GameSir G7 Pro Tri-Mode review

The basic question every new gamepad has to answer is: why would I not just use an Xbox controller? GameSir has many convincing ripostes with its new "pro" offering. For one, it's cheap by pro controller standards at only $80, and only slightly pricier than the vanilla Xbox offering. It feels near weapon-like in the hand, has three D-pad configs, removable faceplates, four extra buttons, rumble, and TMR analog sticks. In all honesty, the G7 Pro is the best proof I've seen yet that there's no good reason for PC gamers to buy an Xbox controller in 2025, while also proving that pro functionality is no longer the exclusive province of luxury $200+ affairs.

Fair enough if you haven't heard of TMR before, because currently the zeitgeist tech in analog sticks is Hall effect. First seen in 1990s Sega controllers, Hall effect has been rediscovered of late due to its reputed immunity to stick drift, and can be found in budget and pro controllers alike (though not from the likes of Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo).

TMR—or Tunneling Magnetoresistance—sticks have appeared on Gamesir pads before, and are also starting to appear in controllers by the likes of Asus and 8BitDo. The gist is that sticks using TMR tech are more precise with smaller dead zones, and have a lower power draw, thus in theory allow for marginally longer battery life. And, similar to Hall effect sticks, they lack the constant friction of potentiometer based sticks, meaning they shouldn't ever drift.

For most people, the difference between TMR and Hall effect sticks will feel negligible, but for ultra-enthusiasts and ultra-pedantic competitive players, the more advanced technology is nice to have.

Elsewhere, the G7 Pro's trigger buttons boast Hall effect tech—which is great because those are always the second thing to die on an Xbox controller—and brilliantly clicky tactile microswitches on the face buttons and D-pad. The clickiness seems to annoy some people, but as a regular player of precision-oriented platformers it's one of the things I loved about the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra, for example.

While the G7 Pro has only two rear paddle buttons, where most other pro controllers have four, it compensates by adding two claw grip bumpers roughly between the standard bumper and trigger buttons. If you ask me, hitting these buttons is easier than using my ring finger to toggle between two sets of paddle buttons on the rear, and they make a lot of sense for crouching or reloading in an FPS, for instance. Better still, they share the clicky tactility of the face buttons.

Aside from some other mandatory pro features, such as trigger stops, the G7 Pro has some more novel touches. It has built-in gyroscope functionality for PC (though not for Xbox), which is rare for an anti-drift controller, making the G7 Pro highly attractive if you a) are terrified of the DualSense's famed short life span and b) want an Xbox-like layout with a better build quality than the Switch Pro controller. Its face plate and handgrips can be easily removed revealing transparent casing beneath, though it also means these things are in theory highly customisable. Removing the face plate also allows swapping between three included D-pads. I tested the burnished red model, but the G7 Pro also comes in white.

The rear paddle buttons can be toggled off, and when they're off, they don't shake or depress at all—they turn into immovable middle finger rests. There's a mute button next to the headphone jack, and a mode button for switching between PC, Xbox and Android: PC supports wired and wireless while Xbox only supports wired. On Android, you'll need to use Bluetooth. This mode button also toggles between four onboard profiles when held down in conjunction with a face button. To top it all off, the G7 Pro comes with a charging dock and a battery life of around ten hours (I charged it once during a fortnight of using it).

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With all of these features listed it's worth repeating that this controller is $80. The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro Wireless is $200, and while yes, it has two extra buttons at the rear, that hardly justifies the extra $130 (at least not any more). The recent Scuf Valor Pro is $100, and it's great, but it's wired. What I'm getting at is this: the Gamesir G7 Pro is a brilliant pro controller that only costs $20 more than a standard Xbox controller. It really feels like a breakthrough in terms of what you can expect to get for less than a hundred bucks.

With that in mind, it's worth listing the things the G7 Pro doesn't have. There's not much to list aside from the two rear paddle buttons that have moved to the top of the controller. It's undeniably heavy compared to the competition at 272 grams, though this contributes to its robust feeling in the hand. Unlike other gamepads the stick nubs cannot be removed and replaced, at least not easily nor by design. Oh, and there's no RGB here, not that I personally miss it.

If there's one thing I don't really like about the G7 Pro it's the Nexus software that's pretty much essential to unlock some of the model's best features. I know it's common for reviewers to grouse about peripheral software, but I did find it annoying that you need it to switch the controller's polling rate from the default 500 Hz to 1000 Hz, and that its gyroscope functionality cannot be toggled on until you access Nexus to set it up. It's possible that you can use this software once, set four profiles depending on four different use cases, and then never access it again. It's far from a dealbreaker, and more of an annoyance.

It's funny to think that, this time ten years ago, a third-party gamepad of decent quality was something of a rarity. The last decade has seen an arms race in terms of features and durability, and PC gamers have enjoyed the fruits of this conflict every step of the way. The G7 Pro feels like a culmination of this mad rush: it packs pretty much every important pro feature into an $80 piece of kit that betters a lot of its more expensive competitors.