Xbox One Wireless Adapter for Windows Review

When Microsoft announced the Xbox One, PC gamers looked forward to using the new controller for their games. When Microsoft finally got the drivers up, I made a tutorial video on how to get that working. One of big question I was receiving was “is it wireless?” Unfortunately, before this wireless adapter came out, you were required to use a micro-USB cable in order to connect the Xbox One controller on a PC.

Now, Microsoft has finally released a wireless adapter for Windows 10, in which you can see it in action in the video linked below.

Product Links: Amazon | Microsoft Store | GameStop

For starters, the Xbox One Wireless Adapter for Windows makes a huge leap forward over the Xbox 360 wireless adapter by making it compatible with up to eight controllers instead of four, as well as making it compatible with wireless chat headsets. This is huge for split screen gaming on a TV or projector for games such as Rocket League.

For specifications, this adapter is around 3 inches wide, 1 inch tall, and a quarter-inch thick. I did not find any specifications on the wireless range, so I tested it myself. It seems to work around 30 feet away, which is about 9 meters, and even worked behind walls.

One nice feature that I liked is the ability to use the default headset that comes with the Xbox one as a microphone and headset for a computer. I was able to use this headset to listen to my game audio, as well as make Skype calls with it, all using this wireless adapter.

The controller seemed very responsive with no delay. I was able to use it very smoothly and even scored some nice Rocket League goals. Sample gameplay with the controller being used can be seen in the video review above.

So far, the adapter has been extremely easy to use and has worked better than the previous Xbox 360 wireless adapter. The driver installation was flawless on Windows 10, but I plan to put up a tutorial later on how to install the wireless adapter.

There was one issue that I came across, and this is the only issue I found. When I want to re-pair by Xbox one controller to the wireless adapter for the sake of making the video review, I found I had to repeatedly attempt to synchronize it by pressing the sync button on the back of the controller and on the wireless adapter before it finally synced the controller to my PC. And other times, I had to re-plug the wireless adapter to finally get it synced. However, I was successful every time.

The final score for the Microsoft Xbox One Adapter for Windows is a 9/10. For all the features and value this controller brings for only $25, it deserves a 10/10. The reason why I gave it a 9 out of 10 is because it is only supported for Windows 10 devices. It is not supported on Windows 8, Windows 7, nor Mac or Linux, and this is a serious problem for gamers. Other than that, Microsoft has a really solid wireless adapter. The ability to connect 8 controllers makes it great for split screen games – and the surprising ability to use the Xbox One chat headsets really push the adapter over the top.

Final Score: 9/10