Joystick Potentiometers
Operating Life 2 000 000 cycles = ~278 - 417 hours of gaming (source).
Actuation Distance ( Deadzone ) • Travel Distance • Gram Force
Measuring equipment resolution • Distance 0.01 mm • Gram force 0.2 gF
Gram forces, actuation and travel distances of all controllers are very inconsistent. For example, Logitech bumper button actuation is 0.35 mm (276.5 gF) and POV button actuation is 1.27 mm (135.2 gF). Such inconsistency has negative impact on intuitiveness and makes it hard to compare controllers, because values are all over the place.

Stick Axis Precision ( Divisions )
Numbers on image sides are samples of controller value jumps during push of the axis in 0.01 mm steps.

Stick axis full value range is from 0 to 65535. All controllers made different value jumps, when we pushed sticks in 0.01 mm steps.
XONE and ELITE tried to make very small value jumps, but their lines were not very straight. XONE controller jump values varied from 2 to 552 and, with average 82 jump size, controller had 787 average axis precision (divisions).
PS5 jumped in predictable 256 (↑←) and 260 (↓→) increments. With average 258 jump size, controller had 250 average axis precision (divisions).
LOGI was the worst and jumped not only in 256 increments, but often did 514 jumps too. With average 292 jump size, LOGI achieved only 226 average axis precision (divisions).
Larger number = More divisions = Better precision.
STICK AXIS VALUE JUMPS |
XONE |
ELITE |
PS5 |
LOGI |
Stick 1 Axis ↕ |
766 |
784 |
246 |
233 |
Stick 1 Axis L ↔ |
761 |
755 |
253 |
235 |
Stick 2 Axis R ↕ |
829 |
796 |
247 |
236 |
Stick 2 Axis R ↔ |
791 |
763 |
253 |
200 |
Average Axis Precision ( Divisions ) |
787 |
775 |
250 |
226 |
Jump Size • MIN • MED • MAX |
4 • 82 • 552 |
2 • 80 • 1491 |
255 • 258 • 261 |
256 • 292 • 2313 |
Trigger Axis Precision ( Divisions )
TRIGGER AXIS VALUE JUMPS |
XONE |
ELITE |
PS5 |
LOGI |
Trigger Axis L |
255 |
255 |
257 |
189 |
Trigger Axis R |
255 |
255 |
256 |
182 |
Average Axis Precision ( Divisions ) |
255 |
255 |
257 |
186 |
Jump Size • MIN • MED • MAX |
127 • 128 • 129 |
127 • 128 • 129 |
255 • 259 • 520 |
128 • 180 • 896 |
Actuation Distance ( Deadzone )
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Actuation distance (deadzone) represents, how far you need to press button or axis for value to change. Good scissor switch keyboards have 1-1.2mm actuation distance and 45-50 gram force to hold natural weight of finger. It is better when buttons and axes behave the same and have the same actuation distances. It is not intuitive, when one of your buttons or axes has 0.35 and another 2.52 actuation distance, like with LOGI. Consistency represents average deviation (mm) from average actuation distance. If average actuation of all buttons is 1 mm, and one of the buttons actuates at 1.15 mm, deviation of that button is 0.15 mm.
Actuation value jump: Image on the left shows Logitech F310 Stick-1-⯆ axis (32767-65535) 2.17 mm actuation distance (deadzone) and actuation value jump 2056 points (6.3%).
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ACTUATION DISTANCES (MM) • (0-0.5) • (0.5-1) • (1+) |
XONE |
ELITE |
PS5 |
LOGI |
Stick Axis |
0.17 |
0.17 |
0.14 |
2.52 |
Stick Axis Actuation Value Jump % |
0.53 % |
0.90 % |
0.79 % |
6.37 % |
Trigger Axis |
1.19 |
1.11 |
1.98 |
0.84 |
Action (ABXY or SXCT) Buttons |
0.91 |
1.26 |
0.93 |
1.12 |
POV Buttons |
0.76 |
0.84 |
1.06 |
1.30 |
Bumper Buttons |
0.31 |
0.23 |
1.12 |
0.35 |
Stick Buttons |
0.79 |
0.79 |
0.75 |
0.63 |
Average of Buttons |
0.74 |
0.87 |
0.97 |
0.94 |
Consistency • Average Deviation of Buttons |
0.15 |
0.33 |
0.11 |
0.31 |
Gram Forces
Gram Force • How hard you need to press button or axis to reach actuation. Good keyboards have 45-50 gram force to hold natural weight of fingers. Exception is stick buttons, because you need to avoid accidental press, while manipulating axes. If you need a lot of force to push buttons and axes, your fingers will hurt faster and more after longer gaming session. It is better when buttons and axes behave the same and have the same gram forces. It is not very intuitive, when one of your buttons or axes requires 88.2 and another 426.6 gram force to operate, like with LOGI. Consistency represents average deviation (gF) from average gram force.
GRAM FORCES (GF) • (50-100) • (100-150) • (150+) |
XONE |
ELITE |
PS5 |
LOGI |
Stick Axis |
69.4 |
57.1 |
86.1 |
88.2 |
Trigger Axis |
117.7 |
124.1 |
155.8 |
426.6 |
Action (ABXY or SXCT) Buttons |
85.8 |
88.9 |
129.8 |
111.6 |
POV Buttons |
166.8 |
157.9 |
187.3 |
135.2 |
Bumper Buttons |
222.2 |
170.8 |
132.8 |
276.5 |
Stick Buttons |
853.5 |
761.2 |
652.8 |
884.4 |
Average (except Stick Buttons) |
109.5 |
100.0 |
146.1 |
154.7 |
Consistency • Average Deviation (except Stick Buttons) |
44.3 |
40.5 |
37.8 |
78.5 |
Axes and Buttons (value range)
MICROSOFT ELITE |
MICROSOFT XONE |
LOGITECH F310 |
SONY PS5 |
View B6 (0-1) |
Back B6 (0-1) |
Create B8 (0-1) |
Menu B7 (0-1) |
Start B7 (0-1) |
Options B9 (0-1) |
POV T P0 (-1 to 0) |
POV R P0 (-1 to 9000) |
POV B P0 (-1 to 18000) |
POV L P0 (-1 to 27000) |
Action A B0 (0-1) |
Action S B0 (0-1) |
Action B B1 (0-1) |
Action X B1 (0-1) |
Action X B2 (0-1) |
Action C B2 (0-1) |
Action Y B3 (0-1) |
Action T B3 (0-1) |
R1 Bumper L B4 (0-1) |
R2 Bumper R B5 (0-1) |
Trigger L A2 (32767-65408) B10 (0-1) |
L1 Trigger L A3 (0-65535) B6 (0-1) |
Trigger R A2 (32767-128) B11 (0-1) |
L2 Trigger R A4 (0-65535) B7 (0-1) |
Stick Button L B8 (0-1) |
Stick Button L B10 (0-1) |
Stick Button R B9 (0-1) |
Stick Button R B11 (0-1) |
Stick L Axis H A0 (0-32767-65535) |
Stick L Axis V A1 (0-32767-65535) |
Stick R Axis H A3 (0-32767-65535) |
Stick R Axis H A2 (0-32767-65535) |
Stick R Axis V A4 (0-32767-65535) |
Stick R Axis V A5 (0-32767-65535) |
P1 B12 (0-1) |
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PS B12 (0-1) |
P2 B13 (0-1) |
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Touch Pad Button B13 (0-1) |
P3 B14 (0-1) |
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Mute B14 (0-1) |
P4 B15 (0-1) |
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