We've all had the experience of throwing our controller against the wall after a showdown with Guardian Ape in Securio: the shadow dies twice. Thanks to a gamer's heated moment, you now have to scramble to find a replacement controller. Or maybe you want to play split-screen coop in "Gears 5" with a friend who is visiting. Either way, you'll need another controller that feels good, but not out of hand.

At $40, PowerA's Spectra is a cheap, wired alternative to the Xbox One controller, and while the lack of Bluetooth or wireless capabilities may put some off, this controller is responsive, has a reasonable weight, and more importantly, it's a great controller. More importantly, it feels almost identical to the Xbox One controller.

The button layout is nearly identical to the Xbox One controller, right down to the textured rubber on the joystick, which is not too surprising since the Spectra is an officially licensed Xbox product. Because the Spectra is an officially licensed Xbox product, it looks like an Xbox One controller at first glance, and while playing some of our favorite games like "Call of Duty: Warzone" and "Mortal Kombat 11," we compared the Spectra to the When we compared the official Xbox One controller, the joystick tension was nearly identical and the feel of the face buttons when pressed down was similar. I can't tell you how hard it was to find a third-party controller that felt similar to the buttons on the Xbox One controller; the face buttons on Razer's Wolverine Ultimate felt so shallow that it didn't feel like you were pressing a button.

What I liked even more than I thought I would is the seven-color LED edge lighting. At the touch of a button, you can switch between different colors. I ended up settling on purple to match the rest of the ridiculous RGB light hardware on my desk. The two programmable buttons on the back of the controller are well placed around the grips and reachable through the ring finger. This means that if you need to use them, there is no need to change grips while playing.

The fact that it is not a wireless controller is a bit rough, as the nearly 10-foot snap-lock detachable microUSB cable feels like overkill for those who play at a desk; the Spectra is a good choice for those who need the length to play on the couch in the living room. suited to gamers. To be fair, I know people who play only with a wired controller who want to avoid the hassle of batteries and recharging.

One surprise was the 3-way trigger lock. This was one of my favorite features of the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, which costs more than four times as much as the Spectra. It's a nice feature, but unlike the Series 2, it didn't feel that different no matter where I set the trigger; in Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone, there was only a slight difference in how fast I shot.

Triggers were even less effective in games that required pressure-sensitive controls, such as accelerating in racing games like Forza or trying to control vehicles in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. d-pads seemed a little too stiff, so fighting games Playing them was not a great feeling, especially when playing something like "Street Fighter V," which requires quarter-circle movement

When playing on the Xbox One, the Spectra had no problems connecting to the console. the Xbox Guide button brought up the dashboard, and I was able to connect the gaming headset through the 3.5mm jack with no problem; the PowerA budget controller is a decent choice as a second controller for split-screen action in Halo.

Overall, the PowerA Spectra works well as a wired budget PC and Xbox controller. It has nearly the same design and feel as first-party Xbox One controllers. It is unfortunate that it is not wireless, but the addition of edge lighting and programmable buttons may be a reasonable compromise for $40.