Since 2011, Scuf Gaming has become famous for producing some of the highest quality third-party console drivers and owning a ridiculous number of driver patents. Scuf Instinct and Instinct Pro are the company’s first hits when it comes to creating an elite level controller for Xbox Series X / S consoles, and they practically nailed it.
What is Scuf Gaming?
We have been writing about Scuf drivers in Kotaku for years, trying both your PlayStation 4 drivers and his answer to the original Xbox Elite Wireless Driver. We also covered his patent infringement case against Valve and its Steam controller, where Valve was ordered to pay Scuf four million dollars.
Scuf Gaming is an Atlanta-based peripheral manufacturer founded in 2011 that does two things. One, it makes them highly configurable drivers and usually quite expensive for Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Second, he collects game patents as if they were baseball cards. The company holds more than 100 patents, including the back buttons or paddles on game controllers, the “saxophone” side buttons, and the shutter-release buttons, which limit the distance a controller’s activators must move to activate. -the. The company has an entire page of your website dedicated to your patents. Do you know the Microsoft Xbox Elite driver? Most of the technology that makes it so elite is licensed by Scuf.
Scuf was purchased by Corsair Components in 2019, making it an integral part of Corsair’s evil gaming hardware empire, which also includes Origin PC and streaming device maker Elgato.
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What is the Scuf Instinct Pro driver?
He Scuf Instinct Pro is a combined wired and wireless controller designed for PC / Xbox Series X / S consoles. It is Scuf’s latest choice in making its own Xbox Elite wireless controller. There are actually two models of instinct. There’s the $ 200 Instinct Pro, which includes textured shutter stops and grips, and the $ 170 Non-Pro Instinct, which doesn’t have those two features.
Both Instinct models have four buttons on the back of the controller. These are Scuf’s beloved patented babies. They used to be long metal shovels, but now they are nice buttons that are easily activated with your middle fingers. Under the battery compartment, yes, the Instinct Pro uses batteries instead of a rechargeable battery pack; there is a button to quickly switch between three different button configuration profiles. The small silver switches next to the battery compartment lock the driver’s triggers so they don’t have to travel to activate it, which is nice for shooters.
The front of the Scuf Instinct Pro looks a lot like the standard Xbox Series X / S controller, down to the share button and one-piece directional drive. There is an additional dedicated mute button for headset users, which is lovely.
How does the Scuf Instinct Pro driver feel?
What really differentiates Scuf Instinct Pro from standard Xbox Series X / S controllers is the removable front panel. Not only does it allow you to change the look of the controller with different analog stick caps and rings, you can also change the analog sticks for different sizes and shapes. There are a couple of convex sticks included in the package, which I immediately threw away because the convex sticks are rubbish.
Aside from these fantastic back buttons, the Scuf Instinct Pro controller feels like an official Xbox controller with a textured grip. The form factor is pretty much the same as my standard Xbox Series X / S games. Despite its modular design, the Instinct Pro has a nice, solid feel. The weight is nice.
I was worried that the little buttons on the back weren’t as satisfying as the metal blades of previous Scuf models or Microsoft’s Elite wireless controller, but they’re actually decent and unobtrusive. You can feel them there, but they don’t feel like they’re on the road.
Is the Scuf Instinct Pro driver better than the standard Xbox Series X / S driver?
If you’re looking for additional features, more buttons, and customization options, Instinct Pro has the original Xbox Series X / S controller. If you don’t need any of these things, the standard driver should do just fine for you.
Is the Scuf Instinct Pro driver better than the Elite Wireless 2 driver?
This is a much tougher call. For one, Microsoft’s Elite Wireless 2 costs $ 20 less than the $ 200 Instinct Pro. Elite Wireless 2 has several hair stops instead of the Instinct Pro, which are turned on or off. And the Elite Wireless 2 has an adjustable analog voltage, which Instinct Pro does not.
That said, I prefer the small swing buttons on the back of the Instinct Pro and my custom board is much prettier than the Elite Wireless 2. If you want to declare with your driver, Instinct Pro is the way to go.
Need to buy Scuf Instinct Pro driver?
Look people, I won’t tell you what to do with your money. If it were up to me, I would spend it all on transforming Japan’s robots sent straight to the front door. What I will say is that if you leave $ 200 with the new Xbox Series X / S controller and / or Scuf PC, I don’t think it will disappoint you. It’s a solid quality driver that looks like Microsoft can do, and not just because Scuf owns most of the patents of what Microsoft makes anyway.