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[Controller] Is the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Worth It for Gyro Players? (Video, 10:20) by FlickStick Videos on Sep 2026 (comparison with Steam Controller) (inv.nadeko.net)
submitted 3 days ago* by to c/steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I had to add bunch of information to the post title, in order to make sure its about Steam Controller too. He goes through every feature and differences and shows pretty interesting facts too. This is not just about Gyro (but has a focus on this topic). I have both controllers, so this is an interesting comparison.

Video description (only relevant parts):

Which one is best for gyro? Steam Controller (2026) or the 8BitDo Ultimate 2? In this video, I share my results after comparing them head-to-head.

Chapters: 
Intro: 00:00
What do they have in common?: 02:15
Differences: 05:24
Conclusion: 09:28

all 12 comments

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[–] 3 points 2 days ago (9 children)

I would potentially prefer the 8bitdo controllers if they supported full steam remapping in 2.4 dongle mode as opposed to just bluetooth.

The touchpads aren't going to benefit everyone and some games they will be basically useless. I mostly use them for having a grid of keyboard or other inputs for games not designed around controllers, or mouse input for admin menus in multiplayer games that I host, etc.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 days ago* (3 children)

    full steam remapping in 2.4 dongle mode

    They do.
    Can't speak on older models but at least on the Ultimate Wireless 2 they do.

    You must use the 8BitDo software to update both the controller and the dongle's firmware, afterwards turn off the controller and turn it on holding the B button.
    Then it works. Full Steam Input in 2.4g mode, extra buttons and Gyro all work as expected.

    Must fully shut off with the home button then turn back on though, pulling it off the dock with the B button held doesn't work.

    Also I bought mine a bit ago, maybe your unit shipped with high enough firmware version that updating isn't necessary. It was pretty hassle free so I'd recommend it anyway.

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    It's also noteworthy that the 8bitdo software does not support Linux. I updated my firmware through virtual machines with installing Windows on it... (on PC, not Steam Deck). Luckily recently the firmware updater is supported on browsers too, so no longer is installing any software or driver or virtual machine needed. It does not work on Firefox though, but on Chrome based browsers. And it is just to update the firmware if I understand correctly, not the entire configuration box from the standalone software: https://web.8bitdo.com/browser-support

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 days ago (4 children)

    Hmm, I exclusively use the Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller in 2.4 dongle in its standard Xinput mode (I have it for games and emulators outside Steam). And I can edit the layout like I can on the Steam Controller. As I do not have Bluetooth available on my PC, cannot test it.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago (3 children)

    oh maybe im mixing up the 3. some of them have extra buttons that can be mapped separately to anything including keyboard in steam with bluetooth but only standard xbox/ps controller button duplication in dongle mode

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 days ago (2 children)

    Well the 8bitdo controller has 3 modes you can use: Xinput (Xbox, the standard on PC), Dinput (Playstation) and Switch. Some features are only available in the other modes, because Xinput does not support gyro. So you can use gyro only in Dinput or Switch mode. Same for Switch, it does not support analog triggers. I think there are differences in Bluetooth vs 2.4 dongle, but I don't know what it is.

    So if you are like me and use the 8bitdo (or watched others reviews) in Xinput only, then you can't use gyro and this has nothing to do with Steam Input support; it's the controller firmware itself.

    The reason why I don't want to use the other modes is, because I have to enable them by holding button when turning on the controller. But the stupid 8bitdo firmware does not accept changing the mode when taking it up from the dock. So I would need to take it, turn controller off, then on with button... this is so inconvenient for daily use. Normally the state of last mode would be saved in the controller, but when taking it up from the dock its always Xinput as I understand.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    I haven't even used gyro since gravity rush on ps4. I regularly forget it's a feature. The one I'm thinking of I gave to my brother but it had 4 extra buttons that I could map to macros and stuff but in the other mode it was only whatever the 8bitdo app allows, and last I tried that doesn't work in linux.

    Its really too bad you can't set it to work in any mode on any connection type because that would give it almost full feature parity to the steam controller and having pretty much full configuration ability without needing their app, while coming in the more familiar ergonomic shapes of the 8bitdo product lines.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 days ago

    That's a limitation on the APIs, not the controller using it. If Xinput doesn't support it, then it's not the fault of the controller. That's why the new Steam Controller isn't using any of the existing APIs, but has its own Steam API basically (not talking about the Steam Input software, but about the driver of the controller). That's why it does not work without Steam at the moment, but there are outside efforts. Dinput on the other hand has most features including gyro. Buuuut... not all games support Dinput, the glyphs are then different and there are driver based differences on how games use that.

    So the point is, 8bitdo is stuck here. But they could make it less unbearable at least. It just needed another switch like the 2.4<>Bluetooth switch. I personally ignored gyro for the most part, but recently got more serious into it since I started playing racing simulation on PC using gyro controls. It feels great, more fine grained control than analog sticks.

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    • [–] 5 points 3 days ago

    I just bought the 8bitdo. I cared more about not paying $100 for a game controller.

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    [–] 2 points 2 days ago

    My girlfriend is a controller player who came from FPS gaming on consoles. I got her into PC gaming but she still prefers controllers. She tried several different setups on PC at first but eventually settled on the 8BitDo Ultimate 2. I originally bought it for more casual gaming but she has claimed it and eventually bought herself one. I got the Steam Controller more recently which is now my favorite, especially as I'm a KB+M player and I find the touchpads more intuitive for aim-heavy games than gyro. I let her try the Steam Controller but she prefers the 8BitDo, the stick position on it fits her hands better. Both are solid controllers though and both fully support Steam Input.

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