Review: PB Tails Metal Crush Defender

I’ve used a lot of gaming controllers over the years. From the original PlayStation to the latest Xbox, I’ve likely used every mainstream console's controller at least once. What has been true, until recently, was that the official controller was going to be the best. They would beat out the third-party options in ergonomics, responsiveness, connectivity, and battery life most of the time.

However, this has slowly shifted over the years: First-party controllers have started to have more issues, while the manufacturing quality of third-party controllers has improved to be roughly on par with the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

Taking this into consideration, the PB Tails Metal Crush Defender gaming controller is a really interesting concept. It's a singular, high-quality controller that works across multiple devices and avoids the problems that plague first-party controllers today. But while the concept is great, it needs a bit more polish to be a genuine competitor.

The Stick-Drift Problem

The largest issue most people struggle with on their controllers (including me) is stick drift. Seemingly ubiquitous across Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo controllers, this issue comes from analog joysticks slowly becoming less accurate over time, to the point where they eventually start to constantly detect slight directional inputs even when sitting untouched.

Photograph: Henri Robbins

There are quite a few theories as to what causes this, with the most popular attributing the drift to smaller (and thus more fragile) joysticks, cheaper components, and cut corners, or tighter manufacturing tolerances to reduce the “dead zone” at the center of the controller.

Regardless, the issue became large enough for Nintendo to face a class-action suit over it. The problem seemingly isn’t prevalent (or more realistically, profitable) enough for any first-party manufacturers to start using joysticks that don’t drift. Instead, most gamers accept they’ll have to buy a new controller when theirs starts to drift, look for DIY repairs, or turn toward the aftermarket for controllers that don’t have this issue.

The Hall Effect Solution

A fairly common solution is to fit your Switch’s Joy-Con controllers with Hall Effect joysticks that can eliminate stick drift. But installing something like this is fairly technical and complicated for the average person, and it voids the warranty, so it’s not a great solution.

Enter PB Tails. The company's controllers use Hall Effect switches (you can read more about the technology in this explainer), which it claims are resistant to developing drift over time. Its newest model, the Metal Crush Defender, takes it a step further. This controller uses Tunneling Magneto-Resistance (TMR) joysticks, which are theoretically more responsive, accurate, and durable than typical Hall Effect joysticks. Adding to this, the controller has multidevice support. It's compatible with Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, Raspberry Pi, and the Switch natively and wirelessly. The only missing platforms are Xbox and PlayStation.

Photograph: Henri Robbins

In the time I've spent with this controller, I've been impressed by the joysticks. They’re accurate and smooth, and I never had any issues with movement registration. This is one of the places where reviews might fall short. Most controllers don’t show any signs of drift for quite a while. The Joy-Cons on my own Nintendo Switch didn’t start to drift until last year, and I bought it in 2017. I tested this controller for a longer period (I used it regularly for around 3 months), but I can’t guarantee it will last anywhere near as long as Xbox 360 controllers, which have been problem-free for almost two decades now.

Refined, Tactile Experience

The Metal Crush Defender looks fantastic, feels great, and is incredibly responsive. The triggers are smooth without feeling too light, the shoulder buttons have a satisfying click, and the joysticks are buttery smooth. The swappable tops for the joysticks—one made of smooth metal, and the other from textured rubber—let you customize the feel of the sticks to your preferences. I gravitated toward the rubber tops, but the metal ones are shockingly usable despite the mirror-like finish. They did still occasionally slip out from underneath my fingers.

This thing is sturdy. The front plate is made of metal, and the rest of the controller is made of thick plastic that feels solid. It’s not as heavy as the metal front plate might lead you to believe, but it still has a good weight and is rigid enough that you won’t worry about it breaking when dropped.

Photograph: Henri Robbins

The controller felt incredibly responsive in-game across multiple devices. I tested on PC, Xbox, and Switch and never encountered any noticeable latency or lag. More than that, I actually felt that these joysticks were more precise than pretty much any other controller I’ve used—they detected even the smallest adjustments and responded well to rapid changes in direction.

My one complaint is that the direction pad is disappointing. The buttons feel soft and inconsistent, and I even had a few instances where inputs wouldn’t register. It was also really easy to press down more than one direction at the same time—pressing down the exact center causes all four buttons to be pressed at once. This kind of functionality might have its benefits for very specific user groups, but I can’t imagine it benefits more people than it will irritate. More than any other button on the controller, these seemed like an afterthought—likely because most games today favor the left joystick over the D-pad for any kind of precise movements.

Even using this controller for multiple hours, I never felt that it stopped being comfortable. The general shape is well suited to my hands (which are pretty average-sized), and both the triggers and joysticks were easy to move fully without having to overextend.

Photograph: Henri Robbins

The paint job of the Defender model, while a bit unusual, is nice. It’s durable, fun, and provides just enough texture that the controller doesn’t feel like it’s going to slip out of your hands. Plus, the Mad Max/Warhammer 40K-like paint job has a lot of charm to it. There are a few spots where it looks less convincing (the D-pad and the triggers look a bit like a Halloween costume), but it’s still really well done overall. If the paint job isn’t for you, the base model Crush controller comes in white, transparent red, and transparent blue for around half the price. You’re only getting standard Hall Effect joysticks with that model instead of the TMR switches, but the difference between the two is going to be pretty minimal unless you need the extra accuracy.

The RGB lighting is also a highlight. Figuring out how to adjust it took a bit of work, but the variety of settings, ranging from solid colors and rainbow gradients to the bottom light bar mimicking a racing game’s accelerator and brake pedal, all made the controller feel more lively during use.

Alas, Problems Remain

As much as I loved using this controller, there were some roadblocks. Pretty much all of them can be brought down to one root problem: poor documentation. This controller aims to be an all-in-one solution that can be used to its fullest extent on nearly any device. Because of this, it doesn’t have any software for programming. Instead, every adjustment can be done through a series of button presses on the controller.

In theory, it's a great solution. It means that, whether you have a Switch, a Mac or Windows PC, or a mobile device, you’ll be able to customize every aspect of the controller while using it. But in practice, this only works if you know what combination of buttons you need to press for these customizations. Naturally, the included start-up guide is incredibly sparse, and because that start-up guide is the only documentation currently available online, you’re going to be left figuring out most of these customizations on your own.

Photograph: Henri Robbins

Thanks to this, I ran into a few serious issues. I ended up spending half an hour figuring out how to change the lighting, and I accidentally activated the “Turbo” mode (which repeatedly presses a button when you hold it down, instead of one continuous input) regularly. The most noteworthy was that, after hitting a certain combination of buttons, pressing the X button would cause the controller to completely reset itself!

Eventually, I was able to find the correct set of buttons to reverse it, but it wasn’t convenient to lose my handbrake in a game centered around drifting. (I was able to find some of the adjustments on the company's Firmware Updates page, but this only covers features that have been added since release.) This problem is a really easy one to fix: PBTails just needs to release better documentation. It’s that simple.

Even though this controller is missing a few things, it’s still a good multidevice controller overall. It feels good to use, has a lot of character, and solves one of the largest problems first-party controllers face today. Plus, nearly all of the issues I ran into could be fixed with a bit of patience.