The Wolverine V3 is the latest iteration of a controller I have absolutely loved. Since Razer first sent me the V2 it has held a spot on my desk, and the V3 promises to improve upon this great controller.
- Manufacturer: Razer
- Model: Wolverine V3 ProD
- Type: Wireless Gaming Controller – Xbox Layout
- Platform: Xbox, Windows PC
- Refresh rate: 240 Hz
- Price when reviewed: £199.99 MSRP
- Supplied by: Razer
Razer Wolverine V3 Pro Review
What’s in the box
In the box, you will get your Razer Wolverine V3 controller, a USB dongle, a 10-foot USB A to USB type C cable, a domed replacement thumbstick, a tall concave thumbstick, and a carry case to store it all in. I just keep the carry case on my desk as a neat place to store the controller when I’m not using it.
First, the main differences between the V2 and V3; the biggest change and a welcome one: the Wolverine V3 is now wireless, a huge plus in my books. I adored the V2 but it was always annoying that I had this wire permanently draped across my desk. It was never a deal breaker but given the choice I would always choose wireless as I imagine most would.
The next big hitter is the hall effect sticks. This generation of consoles has seen a huge rise in stick drift. I have slayed my fair share of official controllers, some even falling victim to the drift in as little as 2 months. Hall effect sticks solve these issues by using magnets instead of potentiometers, which means that there is no friction and far less wear and tear. Simply put, they last a heck of a lot longer, and they are also more precise and have far less resistance leading to a noticeable difference in feel. It’s not something that I hear talked about enough when people rave about these drift-resisting joysticks but they feel different; you are likely going to need a while to get used to them and probably will need to adjust all your settings in games like XDefiant, COD, Destiny etc.
They really do feel lighter and far more sensitive to touch. Of course, that is their intended purpose, but while I one hundred percent agree the technology is a huge improvement I can not help but miss the resistance. When I had the Elite V2 controller I tightened that stick up as far as possible, as I like the resistance, whereas the V3 pro has almost none. It’s smooth, precise and fast, but I wish it had a little more resistance. Would I move off the V3 Pro because of it? Absolutely not, but it’s worth keeping in mind that this controller will demand some “let’s get acquainted” time.
Next up are the triggers; they are different and they are awesome! The V2 had switchable triggers where you could engage the hair trigger or leave it free with full travel. The V3 Pro has the same mechanism but changes one vital point, as the trigger in hair-trigger mode now has a mechanical switch, just like a mouse click. It is quite literally like replacing your rear triggers with mouse buttons, instant clicky feedback and satisfaction. In normal mode it feels completely normal, it’s only while using the hair-trigger mode that it’s mega short, and that clicky switch makes it completely unmistakable when you click.
The performance is also slightly insane. Having used many controllers with adjustable triggers, even Victrix with its clutch trigger that can almost become unreasonably short and sensitive does not have the same feel as this. I would genuinely put these as the best triggers I have used, as Razer has found the perfect travel length and click for me. Paired with truly well-designed ergonomics, the trigger feels good and has that nice curve that almost grabs onto your fingers – it feels right and performs just as well.
The last major change mainly applies to the V2 Tournament edition as the V2 Chrome did have back paddles, but the V3 Pro has brought them back, as well as the extra shoulder buttons.
It’s a very welcome feature, and it’s been vastly improved.
The back paddles on the V2 chroma did not feel amazingly well thought out. The new back paddles on the V3 on the other hand fit like a glove, they have been moved to the inside of the grips and flick out sideways with a similar feel and shape as the triggers. They are in the perfect spot and again feel like they hook your fingers in and keep them there. You don’t have to put much thought into putting your fingers on them as I find with many back buttoned controllers, these are just there, sculpted around your fingers ready to perform.
Two less important changes to note are that the slits on the grips are now gloss black, a choice I commend as it would be so easy for Razer to do as they did before and jam their signature green in there. Second is that the Razer text logo is RGB (oooooh pretty lights) and fully controllable from the app. You can set this to any colour your heart desires. It’s neat, likely does not affect battery life any significant amount and gives you that bit of personalisation.
Moving on to the controller as a whole. I have loved it, the returning mechanical buttons, face buttons, bumpers, D-pad – all of it feels great, and I just love having that mechanical feedback and assertion that I have indeed pressed the button.
The rest of the controller again is a return to form. It looks and feels very much the same but with the addition of those new triggers and back buttons, which is a major positive. The shape and feel of the Wolverine have always been great in my books, as it’s a sculpted Xbox controller that just seems to fit in your hands better. I really can’t fault the form factor in any way.
I will note that after years of using the V2, I grew to prefer the extra bumper buttons over additional back buttons, but the Wolverine V3 has changed that, purely with the comfort and placement of the back buttons. I am not a pro player using loads of specialised settings on them, though. I have the right two set to A and the left two set to B purely so I can jump and crouch/slide while maintaining my mingers on the sticks. I have also experimented with having the extra shoulder buttons set to X and Y for interaction and reload and so far it’s working well, but my brain is still naturally wanting to go for the face buttons. This can provide a significant competitive advantage, but you’ll have to overcome potentially decades of conditioning before you maximise the opportunity.
Build Quality
In terms of quality, the Razer Wolverine V3 is a top-tier choice. The build quality is robust, and the controller feels sturdy and durable. The main body is made of matte, slightly textured plastic and the grips have a textured design to give that extra grip, both have so far stood up to a month of abuse from me and my 9-year-old (nobody puts a controller through the ringer more than a 9-year-old playing Minecraft and Roblox!)
The triggers, paddles and shoulder buttons are made of the same matte plastic with a textured grip on the triggers and back buttons, which is an improvement on the glossy plastic from the V2: The face buttons are the expected smooth finished plastic: The sticks have a nice rubberized textured material, and the Dpad is the exact same plastic as the main body.
The entire controller feels great and so far has withstood the hell I have put it through. I can confidently say I expect the V3 to outlast the V2 which did me good for over 2 years and would still be going if the Y button didn’t stick slightly (This could likely be fixed so it should stand testament to the durability of these controllers).
Performance
Performance-wise the V3 is no slouch. I would put it up there as one of the best, if not the best, controllers I have used. For connectivity, it’s on a 2.4GHz USB dongle which has so far had not a single issue or felt like it had introduced any kind of latency (I know you’re out there, gamers who use wired because of the fear of latency). The V3 boasts a 250 Hz polling rate both wireless and wired on Xbox, and 250 Hz wireless and 1000 Hz wired on pc (using the Tournament mode), so you can be sure this thing is not missing a beat whether wired or wireless.
Battery life is good, with the V3 getting around 20 hours per charge, which has been fairly consistent for me. A bonus is that, unlike a few others I have tested, the Wolverine V3 can remain connected wirelessly to my Xbox whilst charging off another USB. If you plug it into a PC or another console that will not be the case, but I have been able to plug it into the Type C charging cable on my desk while maintaining a wireless connection to my Xbox. Alternatively, you can just switch to the included 10-foot cable and charge while playing, but if you just chuck it on charge when you finish playing once in a while you are unlikely to find yourself running out of charge mid-game unless you are going on a 24-hour swear fest.
I would like to end off with my list of the few negatives I found with the Wolverine V3 Pro. I was originally going to note the lack of Bluetooth as a con, but considering this controller is made for Xbox/PC and as an Esports-focused controller, leaving out Bluetooth (and the latency that incurs) makes sense – this is not the controller for mobile gaming, plus Razer already makes a product for Mobile gaming that is going to be far more convenient. For other platforms it has the dongle, providing you excellent performance that far outpaces Bluetooth.
The first real con is just the software. It’s fine for the most part; I have had very few issues and it is very easy to use, but I did have a couple of occasions where my controller forgot my settings and I had to launch the software for it to refresh its memory. It only happened twice, once after I ran it to full death and once after I connected it to my PC for a few games.
It does not seem to be a consistent issue as I have tried both since and it has been fine, and it is also worth mentioning the controller received an update in the time I was using it so these issues could be fixed entirely.
Next and last is the customisation, or the slight lack of it. Swappable thumbsticks are great but I would have loved to see a swappable D-pad. Maybe that is out of the question due to the mechanical switches but I know not everyone likes the disk-style D-pads, and it would be great to have the option to switch to a traditional style one much like the Xbox Elite and Victrix allow.
I would also not mind having mid-way trigger settings so that you can have short/instant, mid and then full. I don’t really consider that a con, though, as the point of these triggers is that you are engaging that instant mouse click mode and I’m unsure if it’s really necessary, but some additional trigger stops between the two extremes could be a nice extra.
Summary
In conclusion, the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is an excellent controller. It performs insanely well, the new hyper triggers are amazing, the back claw buttons are just perfection in comparison to many others, and overall, the clicky mechanical feel across all buttons just fills you with confidence.
With durability and hall effect sticks on its side the Wolverine V3 will be becoming a mainstay for many, many gamers, and Razer has cemented its place among the best controller makers in the industry.
Now if we can just get that software to stay consistent and slap in some extra customisation with the D-Pad and maybe extra trigger stops, we will be off to the races with an almost faultless controller.
