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Corsair Novablade Pro: One-minute review
I’ve spent the past week testing the Corsair Novablade Pro, and I’ve come away extremely impressed with this leverless fighting game controller. Like the more budget-friendly 8BitDo Arcade Controller and other contenders for the best fight stick, there’s no traditional joystick here; opting instead for a pure button layout that handles everything from movement to motion inputs.
What’s immediately striking about the Novablade Pro is its luxurious build quality. Made from high-quality plastic and metal materials, it also avoids the trap many leverless controllers fall into of being too bulky. In comparison, the Novablade Pro is remarkably thin, making it easy to play at home or out with you at in-person tournaments.
The Novablade Pro is also incredibly easy to customize to your liking. The magnetic aluminum face plate can be easily removed, allowing you to swap out buttons, keyswitches, or the face plate itself should you desire. Remapping buttons and creating your own layout profiles is also simple, with onboard function controls dedicated to such actions.
And that’s something I’d recommend looking into, as the default black face plate is unfortunately effective at picking up prints and smudges from your gaming sessions. And trust me, when you’re deep into a tense Tekken 8 ranked session, that’s going to be unavoidable.
Lastly, I’m personally not the biggest fan of the pressure-sensitive keyswitches Corsair has opted for here. Don’t get me wrong; they work great and let you fully customize button travel time, but I personally prefer the more tactile and immediately clicky switches found on the 8BitDo Arcade Controller and from manufacturers like Sanwa. But I must stress that this is purely a preference thing, and not necessarily a knock on the Novablade Pro itself.
Corsair Novablade Pro: Price and availability
- $249.99 / £229.99 / AU$349
- Compatible with PS5, PS4, and PC only
- Matches the Victrix Pro KO on price
The Corsair Novablade Pro is available to buy for $249.99 / £229.99 / AU$349 (the latter as per a listing at JB Hi-Fi in Australia) and comes in one configuration, compatible with PS5, PS4, and PC. The product is available to buy from Corsair’s own website or participating retailers in your region.
This is a fairly mid-range to premium price tag for a leverless controller, coming in much pricier than the 8BitDo Arcade Controller’s $89.99 / £75.99 (around AU$136), but matches the price of the Victrix Pro KO at $249.99 / £229.99 / AU$399.95. In the latter regard, this positions the Novablade Pro as a competitively priced product, and one you might want to consider if you’ve also been looking at Victrix’s output.
Corsair Novablade Pro: Specs
|
Price |
$249.99 / £229.99 / AU$349) |
|
Weight |
3.9lbs / 1.8kg |
|
Dimensions |
12.6 x 9.1 x 1.2in / 320 x 231 x 30mm |
|
Compatibility |
PS5, PS4, PC |
|
Connection type |
Wireless (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C) |
|
Battery life |
Around 40 hours |
|
Software |
N/A |
Corsair Novablade Pro: Design and features
Almost everything about the Corsair Novablade Pro feels carefully considered for customizability and a premium, high-end play experience. You’re looking at a very high-quality build here, with an aluminum finish for the face plate and rock-solid plastic for the unit itself and its buttons. The underside is completely covered in textured, non-slip rubber, providing utmost stability on flat surfaces.
As is pretty standard for leverless controllers, there are 15 buttons and keyswitches on the Novablade Pro. At the top, there are six dedicated function buttons that encompass actions like pausing, profile switching, activating tournament-ready modes (which prevent pausing or resets), and, of course, a power button. Off to the top right, you’ve got L3 and R3 buttons as well as a DualSense-like touchpad.
To the right of said touchpad are five additional function buttons aligned vertically, and these can be used for mapping various button macros, something I found handy in various fighting game training modes for recording inputs, resetting positions, and the like.
The rear of the controller has a really handy USB-C cable lock, along with a slider that can both unlock and lock it in place. This keeps your cable nice and secure with minimal disconnection risk if you opt for a wired connection via USB-C.
I have to mention the Novablade Pro’s excellent RGB lighting, too, which is something I initially thought would be distracting during games. That couldn’t be further from the truth; the lights aren’t overly bright, and customizable color coding helps you to visually identify which buttons are where at a glance. This can all be customized on the controller, of course, on a per-profile basis.
The face plate can be removed by placing a finger underneath the notch at the top and easily pulling it free. Underneath it, you’ll find a 2.4GHz dongle for wireless connectivity, as well as switches for swapping between platforms (PS5, PS4, and PC) and connectivity options (Bluetooth, 2.4GHz, or wired).
The plate itself is quite a fingerprint magnet, though, so I’d recommend routinely wiping it down after play sessions, or swapping it out for other compatible face plates – especially if you like to alter your controller’s looks (and support commissioning artists while you’re at it!).
Corsair Novablade Pro: Performance
As mentioned, Corsair definitely has intermediate to professional-level fighting game players in mind with the Novablade Pro. This is apparent with its choice of pressure-sensitive keyswitches. This is a standout feature of the controller, and you can fully alter the travel time of your buttons from 0.1mm all the way up to 4mm. So, you have the choice of sharply immediate presses or longer ones, depending on the situation. I found that this could also prevent mispresses with certain buttons by not pushing them in all the way.
Personally, I do prefer the clicky, more tactile results of microswitches. I find them to be more satisfying to press, as was the case on the 8BitDo Arcade Controller, which I reviewed previously. By no means does this make the Novablade Pro deliver an unsatisfying or inaccurate play experience. The buttons here still feel great, bouncy, and responsive. That’s just a matter of personal preference on my end, but something you may want to consider based on your own experience with leverless controllers.
Otherwise, the Novablade Pro is exceptionally responsive, no matter what type of connection you go with, though I would suggest avoiding Bluetooth connectivity altogether. It’s not bad here, but in general, it offers a slightly higher degree of input latency compared to 2.4GHz and especially wired. On PC, both wired and 2.4GHz connections offer a 1,000Hz polling rate, level with some of the best PS5 controllers and best PC controllers. Though due to the PS5 and PS4’s design, you’ll only get that 1,000Hz polling rate with a strictly wired USB-C connection. Again, something to keep in mind if you’re playing on console.
Should I buy the Corsair Novablade Pro?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider…
If the Corsair Novablade Pro isn’t quite what you’re looking for, consider the following two alternatives.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Corsair Novablade Pro |
Victrix Pro KO |
8BitDo Arcade Controller |
|
Price |
$249.99 / £229.99 (around AU$399) |
$249.99 / £229.99 / AU$399.95 |
$89.99 / £75.99 (around AU$136) |
|
Weight |
3.9lbs / 1.8kg |
2.7lbs / 1.225kg |
2.42lbs / 1.1kg |
|
Dimensions |
12.6 x 9.1 x 1.2in / 320 x 231 x 30mm |
13.35 x 9.23 x 0.8in / 235 x 334 x 22mm |
11.9 x 7.9 x 0.9in / 301 x 201 x 22mm |
|
Compatibility |
PS5, PS4, PC |
PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC (PlayStation and Xbox models sold separately) |
Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC (Switch and Xbox models sold separately) |
|
Connection type |
Wireless (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C) |
Wired (USB-C) |
Wireless (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C) |
|
Battery life |
Around 40 hours |
N/A |
Around 20 hours |
|
Software |
N/A |
N/A |
Ultimate Software V2 |
How I tested the Corsair Novablade Pro
- Tested for one week
- Played a variety of fighting games on PS5 and PC
- Compared to the 8BitDo Arcade Controller and Victrix Pro KO
I tested the Corsair Novablade Pro over the course of one week, and having now got a proper feel for leverless controllers after the 8BitDo Arcade Controller, I felt incredibly comfortable with the Novablade Pro’s layout and high build quality.
I played a variety of the best fighting games with it across PS5 and PC, including Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and Guilty Gear Strive.
In my time with the Novablade Pro, I was able to compare it directly to a cheaper model I also have in for testing – the 8BitDo Arcade Controller – and one of comparable price and features in the Victrix Pro KO. Both being some of the best fight sticks around. If you’re after a premium leverless controller, you likely won’t be disappointed here. Especially given its superb build quality and high level of customization.
First reviewed October 2025
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