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Controllers withHall effecttechnology have been gaining ground in recent years, and for good reason.
Stick drift occurs as a result of the mechanical contact in potentiometer-based sticks.
Youll also find Hall effect technology in some of thebest gaming keyboards, conferring many of the same advantages.
Some are even capable of emulating the graduated control of gamepad sticks and triggers too.
Given these advantages, its a wonder that first-party controllers dont make use of the tech.
Thankfully, though, there are now plenty of great third-party alternatives to tempt you away.
In fact, you might find many that are cheaper.
Some controllers have Hall effect triggers in addition to sticks, such as the GameSir Kaleid Flux.
Of course, there are certainly more premium Hall effect options out there too.
What about TMR?
Looking beyond Hall effect sensors, though, are Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors.
These claim to offer even greater precision than Hall effect sensors, while consuming less power in the process.
However, TMR controllers are still rather nascent, and the market is currently sparse.
The PB Tails Crush Defender also uses TMR sticks, but its not exactly cheap.
There are mod kits available to replace potentiometer-based sticks with TMR modules.
The aforementioned GuliKit provides such kits for many modern first-party controllers (as well as Hall effect replacements).
But even so, are TMR controllers really that much better than Hall effect models?
For pro gamers, maybe.
But if we look at thebest gaming mice, many have4Kpolling rates, despite others having8K.
We also have to consider the broader user base.
No doubt therell also be gamers for whom potentiometer controllers offer all the performance they need.
And if I do want to upgrade to TMR eventually, its nice to know the option is there.