Posted in: Games, Review, Video Games | Tagged: Bionik, Controller Mods, Modifications, Quickshot, Trigger lock, xbox one

Bionik's Xbox One Quickshot Trigger Lock Grips Live Up To The Hype

In the world of gaming hardware modifications, the controller has perhaps seen the most variation — but one of the most common modifications to gaming controllers revolves around the triggers. And Bionik's Quickshot grip and trigger lock mods for the standard Xbox One controller is no exception.

Bionik makes very few promises about the Quickshot, but they are far from easy to accomplish. The first is that you'll have improved reaction time with the trigger locks, and better control from the added grip. And indeed, it does live up to its promise.

But first, the installation. Now, I decided to go ahead and take apart my older Xbox One controller, because anytime you go prying off pieces of a controller, you've gone and voided your warranty. And my original XB1 controller had an unfortunate fall onto a tile floor that was installed over solid cement, so ever since, the poor thing has suffered from a sticky left thumbstick. So if I were going to sacrifice any of my controllers to third-party mods, it was definitely going to be that one. And while the instructions for installation are simple, they don't actually account for the process of removing the plastic grips from just below the right and left triggers.

It should just be two steps to remove the two plastic shells, but there are pins designed to lock the whole thing in place, and they're a lot more sticky than Bionik would have you think. I ended up having to use the provided budger to gently crack open the controller at the seams. Once I'd gotten the plastic mostly wedged open on all sides by running the budger down the length of the controller, I was able to pry away the standard grips from the main controller shell. And the prying required quite a bit more force than I was perhaps comfortable with, but I managed.

If you read the instructions for installation, they'll tell you that "adult installation" is required. And while I was baffled by this at the start, getting my controller open was rather, well, eye-opening. Microsoft didn't design the Xbox One controller to be opened, so when you pry the shell apart, there's a tiny bit of circuity showing just behind the triggers. And I would not have trusted myself to make the change a few years ago, and certainly not as a child. That's one great way to ruin a $60 controller.

Snapping the Bionik Quickshot grips in place was much, much easier than prying the original grips from the controller, for which I was thankful.

Once assembled, I spent some time just getting used to the feel of the new grips in hand. Because the grip texture doesn't have a seamless transition — they are aftermarket mods, after all — they took a bit of getting used to. The trigger locks were rather easy to work and have two positions. The first is totally open, just like your regular trigger position. The second basically cuts the trigger path down by two-thirds, which makes shooting a hell of a lot faster.

I made sure to test them with a couple different shooters, mostly Destiny and Ghost Recon: Wildlands. But I also put in a bit more time with Mass Effect: Andromeda and, even being a stealth focused sniper, the shortened response time was impressive. Now, if only I had Skyrim on Xbox One to test it out with some fancy dual sword weilding and spell-slinging.

But let's be real; you don't want trigger locks for any game other than a standard shooter — they won't help at all with a two-stick shooter setup, fun fact. And while these won't go making you an all-star FPS pro, they will give you a bit more of an edge over your previous performance.

And they're a hell of a lot cheaper than the Xbox One Elite controller, which retails for about $150 USD.

The Quickshot is a solid mod choice for someone who wants to get the feel of a much better controller design. The standard Xbox One controller is, well, kind of shit when you break it down. The grips are smooth plastic, which is soft-touch plastic to feel nice in your hands, but isn't the kind of thing you can get a great grip on. And the triggers have a decent bit of empty space on them. You can pretty much hold the trigger down about halfway without actually prompting any reaction, which is not ideal in games that require quick reaction times.

So, if you have the extra $20 to spare, you might want to go pick yourself up a pair.

I've decided to leave the Quickshot grips on my spare controller for now, but they do make me quite less testy about using the thing than usual, because it's a hell of a lot nicer to have in hand. Honestly, I may as well just switch them over to my other standard Xbox One controller, now I know I won't break it.

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