For years, the Xbox Wireless Controller has been the one many PC players reach for. Still, it never fit every hand, and at $65, it never quite fit every budget. Now Xbox has an answer to both: a smaller controller at a lower price.
Xbox calls it the Nano Controller. The idea, the company says, is a pad for smaller hands and younger players, and for anyone who wants to carry a controller around without it taking up much room in a pocket.
The Xbox Nano costs $49.99. It looks like a regular controller without the grips, with the buttons, sticks, and D-pad packed into a smaller area. Even so, it keeps all 18 standard Xbox gameplay inputs.
Pre-orders for the Xbox Nano are open now, ahead of its Nov. 4 release. Xbox is capping purchases at five units per account, a limit that comes as the controller looks set to attract scalpers during the Christmas shopping season.
The controller is a little over 5 inches long and weighs 3.5 ounces, which should make it easy to carry. The Xbox Wireless and Elite controllers, by comparison, are both 6 inches wide and weigh around 10 and 12 ounces, respectively.
The Nano has a built-in battery that charges over USB-C, though Xbox’s announcement didn’t say whether a cable comes in the box. It also has a programmable Action Button that can be set to take screenshots, record gameplay, or run other common shortcuts. The controller connects over Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth, so it works with compatible PCs, phones, and smart TVs.
Xbox is running a promotion with Samsung in the US to launch a special Xbox Nano Controller. People who buy a select Samsung TV this holiday season will receive the controller and a free two-month Game Pass Ultimate subscription. The subscription is for new members only.
Xbox has also partnered with Meta on a US holiday promotion. Anyone who buys a Meta Quest headset will receive a Nano Controller, and new subscribers will get two months of Game Pass Ultimate on top of that.
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