Logitech F710 Review

What if you want to game on Linux like a total Chad but also want a controller that is wireless and has rumble?

Well we finally have the answer, the Logitech F710 the big brother to arguably the most compatible controller ever to touch Linux the Logitech F310.

I have used the Logitech F310 for nearly every single game I have ever played, apart from games that either require a mouse or flight simulator games like X-Plane. Although the Logitech F310 does pretty well at flight simulator games.

But enough talk about the F310 Let’s turn our attention to the F710 and answer the question; Do I think this controller is better than the F310? Well let us first go over the features of the F710.

Aesthetically the F710 comes in only one color motif... a silver and black which looks pretty good. Because of its wireless capabilities it is significantly heavier than the F310. It also has a bulkier backside where my fingers normally rest on the F310.

Other than that the button layout is nearly identical to the F310 we have two analog joy sticks with click down L-3 capabilities, a D-pad, 4 colored face buttons, and 5 buttons in the center, a back button, a Logitech button, a start button, a mode button, and a vibration button which will manually turn on or off the vibration with the push of a button, moving onto the triggers we have a pretty standard layout with 2 left triggers and 2 right triggers with the bottom triggers being pressure sensitive. And of course just like on the F310 we have the compatibility mode switch that allows us to switch from X-input mode to Direct input mode. I always leave my controllers in X input mode for gaming on Linux.

On the back of the controller we have the battery compartment which requires 2 AA batteries and the battery compartment also has a dedicated storage area for the dongle. And of course since this is a rumble enabled controller we have the two vibration motors housed in the handles for all your vibration needs.

OK now that we have covered the features of this controller how does it feel like to game? Well It feels almost identical to the F310 in every aspect. I have been playing with this controller everyday for about a week now and it is a solid gaming experience with responsive buttons and really no problems to report what so ever. After doing some research online I found that some people have had strange disconnection issues. I haven’t had any issues so far but your mileage may vary.

Besides the extra weight and the addition of the vibration if someone was blindfolded they could probably be fooled into thinking this was the F310. So if that is the case, is the F710 better than the F310? Well like so many other things in life, it depends.

Lets first look at cost. The F710 list price on Amazon is $50 USD but it can be found on sale for about $38 dollars. Compare this to the F310 which can be found on amazon for less than $20 dollars. So an obvious win for the F310 there.

It really boils down to the the type of gamer you are. If you have an extra $50 dollars and absolutely need vibration feedback and like the convenience and neatness of wireless controllers I would absolutely recommend the F710. However if you want absolute cheap simplicity that will work 100% of the time the F310 is the way to go. We have to remember too that even the most expensive highest tech wireless technology will never be as reliable as a simple wired controller, so even though I didn’t have any problems it is likely that connections or lag issues will eventually happen from random Electromagnetic interference.