Review: NYXI's Flexi controller transforms between PlayStation and Xbox layouts in seconds

NYXI's Master P1 didn't favour too well in the recent controller roundup I did, yet here today I sit mostly impressed with the new Flexi model, as it improved upon the stick latency and filtering quirks of the P1 in almost every way... almost.

The problem is that to be a great controller, a number of conditions need to be met. GameSir and others have been refining this process over the last 18 months or so, and even though NYXI is not a newcomer to the controller scene, it seems to stick to its guns in certain ways that hamper the experience for gamers using its controllers, at least on PC anyway.

The Flexi has a USP that hardly any other controller can match, the ability to flip the left stick and d-pad around so the sticks are either symmetrical or asymmetrical. This feature instantly satisfies gamers who prefer the Xbox layout (asymmetrical), whilst at the same time giving PlayStation layout enjoyers the option to flip it around so things feel at home.

On top of that, the mechanical micro switch ABXY button caps can be swapped over to the Nintendo layout as well, though, if you do this then a quick button combo will need to be pressed to remap the buttons accordingly on the PCB, too, or just update the mapping in software such as Steam or in any given game.

Conveniently, NYXI includes spare button caps for ABXY, they're the same size as the default ones, so I assume these are only spare if you lose some.

Construction & feel

The Flexis feels more substantial than the P1, it is of course a little more expensive, but in the hand, it feels robust and there is no sign of flex (no pun intended) and the grips offer nice texturing and feel.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of the honeycomb grille where the RGB lighting shines through, and there does not seem to be an off mode for it, only adjust the level and colour of intensity via several presets. My other favourite controllers from both GameSir and PB Tails offer full RGB control with or without software, so it's a shame that NYXI does not offer the same functionality here.

The d-pad is of a decent size and houses tactile clicky switches under the single piece membrane layer. There is a central rocker, though it's hard to tell when it's under the thumb. I did a quick teardown of the left module to show the clean PCB off and the buttons:

The joysticks used are K-Silver's hall-effect sensors. As you may know by now, hall-effect is an upgrade over potentiometer sticks which drift over time as the metal contacts wear down with use. HE sticks do not have this problem, so there is no drift.

They can still be subject to problems if the spring mechanism that centres each stick fails. This problem is very rare, though.

Going back to the d-pad, I found that it has a lot of idle play, more than I would find desirable, and because of the way the d-pad cap is designed, the directional buttons are not fully fenced off, so accidental actuation of another direction is possible when holding down one direction and wiggling that button.

A removable magnetic fascia completes the look, though currently there are no optional fascia covers available to customise the Flexi with. The cover is easy to remove and re-attach, it snaps back on with a satisfying slap.

The undersides of the grips are nicely textured and layered in a thin rubbery material which feels nice in the hands.

The triggers have no lockout switch to enable a physical hair trigger mode like on other controllers, even the Master P1 has this capability (even though it is slightly flawed on that model).

When I first looked at the USB-C port I was concerned that not all USB cables would fit in as the port is quite deeply recessed. All GameSir controllers with a recessed port have the issue where only a fraction of cables will fit as the inlet is so narrow. NYXI's recess is wider, thankfully, and I had no problem using any of my USB cables as the stock NYXI cable is quite cheap feeling and not as pliable as I like when I do game with a controller wired.

Customisation & features

On the back there are four remappable buttons, but do note that these can only be remapped to existing controller buttons, and NYXI do not offer any form of software or ap to change this further. This is a real shame as it's kind of pointless having so many extra buttons but can only remap them with mirrors of existing topside buttons.

Of course, the showpiece feature is converting stick and d-pad layout, this can be done during gameplay without issue and takes seconds. I recorded a short video showing how quick it is, along with some commentary on initial thoughts as I sat mulling over writing this review at the same time:

Swapping around the ABXY buttons to Switch layout is just as simple, although the sides of the button caps are glossy and very slippery, I had to really pinch hard to grip them properly, after which I was able to swap them to the Nintendo layout for playing on Switch or emulation.

Performance

Firstly, the stick performance on the Flexi is truly excellent, there is very little latency/filtering. In fact this might just be one of the few controllers using hall-effect sticks that has the lowest amount of observable processing/filtering, and the bounce-back delay is the lowest I have seen on any of the hall-effect controllers I have used.

Here is a 240fps video capture off a 240Hz OLED display to visually demonstrate:

Likewise, all other measurements showed favourable results, the Stick Analyzer test below shows the minimal filtering as the motion captures all my natural tremors and movements during the test, along with a healthy number of mapping points registered.

All things are not well, though, because the Flexi has fixed deadzones that cannot be changed or disabled, it also has fake circularity which cannot be disabled to get the raw sensor outline from the sticks:

The deadzones are fixed at 10% for the inner edges, and 20% for the outer edges. The outer is not too relevant, but the inner 10% on hall-effect does result in needing to move each stick a great deal more distance to register activity on-screen in a game. I'm playing through Control currently and felt moving the camera small amounts to be quite annoying because of the heavy inner deadzone.

A quick run of XinputTest showed very little latency/jitter, with a consistent zero for outliers being measured. So, it's clear to me that whilst NYXI has made strides in improving stick performance with their factory tuning of the K-Silver modules here, there is still a lot of room for improvement. This test is a synthetic one of course, but compared to other controllers, it's a good way to baseline under the same controlled conditions.

I'd like to see an app or piece of software (both available via smartphone app stores or Windows Store) which allows you to customise things to a far greater degree than what's given from the factory. A 10% inner deadzone is not satisfactory for many games, especially when the sticks perform well otherwise.

The rumble motors are not the nicest I have felt, in some ways I think the Master P1 rumble feels more refined, the ones on the Flexi buzz rather than rumble, especially the smaller motor. This should have been better for sure.

Conclusion

It's a shame that something so trivial impacts an otherwise nice controller. Sure, it is missing some features that even the lower model has, such as trigger locks, and whilst the mechanical ABXY buttons feel great, the controller is comfortable, and the convertible nature is genuinely useful, the fixed inner deadzone cannot be ignored as it does impact the gaming experience.

Hopefully NYXI are listening and do address this, even having the ability to just toggle deadzone and the fake circle via a button combo would be good enough, the software might need time to cook, no problems there, just give us the option to change more things via button combos like competing controllers offer.

As it stands, the NYXI Flexi is a controller that has great potential, it has excellent 1000Hz wireless stability and performance, and ok, the dongle may be huge and feel cheap compared to the competition (shown above). At the same time, it is not priced unreasonably, though, you would really be buying this if you must have the transformable stick and ABXY layout, because for similar money, there are better featured controllers, some of which I have already reviewed.

Another area I did not like, and is more of a personal preference, the triggers are not textured for grip. The inside edge is sharply folded in which means the tips of my index fingers are left "hanging" quite often when using the them. Your mileage may vary here as we don't all have the same finger lengths, but it is worth mentioning all the same.

The main takeaway is if fixed inner deadzones are an issue for you, or the lack of proper customisation, then you may wish to look elsewhere, for now at least.