Finding a low latency game controller #

I’ve been playing some Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and it’s an amazing game.

However, one of the major issues I run into is with timing the dodges: during battles on the hardest difficulty, if you don’t dodge, your party dies very quickly:

Dodging comes down to timing pressing a button right when the enemy attacks. It isn’t easy, but I noticed that I was having a really hard time with it. That’s when I realized that it was due to my controller (the 8bitdo Lite 2).

What affects controller latency? #

There are two main factors to consider:

The polling rate of the controller: how frequently it checks to see if a button or stick is pressed. This can introduce a maximum delay of 1000ms / freq_hz.
The connection latency of the controller: the amount of time it takes for a signal to reach the device. For bluetooth this can be highly variable, while wired and 2.4Ghz connections can be much more stable.

In my case, there is a third factor, since I’m streaming my setup via moonlight: the latency between my device and the device running the game. On a 5Ghz wireless connection in my house, that’s 3-4 milliseconds.

8bitdo2 Lite 2 latency #

So what was the worst-case latency of the 8bitdo Lite 2? We can reference this youtube review, which has an excellent test.

The bottom line looks like:

Average polling rate 44hz, so 22 milliseconds!

The review didn’t mention bluetooth, so I’m looking for a way to test that. But assuming at least an additional 4-5 milliseconds of latency, that’s 25 milliseconds it’s adding to those button presses!

What is the best low latency controller? #

In short, look at gamepedla, which has timings for many controllers.

But I chose the 8bitdo Ultimate 2. At a 1000hz polling rate and measured sub 5ms latency for both wired and via 2.4Ghz, It’ll ensure a lag-free experience if needed. In addition, the 10ms bluetooth latency isn’t too bad!

While I’m waiting for that, I had an Xbox Core Controller lying around, and the latency there isn’t bad at all. Even on bluetooth it’s 11-12ms, comparable to bluetooth on the 8bitdo Ultimate 2.