The functional differences between the two models, old and new, are purely down to the form factor - the newer model is 66% the size of the old model, so it's more convenient if you're using it with a gaming laptop on the go, or on a case where your USB ports are closely clustered.

I have used the official model, both the larger 'original' model and its smaller successor, and they've always worked reliably for me. There are a fair few third-party equivalents at around the same price, but as I haven't tested them I can't speak to their quality.

The official adapter is actually fairly hard to find in my experience - the Microsoft Store is often out of stock and the few first-party adapters on retailers like Amazon tend to be incredibly expensive for some reason. If your peripheral connects to the Xbox without needing to insert a USB wireless adapter, then it'll also work on PC with this adapter - which is a handy way to extend the functionality of products that you may have already picked up for Xbox.

Get the Microsoft Xbox Wireless Adapter for $17.99Īs well as giving you an easy and low-latency way to connect Xbox controllers, the same proprietary Xbox Wireless connection is also used for some Xbox headsets, joysticks and other peripherals.

That adapter is down to $18 at Newegg today, and is well worth picking up while it's discounted. By default though, your options for connecting the controller are Bluetooth (on later models) or a wired USB connection - rather than the low-latency 2.4GHz wireless you get on Xbox consoles, which requires Microsoft's $25 Wireless Adapter for Windows. Microsoft's official Xbox controllers, whether from the Series or One generations, are an awesome gamepad for PC gaming too.

Xbox controller pc adapter