Speedlink Strike FX-6 Bluetooth PS3 Gamepad Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The best price for the Strike FX-6 from Speedlink I found was from CCL Computers, who sell it at £24.10, where as the best prices for the Official PlayStation 3 controller was £31.95 from Amazon. I did find the official controller cheaper from less respected online retailers, but certainly nowhere I would be willing to give my credit card details anytime soon. So overall the Speedlink controller is a little cheaper, but not by much. I think this is due to more recent price drops in the PlayStation 3 accessories range now that the console has been out a fair few years, and the controller was more around the £50 area this time last year, where as the Speedlink controller has always been at this much lower price point. Should Speedlink drop the price a little more, they’ve got a real bargain on their hands. I did find the product available in the US for $67.69 which is around £40 here in the UK, this is terrible value for money, but since Speedlink generally only deal with Europe this is most like representative of the cost of importing the product.

Overview

3rd party peripherals used to have a bad reputation for being cheap knock-offs, but that really isn’t the case here at all. The Speedlink FX-6 is every bit as good as the official controller in my opinion, and I have to admit I really didn’t expect that to be the case at all. Build quality is superb, durable high quality plastics and tight joins ensure that even the most heavy-handed of users shouldn’t face any issues here and the added addition of it being a little cheaper means that if you do break one, it’s not as much to replace.

Design is a little less cool looking that I would like personally, but it’s far from ugly either. There are however more touches to the design that improve usability rather than style, such as the large D-pad buttons, outward curved triggers, ridged underside and the side grips.

I have to admit that I’ve actually been using this controller for a couple of weeks now since I actually did the original testing of its performance, I’ve not given up on the official controller, but my hands just seem to prefer the Speedlink controller, and I especially like the heavy springs on the triggers as I love my racing games and they’re great for accelerator and break functions. I’m a lot happier than I expected to be with this controller, it isn’t better than the official one, but it isn’t worse either. It is however cheaper (if only by a little) and that makes it great value for money. Since it’s the performance that I enjoyed the most, I’m happy to award the controller our Gamers Choice Award, had I reviewed it a year ago when the price gap was bigger, this would have easily been a Bang for Buck award product.

Pros

• All the features of the official PlayStation 3 controller
• Wireless
• Good build quality
• Rapid fire button
• Side grips and underside ergonomics
• Improved triggers
• Low price tag

Cons

• USB cable not included

“Speedlink may not be the first name many of us think of when buying peripherals, but the Strike FX-6 is proof that they can make an affordable, high quality product that is more than just a cheap replacement controller.”

Thank you Speedlink for providing us with this sample.