as you watch, you may have to rotate your chair if you’re out there for a while. Otherwise, a pair of binoculars may help. Telescopes aren’t recommended, as they obscure your field of view and may actively obstruct your ability to see meteors. 

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