Astro C40 TR controller review

Finder score: 4.0

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The market for high-end video game controllers has grown significantly over the last console generation. Companies like Razer, SCUF and Nacon provide premium alternatives to the standard PS4 Dualshock 4 controller, designed for folks craving more versatility and higher performance from their input devices.

Now popular headset-maker Astro has stepped into the ring with the Astro C40 TR controller. Compatible with both PS4 and PC/Mac, the C40 is a top-of-the-line device that lets you tinker with it as you see fit, changing its analog stick layout, remapping its buttons and tweaking the sensitivity of its triggers. At $400 it's no small investment, but if you're looking to get more out of your PS4 or PC gaming set-up, the C40 has a lot to offer.

Design

Design

• Comfortable grip feels satisfying to hold
• Extra rear buttons are positioned within easy reach
• Premium build quality is sturdy and durable

• Read more about the Astro C40's design

  Right off the bat, the Astro C40 presents itself as a premium device. A glossy black sheen accentuates its sleek curves, with the textured metal faceplate adding a sense of industrial strength to the aesthetic.

  Just holding the C40 feels great. The front is coated in a smooth rubber surface that feels cool and comfortable to the touch, while the rubber on the back sports a ridged pattern that provides extra grip.

  Both the rear triggers and shoulder buttons curve smoothly from the sides of the controller to the top, supporting the natural arc of the index and middle fingers. This lets you distribute pressure across more of your finger when hitting the buttons or triggers rather than focusing it all on your fingertips.

  The C40 has a satisfying weight to it that helps reinforce the premium feel of the controller. As someone who finds the Dualshock 4 a little too light and plasticky, I appreciate that the C40 has some heft to it. It makes me confident that the controller will survive a lot more wear and tear than the Dualshock 4.

  

  Like most high-end controllers these days, the C40 adds a pair of extra buttons to its back side that can mimic the function of (almost) any other standard button. These buttons are positioned within easy reach of the ring and pinkie fingers and offer a good level of resistance. They don't require too much force to press, but they're less susceptible to slipped fingers than the paddles you see on some other third-party controllers.

  One design decision I'm not the biggest fan of is the shrinking of the Options and Share buttons. They're tiny on the C40, roughly half the size of those on the Dualshock 4 – which, I might add, were already a bit of a pain to hit. I had difficulty consistently pressing them in the heat of the moment while testing the C40, and though it's not a deal-breaker by any stretch of the imagination, it is an unfortunate blemish on an otherwise well-designed controller.

  When you buy the Astro C40, it comes in a burly black carry case with a reassuringly solid shell to protect the controller from bumps and drops. Inside the bottom half of the case is a rubber inlay for storing extra stick caps, replacement stick or D pad modules, the USB wireless dongle and the faceplate removal tool. The top half, meanwhile, houses a compartment for the USB cable. The leftover space snugly accommodates the C40 itself, making travelling with the controller a cinch.

Performance

Performance

• Firm, responsive buttons
• Smooth and precise analog sticks
• Clicky D pad is a vast improvement over the Dualshock 4

• Read more about the Astro C40's performance

  Confession time: I'm not the biggest fan of the Dualshock 4's buttons. They're mushy and often imprecise, feeling more like a toy than a finely-crafted piece of technology. I've had the face buttons stick and not depress properly on multiple occasions across different Dualshock 4s, something that I've never experienced with Xbox or Nintendo controllers in the past.

  Fortunately, Astro has equipped the C40 with more reliable and responsive buttons than the Dualshock 4. They're not full-blown mechanical switches like those on Razer's Raiju controller – which, I have to admit, I'd prefer – but they're still firmer and more consistent than Sony's offering. The shoulder buttons especially are a marked improvement over the Dualshock 4, responding with a clear click that leaves little room for ambiguity.

  The triggers on the C40 follow a sleek curve from the side of the controller to the top. This not only makes them more comfortable to press down, it gives you more control over how much pressure you want to apply. There's a good level of resistance to the triggers, too, which upped my precision in analog tasks like managing the throttle in GRID or drawing back my bowstring in Horizon: Zero Dawn.

  

  Speaking of analog actions, good analog sticks are a must for any controller. The C40 does not disappoint. The standard concave sticks that come pre-installed feel fantastic, moving smoothly and precisely with no deadzone or sensitivity issues arising throughout my testing. The small bumps on the stick caps helped keep my thumbs centred even at the tail end of a long session with The Division 2. And because those caps are interchangeable, you can replace them with fresh ones if they eventually get worn down or swap them out for a different style should you feel like a change.

  If you're like me and have few warm feelings for the Dualshock 4's spongey D pad, you'll be glad to know that the C40's pad is a dramatic improvement. It has a firm and satisfying click to it, with a low travel distance that ensures a fast response time. Diagonals are easy to input thanks to the pad's flat profile, though it's worth noting that the pad is still a single piece of plastic rather than discrete directional buttons.

  The Dualshock 4 is notorious for its poor battery life. Astro addresses that with the C40, promising 12 hours of battery life compared to the Dualshock's 4 to 8 (on a good day). This tracks with my testing, where I was able to wring out between 12 and 13 hours off a single charge. And as a bonus, when the battery does run low, you can plug in the USB cable and keep playing while it's charging.

Features

Features

• Modular design lets you swap between parallel and offset stick layouts as you please
• Hugely customisable with adjustable button mappings, stick and trigger sensitivity and even rumble intensity
• Trigger stops enable faster firing in FPS games

• Read more about the Astro C40's features

  Feature-rich is an appropriate term for the Astro C40. To start, it can operate both wirelessly via the included USB dongle and over a wired USB connection. The set-up process is a cinch regardless of platform or which connection you opt for: just plug in the USB cable or USB dongle, turn on the controller and you're ready to go.

  If you prefer a set of headphones or a gaming headset over speakers, you'll be glad to know the C40 includes a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on its underside. It'll output game and chat audio as well as pass through your own chat audio from a headset microphone.

  Like the Dualshock 4, the Astro C40 features a built-in speaker for the few games that take advantage of it. However, the C40 expands its functionality, using it to play a tone when the battery gets low so you know it's time to recharge.

  It's also worth mentioning that the C40 supports gyro controls, just like the Dualshock 4. Some third-party PS4 controllers don't offer this feature, which can lead to issues in certain sections of games that rely on motion controls. With the C40, this isn't a concern.

  

  Customisation is at the heart of the C40. Using the included tool, you can remove part of the controller's faceplate and swap around the D pad and analog sticks. This lets you switch between the parallel stick layout common to PlayStation controllers and the offset layout you find on Xbox and Nintendo controllers.

  Along with adjusting the stick layout, you can change out the stick caps for a different feel and grip profile. The C40 comes with a few different types: two concave caps with small bumps for added grip, two convex caps with a rubber texture similar to the Dualshock 3 from the PS3 era, plus a variant of each with a taller shaft for folks who prefer more manoeuvrability in their sticks.

  FPS fans can eke even more out of the triggers with the C40's trigger stops. These toggles let you reduce the throw distance of each trigger, making it so you only need to push down roughly half as far to achieve the same effect. This can be useful in first- and third-person shooters by reducing the time it takes for a full pull-and-release of the triggers, allowing for faster firing of semi-automatic weapons and less finger fatigue over the course of a gaming session.

  The C40's rear buttons expand its versatility even further. By default, the right button is mapped to X (cross) and the left to O (circle), but they can be remapped to other buttons on-the-fly – you don't need to boot up the PC configuration software at all. You just hold down a small button on the back of the controller to activate mapping mode, press the rear button you want to map, then press the button you want to map it to. It's pleasantly simple.

  This isn't limited to the rear buttons, either. Any button on the controller excluding the Option, Share and Home buttons can be remapped using the same process.

  The Astro C40 configuration software builds upon the controller's core versatility with a simple interface for mapping all buttons and syncing the changes back to the controller. You can create multiple profiles with different mappings, two of which can be stored on the controller at any one time. A toggle on top of the controller lets you switch between those profiles on the fly.

  The configuration software also lets you define the sensitivity curve of the sticks, adjusting the rate at which physical movement of the sticks translates to digital input. If you want the slightest nudge to send your character sprinting, for instance, you can do just that. There are similar sensitivity options for the rear triggers, too.

  An unexpected feature of the C40 is its emphasis on audio quality. Whether you're connected wirelessly or over USB, the audio piping through the headphone jack outputs at 24-bit/48KHz, and the configuration software includes an equaliser if you want to tweak the balance of highs, lows and mids. You can adjust the microphone and built-in speaker volume, too, as well as how much of your own chat audio you hear back through the headphones.

  Rounding out the configuration options are settings for the intensity of the rumble motors in either side of the controller, as well as the brightness level of the central LED.

  For folks looking to the future and the launch of the PS5, the latest comments from Astro representatives (at the time of publishing this review) state "we have no compatibility statements to make regarding the PS5, but we are continuing to look into this for both the C40 TR Controller and the audio products such as our MixAmp Pro TR".

Should you buy the Astro C40?

The Astro C40 is one slick device. It feels great, performs reliably and responsively and supports extensive customisation that gives you far more control over how you game.

While $400 is a lot of money to lay down, it's on par with what you'll pay for high-end controllers from the likes of Razer or SCUF. The Astro C40 deserves consideration alongside those names for anyone wanting to upgrade their gaming set-up.

Pricing and availability

Specifications