Thank you Corsair/SCUF for sending us this controller to review!

I've known about SCUF for quite some time. They pioneered adding buttons and paddles to the back of controllers in the early 2010s, and have continued innovating since; they've been granted over a hundred patents. Corsair acquired them in 2019, and they are known for making some of the most advanced console controllers on the market. I have reviewed some other high-end controllers, and they all do offer something unique. However, the first time I picked up the SCUF Omega, I knew it was something special.

The SCUF Omega is their newest controller, with a special focus on PlayStation 5 (PS5) and PC. It uses the DualSense layout, with the D-Pad on the upper left and two thumbsticks in a symmetrical layout in the lower middle. It also features a prominent touchpad in the upper center, just as with any PlayStation controller from the PS4 or PS5 era.

The rest of the button layout seems standard at first glance, though it doesn't take long to realize a lot more is going on. The D-Pad and four face buttons (X/O/Square/Triangle) are in approximately the same place as on a DualSense, as are the Create and Options buttons (Select and Start for us old fogies). In the center between the analog thumbsticks is the PlayStation button, with a profile select button below that.

Below the thumbsticks is your first clue that things aren't quite normal. There is a row of five buttons, labeled G1, G2/Volume down (icon), G3/Mute (icon), G4/Volume up (icon), and G5. (The G2-G4 labels are hidden under the front cover; more on that later.) Below that row of buttons is a headphone jack, which is common on modern controllers.

At the top there are a rather typical set of bumpers (L1, R1) and a set of triggers (L2, R2). The triggers can be used either in full-throw analog mode (default), or there is a switch to make them hair trigger buttons. This is pretty common in higher-end controllers. However, just below the bumpers, to each side, are two entirely new buttons I've never seen on another controller. These are labeled S1 and S2.

And finally, if you flip the controller over, there are two additional buttons and two paddles on the rear. (Incidentally, those paddles are patented by SCUF, and they went to trial with Valve over them several years back.) On the back there are also really high-quality rubber grips where your palms go. These look and feel a step above any other controller I've used; more on that in a bit.

Not only are there between eight and eleven extra buttons to customize if you like, the controller itself can also be physically altered in some surprising ways. By default there are two relatively standard concave thumbsticks installed, but there are three more optional thumbstick types you can swap out. There is a tall concave thumbstick, and two convex thumbsticks; one tall and one short. (Tall vs. short is the length/height of the stick, and concave vs convex is the shape of the top.) While I have fond memories of convex stick tops from the PS1-PS3 era, I prefer the feel of concave stick tops as they stay with my thumb better.

One thing that really surprised me is how many ways of customizing this controller there are. Some of the methods use magnets, while others use clips. The main face plate can be just pulled off as it's attached with several tiny magnets. Underneath that face plate is where a lot of the magic is hidden.

The easiest way to pull the faceplate off is from the top, where there is a small gap by the bumpers and touchpad. Once you pull that off, you have access to the mode switches (more on that later), as well as most of the customization. The thumbstick tops just pull right off with a gentle tug, and they are slotted so they can only be installed one way. The touchpad itself can also be removed, but that is held on with clips, and comes off more easily if pulled straight off from the top.

The left and right side buttons (S1, S2) can also be removed. They are held in with clips. In the package, there are optional blanking plates that can be installed to disable activation of the side buttons, in case they get in your way or you accidentally trigger them too often. There is one for each side, and they are directional, so you'll have to pay attention to the 'L1' and 'R1' on each to install them properly. They are a little tricky to remove, but come off more easily if pulled off from the front or top with a fingernail. The replacement blanking plates have similar clips, so it's not too difficult to figure out. They have little bumps on the inside to prevent them from depressing. Of course, the cover fits perfectly with either the buttons or blanking plates in place.

Perhaps the most surprising part for me is that the D-Pad and four face buttons are not just your typical button with a stem that presses on a membrane or switch. Instead, they are button tops with tiny magnets in them. Each of the four sides of the D-Pad, as well as the four face buttons, can be independently removed. All you need to do is get a good grip on them, and pull straight up. Since they are magnets, they come right up. The buttons themselves feel incredibly premium, and this kind of modularity makes it seem even more so.

The last set of replaceable buttons is over on the back. I mentioned the two paddles and two buttons before; the paddles have to stay, but the buttons can also be replaced with blanking plates. They are a little difficult to remove, and are probably the most difficult of any swappable part. The easiest way is to put your fingernail under the bottom inside corner and pull. The blanking plate goes in easy and works the same way as the other one.

While the controller comes with stick tops and button covers, other customizations are possible, though at this time you can only buy them up front when purchasing. Hopefully alternate faceplates, stick colors, and so on can be purchased at a later date rather than being forced to decide when you buy like it is now. Time will tell. Some of those alternate color and pattern options look quite lovely! The Smoke model I reviewed is still pretty nice, of course. The translucent color, ironically, is actually practical as well, since you can tell at a glance what mode the controller is in since you can see the switch positions through the translucent smoke cover.

Removing that cover reveals two mode switches, which expand how you can use the controller. For connectivity, there is a three-way switch offering wireless, wired, and Bluetooth. For the platform switch, there is PS5 and PC. Each mode has its pros and cons. Of course with wired connectivity, you never have to worry about battery life, and it has the lowest theoretical latency of any mode, as electrical signals travel at a fraction of the speed of light. One common concern with wired connectivity is that the cable can be pulled out during intense use. To combat this, the SCUF Omega includes a rather innovative wire holder they call the tournament cable lock. This lock clips over the cable and clips into the controller itself to prevent it from falling out. This is a really neat design! When properly in place, the wire is almost impossible to pull out by accident.

For me, I prefer using wireless controllers where possible. Fortunately, the 2.4GHz wireless mode is very low latency, and the battery life is also excellent. The specifications promise thirty hours, and that seems pretty close to my experience. It lasted quite a long time during my testing. Bluetooth mode also works pretty well, though it's meant for mobile users. It's possible to use on PCs, but it is clearly not meant for this, and certain functions don't work properly (including basic things like the analog triggers). I was quite surprised Bluetooth mode behaves this way on PC. It works perfectly on my Android phone, including with games using analog triggers. I tried Android titles, Steam Link, and even GameNative (PC games emulated on Android) all without issue.

Using the included 2.4GHz wireless dongle, you can connect it either your PC or PlayStation 5. In both cases, you need to insert the dongle into an open USB port; it doesn't support the native wireless protocol of the PS5. Wired and wireless modes (using the dongle, not Bluetooth) operate pretty much identically. When in wired or wireless mode is when the PC/PS5 mode switch comes into play. Both modes are enhanced compared to a typical controller.

This controller's PlayStation 5 mode offers all of the typical normal buttons as well as the touchpad feature. Like with most if not all other third-party PS5 controllers, there are no rumble, adaptive triggers, or motion control features. Those are unique to Sony's first-party DualSense line, and they do not allow other controllers to offer them.

Fortunately, the SCUF Omega still has other benefits on PS5. To begin with, you have eight additional buttons to assign functions to. There are four on the back, one on each side, and you also have the two G keys (G1, G5). These can be assigned to any existing controller button except for the touchpad button press or the PS button. D-Pad directions, face buttons, bumpers, triggers, thumbstick buttons, or menu buttons (Create, Options) all can be remapped to any of them.

While it is possible (though cumbersome) to do some button remapping on the controller itself, most if not all of the rest of the features can only be accessed from the mobile SCUF App. This connects to the controller over Bluetooth while the controller is connected to your PC or console via the dongle or over a wire. I could not find a PC or PS5 app to configure this controller; the mobile app seems to be required.

I tested the Android SCUF App, and it looks and operates pretty well. Some features are common to the higher-end controllers I've tested, like being able to adjust dead zones on the triggers and analog sticks. Other features are pretty nice, while some are simply unheard of elsewhere.

For example, while adjusting dead zones is common, being able to make custom trigger activation curves is far less common. The same is true with the thumbsticks. Speaking of, one feature I've most certainly never heard of is being able to adjust not just the responsiveness level of the thumbsticks, but the thumbstick's shape. What do I mean by shape? Physically, a thumbstick moves in a circle. But logically, a lot of controllers will have the diagonals go farther than a pure circle, since some games expect the corners to be farther out. Rather than deciding from the factory what the ideal thumbstick response shape should be, this controller actually lets you choose! If you want the perfect ideal, there's an option for a circle. If you want the corners of the circle to reach the full resolution in each corner, you also have the option for a square. Otherwise, there is a default of a 'squircle' that combines the two for a compromise setting. Amazing!

Outside of that is of course the many forms of button mapping and remapping. You can customize how quickly the controller goes to sleep when inactive, update the firmware, or recalibrate the controller if the sticks don't center properly. One feature that I really didn't expect is you can configure how the 4-button D-Pad operates. There are five different presets to choose from. Normal acts like a, well, normal D-Pad - if you press opposite directions, they are both canceled out. This of course makes sense, as most controllers act this way. However, if you have a reason for it, you can also make sure it instead chooses first or last input priority if you press two buttons at close to the same time. This can be useful if you like to quickly wiggle your thumb and you always want something activated while doing so. There are two options left, and they are strange. One is called 'Up Input Priority'. Essentially, pressing left and right together returns neutral, not unlike the default setting. But pressing up and down together returns up. I'm not sure why this is desirable... As for the final mode, how would you like to have all directions at once as an option? Yes, you can do that, but only if the controller is in PC mode.

But that's not all that PC lets you do. Would you like to have the touchpad directly emulate a mouse? It lets you do that - or if you want to turn it off, you can replace the touchpad with another button or key, instead. What's that? Key, you say? Yes. You can have one of the eleven special buttons swap with not just gamepad buttons, but also keyboard key presses. If you want, say, G1 to be mapped to F12 for taking a screenshot in Steam, you can totally do that. Or perhaps making a button map to Escape, since I recently played a game that required pressing that key to quit. The options available are amazing, and no doubt have a lot of uses. Especially since you can even map one to Ctrl+Alt+Delete if you are so inclined.

Another amazing feature of PC mode that is available on only a few gamepads is 1,000Hz polling rate mode. This is a state of the art feature for gaming controllers, where the controller updates its position every millisecond. Most inexpensive controllers support only 125Hz, and some more premium ones might support 250Hz. 1,000Hz mode is among some of the best on the market, and the responsiveness is like nothing else. When using the controller in PS5 mode on PC, I noted a 250Hz polling rate, which really isn't bad, but that 1,000Hz mode really is great.

In Windows, PC mode shows up as an X-Input device. This older input mode still works in modern Windows, but it's technically from the Xbox 360 era. Unfortunately, Linux-based PCs like the Steam Deck don't seem to support this controller in PC mode quite yet. Thankfully it's quick and easy to flip the controller over to PS5 mode, which does work great on Linux and Steam Deck. While not being able to enjoy 1,000Hz polling rates and keyboard key emulation is a shame, at least you can still continue to use the incredible controller.

Speaking of, this controller includes TMR thumbsticks, rather than older potentiometer designs or even hall-effect ones. Potentiometer designs are the least desirable, as they can start to break down and drift over time. Hall-effect sticks work pretty well, and don't drift, but they use more power than the other types. These new TMR sticks are also magnetic like hall-effect, but use a lot less power and, surprisingly, are even more accurate in use. All I can say is that these thumbsticks feel absolutely incredible, and just feel better and more accurate while using them. I almost never play shooters on a gamepad, but I tried it with Robobeat on PS5, and I was very impressed with how well this SCUF Omega worked, especially when comparing against a DualSense one after the other.

From a performance point of view, the SCUF Omega performed fantastically during my testing. The only real complaint I had, other than a lack of certain features like rumble (but this is well-known and expected), is that the USB dongle is a bit pickier with USB ports than some controllers. I suspect that my USB hub doesn't handle the 1,000Hz polling rate well, so I have to plug it into the front of my PC case instead. Hardly the end of the world. I already mentioned that PC mode doesn't work on Steam Deck or Linux PCs yet, though PS5 mode is a suitable workaround.

The SCUF Omega is probably the most premium controller I've ever used, by quite a margin. In the hand it simply feels incredible, from head to toe. The ultra smooth coating on the faceplate, the nearly perfect feel for the thumbsticks, the superb feel for the D-Pad and face buttons, and the amazing rubber grip coating around the back, this controller just oozes quality. Even the included case is great, though I do wish it had a pouch for all of the extra included accessories. (They do all fit inside, but they just float about, and are probably easy to lose.) While I really do wish it had rumble and motion controls, at the end of the day if you care more about peak gaming performance than less important features like those, then the SCUF Omega gets my highest recommendation. If winning is your number one, then so is this SCUF Omega!