Nearly everything else, from the sticks to the d-pad to the buttons, performs just as well as any Microsoft controller. The one big flaw, the lack of headset support, is something you're told about up front.
PowerA's Mini Series Controller is way better than you'd expect from an affordable third-party pad. Many players won't want to spend $60 for a set of four controllers, but you can easily save twenty bucks by making this one of your extra pads. Still, the controller's small size and low price make it perfect for use as a child's controller or an additional controller for local multiplayer games. That greatly restricts the Mini Series Controller's usefulness when playing online games (with the exception of Warframe, which supports keyboard chat). You simply can't use a headset while playing with this controller. The Mini Series' most obvious flaw is its lack of headset port. Again, not as aesthetically pleasing as the alternative, but at least we do get a light to indicate that the controller is drawing power. Instead, you'll find it a centimeter below Home. The Mini Series does have a white LED, but not inside of the Home button. Other than not looking quite as nice as a light-up button, I don't see that as a problem. It sticks farther out from the controller body and feels different to press. It does not light up or have a chrome finish. Instead of resting almost at the top of the controller, the Mini Series' Home button sits closer to the center.
They're still larger than you'd find on a Nintendo portable though.
The X, Y, A, and B buttons are smaller and spaced farther apart from each other on the Mini Series controller. It's a millimeter or so smaller in diameter and has grooved arrows on each direction, but otherwise closely resembles the official D-Pad in shape and performance. The Mini Series D-Pad basically rates about the same. The official Xbox One D-Pad is much better though. On the Xbox 360, third-party controllers usually boasted superior D-Pads to the official controllers (whose d-pads were awful, even the slightly better transforming variety). The tops are about a millimeter smaller in radius compared to the first-party sticks, and aren't nearly as prone to collecting debris, either. Their length is about 2mm shorter than the official sticks, which are slightly too long in my opinion. They have the perfect length and resistance. That's why I'm so happy to say the Mini Series has great analog sticks! Even my favorite third-party Xbox 360 controller, the Hori EX pad 2, has shabby sticks. The single easiest thing for third party controllers to get wrong is the analog sticks. Glad to see that innovation carry over to wired Xbox One controllers! The male end of the cable has a breakaway connector, just like wired Xbox 360 controllers. You needn't fear anyone damaging the controller or console by tripping over the cord, either. The Mini Series cord itself is 3 meters (9.8 feet) in length. You'll never need to worry about the controller powering off when left idle, or having to fish around for a cord when you need to plug it in. But the wire can be handy in many situations. As far as we know, Microsoft still requires third-party controllers to be wired, so it's not like PowerA had a choice in the matter. The first difference between the Mini Series and a regular Xbox One controller is the Mini Series' built in USB cable. A matte finish would look cleaner after handling, and (in my opinion) a bit less cheap as well. Even just shooting the photographs and video for this review, the controller got fairly smudged up. Glossy controls show smudges basically any time you handle them. That's not too uncommon for controllers, but it's a worse choice than a matte finish. Whichever color you pick, the Mini Series controller comes in a glossy finish. For the purpose of this review, we picked up a black controller. You won't find an exposed black area on the green color or vice versa, unlike colored first-party controllers. Only the plastic shells and USB cables differ in color. This controller comes in two color variations: black or green.