Razer Onza Tournament Edition Review
Testing and Conclusion
The debate rages long and hard, like all console debates have since the dawn of time, about which of the two major pads is the better, the Sony DualShock 3 or the XBOX 360 controller. As someone who is a PSWii60 gamer I think they both have positives and negatives. The dual-stick placement on the DualShock is much better, as is the battery life, but the 360 triggers are a world ahead of the Playstations offerings. The point is they are both so good that it’s difficult to think of how they can be improved.
That was until we met the Razer Onza TE. This is absolutely leagues ahead of the standard Microsoft 360 pad. Normally I like to start my conclusions with the good stuff, but as there isn’t any bad stuff let’s just list off the improvements.
Firstly the comfort of the pad. The coating is sticky and easy to grip, without feeling strange in the hand. It doesn’t matter how intense your gaming session or how warm the weather. The reality is you could take part in a World Final, in Malaysia, in the height of summer, and yet the Onza Tournament Edition still wouldn’t slip and slide from your grip. The tolerances in manufacturing are exceptional too. None of that ‘seam’ around the pad that eventually makes your palms sore. It’s as if the Onza has been hewn from a single piece of plastic.
The analogue sticks have a gorgeous smoothness to them and they are very linear. The dial beneath each stick has 28 different ‘clicks’ that adjust them from being so easy to move that you could almost breathe them around, to stiffer than a guy on his first date. Because each stick is adjustable separately you really can tweak it to exactly your requirements for each game.
Speaking of games, a lot use both analogue sticks, and yet also require you use the ABXY for certain functions. This is always a big of a pain as, unless you’re an Octopus, you tend to have to take your thumb off the right stick to use them. Now, with the remappable buttons just above the standard LB and RB ones you can quickly remap any of those four to the face buttons and keep your thumbs on the sticks. It isn’t just those four as the two extra buttons Razer have supplied can be remapped to anything you choose, even start and back should you so require.
The buttons, and indeed the triggers, are highly responsive. Whereas the Microsoft offering uses membranes which quickly become squidgy, the Razer Onza TE uses microswitches with nearly zero travel before they are activated. To call them highly responsive almost does them a disservice.
Finally the D-Pad, which is laughably useless on the standard pad, is now a genuine option. By splitting the pad from a single floating type into four buttons you can pull off nearly anything you choose. Even the famous QCF fireball motion becomes simplicity and still comfortable.
Yes at Fifty Quid this is a bit pricier than a wireless 360 one, but it’s so perfect that it’s a bargain. Capable of being used on both an XBOX 360, and as the ultimate PC controller, we cannot recommend the Razer Onza Tournament Edition highly enough and it’s unquestionably a winner of the coveted OC3D Gold Award.
   
Thanks to Razer for supplying the Onza TE for review. Discuss in our forums.
