madshot31
Footballguy
Razer Onza TE Controller Review(360/PC)
I have logged about 12-14 hours combined playing Borderlands, Bad Company 2, and Gears of War 2 with the controller. =
A, X, Y, and B Buttons - M$ = 6/10, Onza = 10/10
The Onza's 4 main buttons are fantastic. They act just like mouse clicks and need about 1/3 the pressure to click down as the normal xbox buttons. There is no delay in waiting for the button to elevate again before clicking once more. They are about 1/2 the height of the originals.
Cord - M$ = NA/10(Wireless), Onza = 7/10
The Onza's braided cored is 15ft long and is very nice. It doesn't tangle and comes with a tie for excess. It has a detachable segment in case someone trips on it. Wireless would be best, but M$ has laws against 3rd party wireless products.
Controller Grip - M$ = 7/10, Onza = 6/10.
The Onza has a rubberized grip that some people love the feel of, some don't. It felt great initially but then was slippery after an hour or so of playing. I have never had a problem due to my hands slipping until I used the Onza.
D Pad - M$ = 6/10, Onza = 4/10
The Onza D Pad has four individual buttons. This was billed as a big improvement for the controller, but its execution was bad. The D Pad is about 25% taller than the original 360 controller and takes longer for it to pop back up into place after being pressed. It is much harder to go from one section of the D Pad to another with precision because the height gets in the way of your movements.
Multi Function Buttons(MFB) - M$ = NA/10(No MFB buttons), Onza = 8/10
The Onza has two MFB above the LB and RB respectively. I like these for games that don't allow you to alter the button configurations, but they are located directly above the LB & RB without any spacing. I had a small problem with hitting the MFB and the bumper at the same time, but not bad. I found these worked well if you us your middle finger as your trigger finger, but seemed a little out of place if your hand is shifted down a little when using your index finger on the triggers.
Controller Comfort and Design - M$ = 9/10, Onza = 4/10
- The standard 360 controller just has a great feel to it. The Onza has a similar shape but it's blocky with some sharp edges, and a little smaller in width. The sharp edges are above the left and right MFBs and create a hooked point that could cut people on accident. Its pretty damn sharp and I'm surprised it got by product safety.
- I also had a problem with the Onza's feel. The bottom side below the triggers aggravated the outside of my middle fingers whenever I would use the MFBs. Usually with how I hold the controller(normal), there is a little pressure on the outside of my middle finger from rubbing against the underside of the triggers plastic shell, but this got to the point of having to drastically adjust how I was holding the controller because it felt like I was going to pinch a nerve.
- Also, the Onza is a wired controller, thus it doesn't have the battery pack on the backside. This was a problem I didn't expect because I usually place my middle and/or ring fingers on this elevated plastic that was now non existent. So my controller balance felt off in a sense.
- The Onza headset input jack is only a single ... prong(?). If you have a chat pad or an older headset that uses three prongs, you are SOL. Party member voices in chat were roughly 60% the volume the normal volume, so balance is off in games where you can't adjust the chat volume separately.
- Start and Select buttons are moved down to the bottom center of the controller. This makes them harder to hit when you use them like in BC2 for spotting. It adds a little extra time to hit them, but they are mappable to the MFBs.
Triggers - M$ = 7/10, Onza = 4/10
The normal xbox triggers work well enough. They could be a little more sensitive, but they get the job done. The Onza's triggers are made for racing games. WTF were they thinking?!? They are longer, thinner, and arced to allow a smoother press of the trigger for acceleration in racing games. This doesn't work as well in shooter games. It can work but it may force you to adjust how you hold the controller due to the change in leverage that trigger's cause. I found shooting with my middle finger was much easier to do for quick shots than my index finger, which I had a hard time firing off rounds in burst fire.
Analog Sticks - M$ = 7/10, Onza = 5/10
- This was what I wanted to try out when I saw the Onza. They promised no slow was a thing of the past, they lied. The Onza sticks are slightly higher than the standard xbox ones. The TE Onza's have adjustable tension on each analog stick. You can loosen or tighten from 0 to 28 clicks. To me, it felt like there were 6 main tension settings. These go from looser than the standard xbox sticks to being almost unmovable.
- The Onza's come on a stock setting of 90 degrees(not sure what it means exactly), and this caused a terrible no slow effect whenever I went past the 2nd click on the tension scale. I had to search google and found a way to adjust it to 45 degrees, which solved the problem unless I went into the 22+ click range.
- I liked the idea but when the tension felt awkward. It wasn't displaced evenly. The aiming reticle would work great and smoothly until it hit a major barrier that when pasted it would zip much faster than expected on your screen. This created the feeling that my aiming was off and my natural instincts wouldn't be correct no matter how I adjusted the tension or sensitivity. Some people will have better luck with these, but it just wouldn't work for me.
Note: There is a "professional" version of the Onza, which doesn't have the analog tension, braided cord, or rubberized grip.
Overall:
M$ = 7.00(42/60), Onza TE = 6.00(48/80)
The Razer Onza TE has some really great things about it with the A, X, B, and Y buttons but also have some clunkers with the DPad and Triggers. I have decided to return the controller since it actually hurts my hands to use it for anything over 20 minutes. Just thought I would post my thoughts on it since it is the first 3rd party 360 controller to be produced. I hope they go from here and create the competition that drives innovation and leads to higher quality products.
I have logged about 12-14 hours combined playing Borderlands, Bad Company 2, and Gears of War 2 with the controller. =
A, X, Y, and B Buttons - M$ = 6/10, Onza = 10/10
The Onza's 4 main buttons are fantastic. They act just like mouse clicks and need about 1/3 the pressure to click down as the normal xbox buttons. There is no delay in waiting for the button to elevate again before clicking once more. They are about 1/2 the height of the originals.
Cord - M$ = NA/10(Wireless), Onza = 7/10
The Onza's braided cored is 15ft long and is very nice. It doesn't tangle and comes with a tie for excess. It has a detachable segment in case someone trips on it. Wireless would be best, but M$ has laws against 3rd party wireless products.
Controller Grip - M$ = 7/10, Onza = 6/10.
The Onza has a rubberized grip that some people love the feel of, some don't. It felt great initially but then was slippery after an hour or so of playing. I have never had a problem due to my hands slipping until I used the Onza.
D Pad - M$ = 6/10, Onza = 4/10
The Onza D Pad has four individual buttons. This was billed as a big improvement for the controller, but its execution was bad. The D Pad is about 25% taller than the original 360 controller and takes longer for it to pop back up into place after being pressed. It is much harder to go from one section of the D Pad to another with precision because the height gets in the way of your movements.
Multi Function Buttons(MFB) - M$ = NA/10(No MFB buttons), Onza = 8/10
The Onza has two MFB above the LB and RB respectively. I like these for games that don't allow you to alter the button configurations, but they are located directly above the LB & RB without any spacing. I had a small problem with hitting the MFB and the bumper at the same time, but not bad. I found these worked well if you us your middle finger as your trigger finger, but seemed a little out of place if your hand is shifted down a little when using your index finger on the triggers.
Controller Comfort and Design - M$ = 9/10, Onza = 4/10
- The standard 360 controller just has a great feel to it. The Onza has a similar shape but it's blocky with some sharp edges, and a little smaller in width. The sharp edges are above the left and right MFBs and create a hooked point that could cut people on accident. Its pretty damn sharp and I'm surprised it got by product safety.
- I also had a problem with the Onza's feel. The bottom side below the triggers aggravated the outside of my middle fingers whenever I would use the MFBs. Usually with how I hold the controller(normal), there is a little pressure on the outside of my middle finger from rubbing against the underside of the triggers plastic shell, but this got to the point of having to drastically adjust how I was holding the controller because it felt like I was going to pinch a nerve.
- Also, the Onza is a wired controller, thus it doesn't have the battery pack on the backside. This was a problem I didn't expect because I usually place my middle and/or ring fingers on this elevated plastic that was now non existent. So my controller balance felt off in a sense.
- The Onza headset input jack is only a single ... prong(?). If you have a chat pad or an older headset that uses three prongs, you are SOL. Party member voices in chat were roughly 60% the volume the normal volume, so balance is off in games where you can't adjust the chat volume separately.
- Start and Select buttons are moved down to the bottom center of the controller. This makes them harder to hit when you use them like in BC2 for spotting. It adds a little extra time to hit them, but they are mappable to the MFBs.
Triggers - M$ = 7/10, Onza = 4/10
The normal xbox triggers work well enough. They could be a little more sensitive, but they get the job done. The Onza's triggers are made for racing games. WTF were they thinking?!? They are longer, thinner, and arced to allow a smoother press of the trigger for acceleration in racing games. This doesn't work as well in shooter games. It can work but it may force you to adjust how you hold the controller due to the change in leverage that trigger's cause. I found shooting with my middle finger was much easier to do for quick shots than my index finger, which I had a hard time firing off rounds in burst fire.
Analog Sticks - M$ = 7/10, Onza = 5/10
- This was what I wanted to try out when I saw the Onza. They promised no slow was a thing of the past, they lied. The Onza sticks are slightly higher than the standard xbox ones. The TE Onza's have adjustable tension on each analog stick. You can loosen or tighten from 0 to 28 clicks. To me, it felt like there were 6 main tension settings. These go from looser than the standard xbox sticks to being almost unmovable.
- The Onza's come on a stock setting of 90 degrees(not sure what it means exactly), and this caused a terrible no slow effect whenever I went past the 2nd click on the tension scale. I had to search google and found a way to adjust it to 45 degrees, which solved the problem unless I went into the 22+ click range.
- I liked the idea but when the tension felt awkward. It wasn't displaced evenly. The aiming reticle would work great and smoothly until it hit a major barrier that when pasted it would zip much faster than expected on your screen. This created the feeling that my aiming was off and my natural instincts wouldn't be correct no matter how I adjusted the tension or sensitivity. Some people will have better luck with these, but it just wouldn't work for me.
Note: There is a "professional" version of the Onza, which doesn't have the analog tension, braided cord, or rubberized grip.
Overall:
M$ = 7.00(42/60), Onza TE = 6.00(48/80)
The Razer Onza TE has some really great things about it with the A, X, B, and Y buttons but also have some clunkers with the DPad and Triggers. I have decided to return the controller since it actually hurts my hands to use it for anything over 20 minutes. Just thought I would post my thoughts on it since it is the first 3rd party 360 controller to be produced. I hope they go from here and create the competition that drives innovation and leads to higher quality products.
360 
PS3 getting steamworks is HUGE. It will add greater functionality that the 360 has had a advantage on with live. With the bonus of not having M$'s DLC restrictions.
