This is Game8's review of NYXI Master P1, a third party wireless controller for PC, Nintendo Switch, and Mobile. Read on for our experience using NYXI Master P1, verdict on the controller, its performance on different genres, design features, and more!

What is NYXI?

NYXI prides itself in being a gamer-first maker of third-party controllers. They have consistently come out with highly-regarded, ergonomic controllers that incorporate modern features like programmable buttons, turbo functions, and responsive joysticks—all packaged in designs that draw inspiration from classic gaming systems like the GameCube. NYXI’s third-party controllers are the perfect choice if you're looking to personalize your gaming experience and up your game in comfort and convenience.

Today, we’re taking a look at their NYXI Master P1. With a selling price of $49.99, it’s the latest among their lineup of exceptionally beautiful controllers. We’re testing it out on its supported/compatible platforms—that being: PC, Switch, and mobile. We also loaded up several games across different genres, from shooters to platformers, to see how well-suited the NYXI Master P1 is on each one. So, read on for our full review of the NYXI Master P1!

Physical Stores
Amazon			NYXI Website
Price		$49.99

NYXI Master P1 Review: Dark, Sleek, and Full of Surprises

NYXI Master P1 Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Amazing Tactile Feel & Grip Connecting It is Easy Remappable Back Buttons are a Godsend Pretty Good Recentering and Circularity Hall Effect Triggers and Joysticks	Narrow Shoulder & Trigger Buttons Volume Controls are Easy to Press Accidentally No Gyro Support for PC & Mobile

Over my two decades of being a gaming enthusiast, I’ve owned, played with, and broken many controllers—some of them were great, such as the stock Xbox 360 controllers and most of 8Bitdo’s catalog (especially the Pro 2). And some of them were… average at best, like the Ipega PG-9017.

If you’re wondering how my controllers break, they seem to keep falling off my table, and I don’t know why. Oh, and the drift sometimes becomes too much to bear.

Anyway, enough about my supernatural penchant for dropping controllers a yard onto hardwood floors. We’re here to talk about NYXI’s latest creation: their PC and mobile-compatible NYXI Master P1. Yes, I had to specifically mention that it’s PC and mobile-compatible because until the release of the NYXI Warrior a few months ago, they had only been producing controllers for the Nintendo Switch.

The NYXI Master P1 Unboxing Experience

The NYXI Master P1 comes in a standard lift-off box, which you might be familiar with from phones and other high-value gadgets, and is wrapped with a paper sleeve displaying the controller’s image, features, and relevant QR codes and product information. While it isn’t the most luxurious kind of packaging, it’s more than enough for a $49.99 controller.

As I removed the sleeve from mine, almost dropping the box and breaking a few toes in the process, I was greeted by the welcome sight of NYXI’s logo on three of its five surface-greeting sides and—nothing else. Very minimalistic. I like it. The lift-off box also comes with finger notches on the sides to make taking off the lid a much easier process and to stop you from getting some air underneath the box and accidentally dropping it in the process. So far, so good.

That was until I saw what was inside. It was the controller, kind of, but wrapped in CPE 07 plastic. For your reference, it ain’t the kind of plastic that threatens to delete all life out at sea, no. It’s recyclable, biodegradable, and generally a much better alternative to any kind of plastic to protect your items. However, I was half-expecting the controller to just pop out of the box unceremoniously. Don’t get me wrong, though. That’s definitely a good thing.

First Touch Impressions

Immediately, I could tell how much thought went into the controller’s design. The grips are textured—by laser, apparently, to ensure that it doesn’t slip out of your hands during intense gaming sessions. It feels like grinding your hand against a tire (in a nice way). This textured surface covers almost the entire grip, meaning you’ll experience the luxury of its tactile feel on your skin at every nook and cranny of your hand.

The back buttons, additional keys for avid gamer needs, are positioned very ergonomically, too. Regardless of how you hold the controller, you’ll be in prime position to access these buttons quickly. Unless, of course, you have tentacles for fingers.

There’s quite a bit of weight to the NYXI Master P1 as well. I think it may even survive a fall from my desk, a feat only a handful of controllers have managed without something breaking off. Of course, I’m not reckless enough to test that out before trying it on my games.

Glorious Hall Effect Joysticks

Moving onto the joysticks, they are a set of Hall Effect joysticks that are, in my opinion, far superior to the Steam Controller’s tracking pads. Yes, they might not have any haptic feedback, but hey, why fix what’s not broken?

According to the promotional material, these kinds of joysticks will never suffer from stick drift; something that usually happens to traditional joysticks after many, many hours of intense, sweaty, try-hard gaming. Now, since this is a new product (and because I don’t have power over time), I don’t think I can properly vouch for that at the moment.

Next up is the controller’s centering and circularity. Respectively, centering is the joystick’s ability to reset itself to its dead-center position when you’re not applying pressure to it, and circularity is its ability to perform circular movements at its maximum displacement without exceeding the bounds of its input. Note that when a joystick can’t return to its neutral position and instead becomes stuck in a place where the sensors detect an input, that’s called joystick drift.

Those are, of course, just how they can be described in a nutshell. But long story short, it’s how your controller performs when not in use and when in use. Anyway, we’ll be pitting the NYXI Master P1 against a $4.99 Logitech knock-off from a random shopping app:

As far as centering is concerned, both perform rather well. Ideally, they should center at 0,0. Instead, both center between 0.00002 and -0.00002; an acceptable margin to ensure that you don’t get RPG characters slowly moving in random directions while you’re away getting milk. However, both controllers are new, so naturally, they would perform rather similarly. On the other hand, if the knock-off already had impending drift issues, then that would be really sad. The admirable comparison rather falls apart spectacularly when we compare their circularity, though:

The knock-off’s performance is quite bad. Likely due to the lack of good sensors used in the build, we get a diagram that looks more like a square than a circle (a circle fits in the square hole, though). In terms of actual performance, that means there’s a significant difference in the sensitivity of inputs between the XY axis and the diagonal ones—not very good for games where precision is key.

The knock-off also has a ton of dead zones, particularly around the joystick’s center. That means it will fail to register any input for very precise, surgical movements of the joystick—something that will pain nearly every stealth enthusiast.

Moving onto a fairer comparison, let’s give the Xbox Series X|S controller a shot at it, just to illustrate the deterioration of performance for non-Hall Effect joysticks after one year of use.

As shown in the image above, the Series X|S controller is already showing signs of drift, with a significant error percentage in circularity concentrated around the corners. In fact, in terms of centering, it already falls short compared to the inexpensive Logitech knock-off and is nearing its performance level (or lack thereof) in circularity.

However, note that deterioration varies between controllers. Mine may be an outlier case of severe decline, hence these results. Keep that in mind, as other non-Hall Effect joysticks might withstand the test of time much better.

Trigger Buttons For All Occasions

The triggers, on the other hand, have mechanical lockouts and use clicky microswitches when locked, which is awesome when you’re using it on the Switch because the stock Switch triggers function similarly. The travel in this mode is super short and has a mechanical feel, which also makes it perfect for shooters. When the lock isn’t engaged, it functions like a regular trigger button but requires comparatively less pressure to depress than, say, the stock DualShock 4 triggers.

They are also highly pressure-sensitive when not engaged, with no dead zones at all. That is, the triggers will start registering an input, albeit not a full one, the moment you begin applying pressure. This becomes a completely binary output if you lock them, though it’s still a promising feature. Personally, I don’t know a game that can make use of the NYXI Master P1’s very sensitive triggers, but I’m sure there’s a use for it out there.

Face Buttons are Satisfying to Press

The P1 uses a micro switch D-pad, and it’s really well done. Pulling off moves with this D-pad in fighters is smooth, and you don't get those accidental inputs. That is, unless you're suffering from arthritis. Probably. It also has a very deep depression in the middle, ensuring that your finger is almost always at the very edge of the disc when you’re pressing down; another one of its clever design improvements to prevent accidental inputs.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the webbing between buttons that I really loved in the Logitech F-series controllers and those from the Xbox Series X|S. Those were really nice to have in order to prevent snagging your fingers as you slid from button to button.

To the right, the ABXY buttons are tactile membrane with short travel. They require little pressure (110g according to the promotional material) to press, but offer just enough resistance at the beginning to prevent accidental button presses when you’re just trying to pick up your controller. The springback is also very snappy and doesn’t stick at all; an excellent feature for skipping all the text I have no interest in during my 16th run of Soul Nomad and the World Eater.

Pretty Good Polling Rates!

There’s a rather wild debate about wired vs. wireless controllers in terms of functionality. Naturally, wired controllers enjoy far better performance than wireless ones because they don’t have to contend with the elements or the stagnant air inside your typical gaming cave. But how does the NYXI Master P1 actually fare? Is the difference in polling rates, which measure how fast information is exchanged between the controller and the system, large enough to matter?

Without using a wire, the NYXI Master P1 has an average polling rate of about 165Hz. That’s about… well, a 6ms delay. On the other hand, while using its hilariously large dongle or wire, you’re looking at almost its full 500Hz glory, or almost exactly 2ms. That is quite a staggering difference.

… But let’s be real here. Those kinds of delays won’t be bothering anyone anytime soon, even if you’re playing fighters or soulslikes. That is, unless you’re playing shooters or something that requires continuous input. So feel free to use the controller wirelessly! It's incredibly easy and straightforward to use, too; no third-party drivers or programs required. You can just connect it via wire, bluetooth, or wireless dongle, and you're ready to go.

Cool Macro and Quality of Life Buttons

Just like the triggers, the accessory buttons are microswitches too. The joystick caps also have anti-friction texturing, which makes it hard to slip unless you’ve got soap or oil on your thumbs. Joystick tension is pretty good; neither too tight nor too loose, and the sticks glide much better than stock Xbox controllers.

There are also mute and volume buttons that adjust the sound on Windows across all connection modes. Despite its volume controls, though, it doesn’t have a headphone jack. That would have been nice to have, especially if you’re using it for the Nintendo Switch. It’s also incredibly easy to press accidentally, given its location in the middle of the grips where your thumb can meander onto it at random… or when you’re just picking up the controller.

Meanwhile, the back buttons can be remapped to any other button on the controller. But since there’s no app or software to do it (I wish it did), if your game has no option to rebind buttons, they can’t be used, or you’ll have to resort to third-party software. Just in case, they also have a lock feature, and when it’s on, the buttons can’t be pressed at all and become completely rigid. How do I know? I tried squeezing them as hard as I could, that’s how.

Works With Mobile and Nintendo Switch, Too

To be fair, it’s not very surprising that NYXI, which had been making controllers exclusively for the Nintendo Switch until the NYXI Warrior, created one that works with it too. But they decided to up their game by also adding mobile compatibility to the list.

It works very well on mobile, too—at least for games that support controller input, that is. For example, it doesn’t work at all for Wizardry Variants Daphne and Neko Shinobi, but it does work perfectly with Wuthering Waves and, to some extent, Honkai: Star Rail (just remember to set it to Controller Mode).

Gaming on the NYXI Master P1

Of course, talking about numbers and whatnot is fine and all, but how does it actually feel when you’re using it? Because even the best-looking and most talented man fresh out of college can stumble when faced with an actual job, right? That’s what we’re here to find out.

Shooters

Unfortunately, because I got the NYXI Master P1 days after the playtest for Strinova ended (does that game even have controller support? I don’t think so), I’ve had to go with my second-favorite title in my very short library of shooters: Sniper Elite V2 and a newcomer that I recently fell in love with, Kinki Spiritual Affairs Bureau.

Before you start wondering, yes, I do have much better games to test this on other than Sniper Elite V2 and Kinki Spiritual Affairs Bureau. Apex Legends, for one. But that’s the point. I wanted to see how it fares when the game itself wasn’t originally designed with controller support.

The result is as you would expect. For Sniper Elite V2, you can only experience the bare minimum of shooter gameplay with a controller. It has all the standard bells and whistles bound to mostly the appropriate set of buttons, and, well, that’s it. The game itself offers no way to rebind the keys at all, so you can forget about trying out the macro buttons.

On the other hand, Kinki Spiritual Affairs Bureau does have full controller support. Well, not a very good one, but at least you can rebind your keys freely. And, oh, it’s just joyous. I no longer have to press Y to go prone for some reason, and I can even assign the sprint key to one of the back buttons instead of the terribly inconvenient L3 button.

And the best part about the NYXI Master P1 when you’re playing a shooter? If you have your shooting action bound to the trigger buttons like any properly functioning human being, you can lock them to their mechanical setting so they can be pressed with very little travel. In other words, you can no longer talk your way out of a frag by claiming that your trigger buttons need a foot of travel before the input is detected. Now they have almost as little travel as the ABXY buttons!

Isn’t that nice?

Action RPGs

For this test, I went with Code Vein for… no particular reason other than it’s a soulslike, and I love the game a lot. I mean, the best way to test controllers is to use them to play the games you like, right? Plus, controllers are the best way to play games like gestures wildly at RPGs. But there’s some order to this chaotic rationality. You see, I wanted to test the delay between the controller and the game on a wireless connection.

The result? Pretty good! The reduced polling rate of going wireless doesn’t really impact the experience and, honestly, isn’t noticeable at all. The back buttons are particularly nice to have so I can bind actions that I usually ignore in these kinds of mechanically rich games. I’m still getting my behind kicked, though (died literally 3 minutes after spawning, too), but that’s more of a me issue than the controller’s.

Once you move on to less demanding games such as Zenless Zone Zero and, to a lesser extent, Wuthering Waves, the 6ms input delay in wireless mode matters even less.

Fighters

I believe this is where the NYXI Master P1’s microswitch D-pad truly shines. It’s incredibly difficult to make accidental inputs with it… unless you’re some monster who uses a gamepad’s thumbstick for directional inputs. On the other hand, the lack of a webbed surface connecting the buttons, like the ones on the Xbox Series X|S and Logitech F-series controllers, makes it easier for your finger to snag as you slide it around. It also takes a bit more force to actuate; a double-edged sword if you’re looking for a faster response.

Meanwhile, the responsiveness and quick springback of the ABXY buttons also lends a very satisfying feel and sound to my button-mashing escapades in both the story and online ranked modes. You don’t even notice the reduced polling rate when using wireless.

As an added bonus, you can bind extra inputs to the buttons located on the underside of the controller. How does that help you play the game, you ask? Well, when you’re fighting a particularly frustrating opponent and your grip on the controller is starting to tighten out of irritation, it helps a lot to have redundant buttons you can press in rage, right?

I’m kidding, of course.

Visual Novels

Well… it works. I mean, what else do you need from a controller to play visual novels other than a working set of buttons, anyway? Haptic feedback?

Platformers

Platformers rely heavily on the reliability of a controller’s D-pad to prevent accidental inputs. Imagine how annoying it would be to jump down from a high platform when you meant to jump up, all because the controller briefly registered the down button while you were holding left or right. It’s also relevant in combat, given how platformers often use directional attack inputs.

Fortunately, you would have to try really hard to get accidental inputs from the NYXI Master P1’s controller. Unlike the old DualShocks of the past, with D-pads small enough to trigger other switches when you hold one button, the Master P1’s D-pad is sufficiently large and has a deep indentation in the middle to prevent this.

The result? Accurate, snappy movements! And for a platformer, that’s practically 80% of what you need to truly enjoy the game.

Is the NYXI Master P1 Worth It?

Almost Everything You Need

For about the same price as an Xbox Series X|S controller, you can nab this bad boy and use it on your PC, Nintendo Switch, and even mobile! That’s one more compatible device compared to the former, which only really works for the console it was designed for and for PC. Funnily enough, though, the NYXI Master P1 doesn’t work with the Xbox Series X|S. And that’s why it can only provide almost everything you need.

Think about it. For just $49.99, you can get a controller that works very well wirelessly or otherwise and boasts great performance, comfort, and aesthetics. It even has all the bells and whistles for those looking to maximize functionality from their devices, plus more. So, do get it!

Physical Stores
Amazon			NYXI Website
Price		$49.99

Alfonso Majarucon

Writer of things from game, anime and manga reviews to news and webnovels. Hopelessly addicted to story-driven games, especially cross-platform ones. Favorite games include Punishing Gray Raven, Arknights, Limbus Company, Elden Ring, Touhou, Soul Nomad and the Disgaea series (except 3 and 6). Avid..