Games

Ps5 controller is Bluetooth, works for me without any special drivers. Has native support in some games for the haptic triggers and touch pad. It’s a fantastic general purpose unit. The Nintendo switch classic NES controllers are awesome for retro emulation too- also Bluetooth. They make NES/SNES/N64 variants- but really the ps5 will handle all those use cases and feel just fine for any modern gaming.

I’m personally looking for a Hall effect joystick, ps5 style layout, wireless capable, plays nice with Linux game controller. Seems like I’ve seen flydigi as a potential option, and maybe some 8bitdo ones. Maybe scuf?

One major issue I’ve had is my ps4 controller doesn’t have multipoint, meaning it will only Bluetooth pair to a single device at a time. Wanna use it on your phone? Gotta pair it. Wanna use it again on your pc — yep, gotta pair it again. Reaaaaallly annoying.

Consoles have used different wireless tech/protocols but mostly use bluetooth now. Bluetooth devices should be able to work on pc but may require extra hassle like non standard protocol and no official drivers if they weren't intended to be used that way. For the ones that do work the main takeaway is no additional dongle if your system already has bluetooth, but there may be addititonal input latency.

2.4ghz is kinda silly naming because bluetooth and wifi are both 2.4ghz, though wifi also has 5ghz, but it usually refers to presumably proprietary protocol over 2.4ghz and uses a usb dongle. It will generally be faster/lower latency but that isn't even guaranteed as the 2.4ghz mentioned never refers to any standard.

The latency difference will only be noticible to cats or birds or something unless the controller tries to pass the headset audio to the pc. Bluetooth audio has a noticable delay compared to most '2.4ghz' options, particularly noticable in rhythm games, games with inputs timed to audio cues, voice chats where everyone else has low latency audio and fast internet, and probably other stuff I'm not personally into.

Deciding your controller comes down to a lot of things. If the means exist in your area, try as many as you can to determine your most comfortable size, shape and layout. Other than that you absolutely must do yourself a favour and get a controller with hall effect sticks. The console companies all love stick drift. Don't be fooled by Sony's replacable stick controller either, the sticks are always out of stock and if you can solder you can get a regular controller and swap to hall effect yourself, both sticks, when drift starts for like $5 CAD vs $25 for 1 that will eventually die in the same way.

But probably just don't give m$ sony or nint your money since they all get drift and I have replaced the battery and charge circuit on 8 separate ps4 controllers and drifting sticks on so so many of every big3 console controller. 8bitdo has a few stick and trigger hall effect controllers which I can mostly recommend, I have the hall stick only version of the ultimate controller and several of their older regular stick controllers. They are noted for their very close replica feel of snes dpad and face buttons but the configuration and firmware update software was windows only last I checked. I also quite like retro fighters controllers but all of their hall effect options are on closed preorder pending fulfillment. There are other highly regarded non big3 brands that I haven't tried that seem to have pretty solid feature set and build quality too.

The used market is also an option. Arrange for testing though, and pass or haggle on drift, charging problems, filth, etc. Ifixit teardown guides for swapping parts or just cleaning the shells and button caps in soapy water with a soft rag. Watch out for devices originally sold with 'soft touch'/'smooth grip'/etc finish as all of them have degraded and become sticky even unopened in box by now.

I bought some cheap PS and Xbox controller clones on eBay and they all work amazingly well OOTB on Linux

Bought a wired eswap thrustmaster pro. Refuse to use anything else ever again. Been a default controller that came with the console guy for most of my life before that. An actual game changer. Button pushes always register, the joysticks are damned responsive, and it feels quality with internal parts being made of metal. It was pricey, but it was damn worth it.

Have some experience with Xbox controllers and steam controller

First official Xbox One X controller is absolute shit via bluetooth. Proprietary dongle works well, as long as its on windows - getting it to work under linux is a pain.

As far as compatibility goes Xbox 360 Dualshock with 2,4ghz wireless dongle is the best - dongle identifies as wired controller, it works correctly with everything.

Steam controller works with everything except ergonomics is IMO garbage. Dualshock rules in this area

And don't even think about connecting anything via bluetooth to android - bluetooth drivers are broken since android 10, causing massive input lag. Use either wired, or Xbox 360 2,4ghz wireless dongle controller

For Linux, I recommend the DualShock 4 (PS4) and DualSense (PS5) controllers. They have native support built into the kernel, so you don't need to install drivers. They're great in Steam, emulators, Wine, and most native linux games. They work in both USB and bluetooth mode. Motion controls work. Touchpad works. Rubmle works. Dead zones are nice and small.

The only features I'm not sure about are the DualSense haptics and adaptive trigger feedback. There was work happening on those when I last looked a couple years ago; I haven't checked recently.

A few people have reported lag with certain bluetooth adapters. I haven't seen it with any of the hardware I've used, but if you encounter it, you can always get a different bluetooth adapter or exchange the controller for some other model.

Flydigi Vader 3/4 Pro. Been using one for a couple months. Hands down best controller I have used. Hall effects, trigger locks, rear buttons, mechanical face buttons, glorious d pad. The not so fun is the crap software and joystick defaults. Once you update on pc it is great. Under $100 for either model.

I've been really happy with my gamesir g7 se.