Summary
PowerA has been around for so long that it’d be difficult to find a gamer who hadn’t at least heard of them. Although they’re most known for their affordable alternatives to name-brand controllers, their newest Advantage controller aims to take things to the next level.
PowerA brought Lumectra RGB lighting tech to their lineup in 2023, with the new 18-footLumectra LED stripmarking their first foray into ambientlighting for gaming rooms. Lumectra’s advanced customization and color accuracy made it a natural candidate for PowerA’s industry-leading RGB controllers.
Does the updated Advantage wired controller make the most of Lumectra, or is it just more of the same from the fan-favorite brand?
What’s in the Box?
The Advantage with Lumectra controller ships with a nice plastic case that’s easy to remove, yet durable enough to prevent damage before arrival. The simple packaging includes:
Comfort & Ergonomics
Fans of the core Xbox wireless controller will have a feeling of déjà vu when they first get their hands on the Advantage. Even players who (somehow) aren’t familiar with Microsoft’s top-selling wireless controller will immediately notice the super-heavy weight of this new Advantage gamepad. It’s unclear why the controller is so heavy, as there aren’t many physical additions to the controller compared to PowerA’s other options, but it’s definitely noticeable after a few matches.
First impressions may also leave players thinking that the controller is much bigger than it actually is. The contouring is minimal, even though the controller is mimicking the Xbox version. While it initially feels extra-large, it handles just as well as any other controller, a result of PowerA’s expertise in balancing their gamepads across a wide variety of weights.
As far as the removable cord goes, it’s hard to improve on the design. The USB-C cord plugs into a receded slot, similar tomany Razer accessories, which ensures a stable connection while also allowing for more compact storage. Straight out of the box, the cord is somewhat stiff and unwieldy, but after a few hours of use, it becomes much more malleable and much less of a nuisance than someother wired controllers.
It’s not quite as heavy as a core Xbox controller with batteries, meaning that fans of hefty controllers will likely be very comfortable with the Lumectra version of the Advantage. The other notes that it takes from the core Xbox counterpart come together wonderfully, offering players a seriously ergonomic grip and decent texture.
Lighting & Software
It was easy to be very excited about the Lumectra controller when it arrived. There are four distinct zones where the color and display mode can be changed to any one of dozens of combinations. Although the entire color wheel isn’t available, most of the colors that can be displayed accurately on a controller are there, and they do display correctly; red is red, not pink, and teal is teal, not light blue or green. Every color is vibrant, with even light colors having a distinctive look. However, several issues quickly make it clear that the controller isn’t as advanced as it hopes to be.
First and foremost, editing the lights on the controller itself was confusing and frustrating. The instructions provided are not at all clear about how to do this, and it took multiple attempts to understand how it even worked. Once the RGB was customized, the controller frequently de-synced with the Xbox, leading to a quick unplugging to reset the controller before the match started. Once everything was understood, the level of customization was quite laudable, as almost all of the app functions can be done through the controller. But even at this point, the controller often didn’t respond to button presses or had significantly lagged responses. It was tough to know when an input had been accepted and when to stop waiting for a color or mode to appear that really just needed a second button press.
That being said, the app’s color customization was not only a breeze but really showed off the near-limitless light designs that could be created. Along with the three standard lighting modes – static, breathing, and color cycling – players can also adjust those last two options to run at slow, medium, or fast speeds. There is significant color bleeding across the zones, but this is most noticeable around the edges of each zone, so it’s somewhat expected. The max brightness could be higher to offset bleeding lights and to satisfy more extreme RGB fans, but again, PowerA is well within industry standards with this Advantage controller.
Unfortunately, during testing, Zone 1 of the RGB went out and could no longer be customized. This is a pretty damning thing to happen, especially considering that the controller was tested for less than a month. It’s doubtful that the LEDs went bad, and it may be the case that the zone went out due to user error. However, there’s no way to reset the controller, even in the app, so the lights could not be restored. Instead, they are barely lit by the neighboring zones.
Initially, using the app, the controller looked beautiful and fairly bright. However, by the end of testing, it was nearly impossible to get the same RGB layout from the app as from the controller’s customization buttons, and one of the zones failed completely. The PowerA Advantage with Lumectra does look fantastic, though with the huge caveat that players should probably just stick to the app for their RGB customization, as well as be prepared to request an exchange.
Other Customizations
PowerA has basically mastered onboard customizations with their controllers, and the Lumectra Advantage is no different. A set of three-stop trigger locks offers effective customization and a bit of an entry into the world of hair-triggers. The main controller buttons – all those except the start, select, Xbox, and share buttons – can be remapped to one of two back buttons. The process is extremely straightforward, once again leaving the Advantage at top-tier status as far as impromptu customization goes, at least for less than $100. One oddly absent feature is the ability to remap the controller through the app. There is no option to do so, and the only control customizations that are available are the trigger dead zones.
Customizing the triggers in the app is yet another venture into confusion. Players need to be pretty savvy to change the triggers, as there’s no way to test them while adjusting the dead zone; there’s a separate tab for that. Despite it being fairly common, it is a bit annoying that there is no description in the app of what adjusting the dead zone does or how one would go about making their joystick experience better.
There’s even a button in the middle labeled “keep sync,” which is not explained anywhere and comes up with no search results. One can only assume this means “keep the controller synced with the options chosen” either on the app or through the controller’s onboard buttons, but why would someone ever want the controller settings de-synced after going through the effort of customizing them, especially when there are trigger stops for on-the-fly changes? Surely more advanced players have the answer, but new gamers are left completely in the dark.
Although the trigger dead zone customization does come up short, this is a fairly insignificant complaint that won’t affect the majority of users. More important is the fact that the button remapping is basically perfect, although it is essentially unchanged from PowerA’s other wired offerings.
Performance
There are no surprises when it comes to the performance of the PowerA Advantage controller with Lumectra. All of the buttons are super snappy, and the triggers are responsive. Throughout testing on FPS titles, there was no lag or any signs of high latency outside of the issue with the color customization. Even when the buttons were fully remapped, there was never any lag with the input. The 3.5mm mic port is perfect for fans ofwired headsets, with some customization available through the app, though the options are scant.
The controller also works on PC without issue, making it a great RGB option for gamers who like both console and desktop gaming. The performance was just as good as with the Xbox and while it may not be competitive against higher-end controllers or mouse and keyboard, this Advantage controller comes at a fraction of the cost and will serve most gamers well enough.
Overall Impression
PowerA’s newest Advantage controller with Lumectra is something that players will want to love, thanks to its incredible RGB lighting and easy customization. The lighting is bold and remapping buttons is nearly effortless. However, with many reviews reporting the same issue with the LEDs, it’s clear that PowerA is struggling with quality assurance on this particular product.
As someone who modded wireless Xbox 360 controllers to add RGB lighting behind the buttons, D-pad, triggers, joysticks, and home button, it is frustrating (to say theveryleast) to see Microsoft and their licensed partners continuously fail to do the same, while at the same time barring third-party controllers from making attempts. Even if the Lumectra hadn’t partially failed after less than a month of use, at best, it only achieves great RGB lighting forwiredcontroller fans. Perhaps there is a good reason why manufacturers can’t do what hobbyists have been doing for over a decade (at just over double the price of a core wireless Xbox controller), but in 2024, it’s mind-boggling that the Lumectra is one of the best RGB controllers on the market, despite its many flaws.
Chalking those issues up to a simple QA failure that could be avoided with a bit of luck or remedied with an exchange, there’s still plenty to celebrate about the Lumectra Advantage wired controller. It is a little heavy and could have some expanded customization options on the app, but at the end of the day, it’s a very solid, affordable controller with impressive RGB lighting. Most wired controller enthusiasts would be hard-pressed to find a better option that’s compatible with Xbox and within the same price bracket.
FAQ
Q: Are PowerA controllers officially licensed?
Yes, most PowerA controllers are officially licensed by either Nintendo or Xbox, depending on which console the controller is intended for. They also have officially licensed charging docks for Playstation controllers.
Q: Does PowerA make good controllers?
Yes, PowerA controllers are made with durable shells and reliable connectivity. While they aren’t the cheapest options, they are more affordable than Xbox or Nintendo controllers and make few sacrifices in comparison.
Q: How do you change the color of my Lumectra Xbox controller?
Players can change the color of their Lumectra Xbox controller by using the on-board back buttons, or by downloading the PowerA Gamer HQ app on PC or Xbox.
