Alexander Ouyang
Introduction
I’m going to review this controller as someone who primarily used this controller for fighting games. This is my leverless controller of choice whenever I play Tekken 8. If you are looking to move to leverless for the first time, then I’m going to tell you right away that buying a leverless doesn’t automatically upgrade you to an elite gamer. It takes time to learn a new controller.
Design
The Haute42 or COSMOX C16 is a 16 button leverless controller that is primarily used with fighting games in mind. It features an additional up or jump button above the down button to accommodate players who prefer the WASD akin to a regular keyboard.
Around the left and top edges, we find USB C ports on each end to tailor to different cable routing. Mostly the top edge gets used but its good to have the side option. On the right, there is a USB A Extension port which is used to connect authenticator devices such as Haute42’s BOOTER5 or other options such as the Brooke Wingman FGC. There is a tournament lock toggle to disable the menu keys on the top right of the controller while you play during a tournament set. Next to it, we also find an lighting toggle switch which is used to quickly disable all RGB on the controller at once.
This controller comes stock with Haute42’s Wind Engine low-profile linear switches. These switches provide a smooth and creamy sound profile upon activation. I personally am a huge fan of these switches when it comes to leverless controllers. The switch sockets on the C16 are hot swappable should you wish to swap it with whatever other low profile MX switch you desire.
The C16 utilizes the GP2042-CE firmware which is great open source platform and provides basically zero latency to your inputs. I personally had zero issues when it comes to input delay and response time. Every input to me felt instantaneous when playing Tekken 8.
Customization
Customisation is great here on the C16. For starters, the main selling point for people who like to art mod their controllers, is the quick release acrylic panel. This panel is held in with four magnets in each corner, making it easy to remove and snap back in. I have to note that my unit came with a frosted acrylic panel but I have read that other people who bought it when it first released who have transparent acrylic panels. Personally, I prefer the frosted panel I have with, as it hides fingerprints and its very smooth to the touch.
As for the RGB, you can change the buttons and underglow RGB independently of each other. However, I have mine set for both the buttons and the underglow to be yellow to match my Manhattan Cafe theme I have for it. RGB Customization can be done with button combinations on the controller itself or on the GP2042-CE web configurator.
Verdict
Honestly, its a fantastic leverless controller that ticks all my boxes. It’s well built, ridiculously easy to art mod, hot-swappable switches, no perceivable latency and it punches way above its price point. I can recommend it to people who are really into art modding, as swapping art panels literally only takes seconds. It has served me well on my PC setup and on PS5 tournament setups.
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