Last month we reviewed a custom Xbox One controller from UK-based service Controller Modz. That service offers a variety of sexy hydro-dipped artwork and chrome designs for Xbox One controllers, but nothing in the way of solid colors. For a controller customized with solid colors, we looked to ColorWare – located in Minnesota and recommended by some of our readers.
ColorWare allows customers to customize an Xbox One controller with one or two solid colors of their choice. The controller will then be painted with your design. In order to test the quality of the ColorWare service, I threw together a design of my own. The result is the world's first Windows Phone Central-colored Xbox One controller! Read on for full impressions of the ColorWare Xbox One controller design process and finished product, with video!
Choose your colors
ColorWare provides custom coloring services for a variety of electronics. Gaming-wise, they offer custom Xbox One and Playstation 4 controllers and systems. The systems cost quite a bit more than controllers to colorize, but you can send in your system to significantly reduce the price. With controllers, you just design the controller and they sell you a brand new one; no sending in your own pad.
Designing your own Xbox One controller is quite easy. First, head to the custom Xbox One controller page on the ColorWare site. Then choose the color for the front side of the controller. ColorWare offers 29 "solid" colors and 29 metallic colors, for a total of 58 color choices. Each of these comes in a gloss or matte finish. Next you'll pick a color for the back of the controller from the same selection. As you choose your colors, the preview image automatically updates to reflect your design.
To match the Windows Phone Central color scheme, I chose Sky blue for the front and Flirt pink for the rear, both with a matte finish. Matte shows less dirt and oil than gloss, you know.
Having finished your design, you can then click the Share button to the top-right of the preview and send a custom link to your friends. Follow this link for our controller design.
If you're ready to order, add the controller to your cart. It comes with a one-year warranty on the paint job, with an extended two-year warranty available for $49. The controller will ship out within 7-10 days, and comes in the original Microsoft packaging.
How do we like it?
The controller I received from ColorWare is everything I hoped for. I can't find a single imperfection – the colors are uniform, smooth, and utterly professional.
The only way you can tell this controller wasn't made in blue and pink is by removing the battery cover from the back. The interiors of the battery cover and compartment are both unpainted, with some telltale pink from the painting process bleeding over. That's fine because people don't normally see the internal stuff.
The customized controller does have one other small detail worth noting. On the bottom of the pad, just above the headset jack, sits the ColorWare name in shiny silver. It's a subtle detail, but cool nonetheless.
You get what you pay for – a beautiful controller
ColorWare custom Xbox One controllers cost $109. In the US, shipping is an additional $13.85 or so, making for a total of $122.85. ColorWare also ships internationally, but they only accept credit cards as payment – not PayPal.
Although buying a controller from ColorWare is slightly cheaper for US customers than Controller Modz, it still amounts to twice the price of a regular Xbox One controller. This is a total luxury item. That's okay. If you can afford it, ColorWare's service is a brilliant way to customize your controller. The dual-color paint job will look elegant and stylish, and yet totally unique. Your wallet might sting, but your eyes will thank you.
How do you like the Windows Phone Central-colored Xbox One controller, awesome readers? Feel free to make and share your own designs in this review's comments.