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Evil Controllers Evil Shift

 & Will Greenwald Principal Writer, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Evil Shift

The sample controller Evil sent us features a soft-touch orange faceplate, a black pro grip, Evil Sticks at different heights (left stick low, right stick high), sensitive triggers and buttons, and remappable paddles.

Stock

As a modified Xbox One controller, the X1 Evil Switch feels comfortable and familiar. The connection options are the same, so you can hook the controller up to an Xbox One or a PC.

Paddles

The paddles on the underside are the biggest physical differences, and they feel like natural extensions of the grip rather than aftermarket buttons slapped onto the gamepad.

Feel

My fingers had little trouble differentiating between the four paddles.

Controls

You can upgrade to more sensitive face buttons and hair triggers. The thumbsticks are also customizable, switching the concave thumbcaps of the stock gamepad for convex caps, and offering low, standard, or high heights for each stick.

Grip

Even with a soft-touch faceplate and textured back grip, the shape and sturdiness is identical to the stock gamepad.

Options

By default, the four paddles on the Evil Shift are mapped to the A/B/X/Y face buttons, reproducing their actions. If you get the hardwired version of the controller, the paddles will only serve their predetermined functions. If you get programmable paddles, though, you can assign them to perform any input.

About Our Expert

Will Greenwald

Will Greenwald

Principal Writer, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I’m PCMag’s home theater and AR/VR expert, and your go-to source of information and recommendations for game consoles and accessories, smart displays, smart glasses, smart speakers, soundbars, TVs, and VR headsets. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and THX-certified home theater technician, I've served as a CES Innovation Awards judge, and while Bandai hasn’t officially certified me, I’m also proficient at building Gundam plastic models up to MG-class. I also enjoy genre fiction writing, and my urban fantasy novel, Alex Norton, Paranormal Technical Support, is currently available on Amazon.

The Technology I Use

Where to start? I have a standard IT-issued Lenovo Thinkpad for writing and editing, supplemented with an iPad Air and an 8Bitdo Retro Keyboard when I want to write on the go. I also have a Lenovo Legion Go as a platform for running Portrait Displays’ Calman software and controlling the Klein K-10A colorimeter, Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Leo Bodnar 4K Video Signal Lag Tester I use for testing TVs. 

For gaming, I use a Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X, and a GeForce 5080-equipped MSI gaming laptop. I like collecting retro games as well, and have an Analogue Pocket and a ton of classic consoles and portables. Photography is another interest, and I use a Sony A7 IV when I’m shooting products and events, and a Fujifilm X-Pro3 for my own attempts at visual creativity. And for reading and writing, I’ve become partial to the Kobo Sage for books and the ReMarkable 2 with Type Folio.

When it comes to phones and tablets, I’m pretty platform-agnostic. I use a Google Pixel 8 for my phone and an iPad Air for a tablet. Android, iOS, and iPadOS are all totally fine, but I need a Windows PC. MacOS just isn’t for me.

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