Flydigi Direwolf 4 Review

Flydigi is a brand that has grown into one of the better third-party options available today. I’ve followed their steady progression, and today I’m reviewing the Flydigi Direwolf 4, a budget-oriented model that aims to conquer the $40 controller market. There is a lot of competition in this space now-a-days, and it’s a tough podium to get onto. Let’s see if the Direwolf 4 is able to live up to the expectations set up by its elder (and more expensive) siblings, the Vader and Apex series of controllers.

The Direwolf 4 comes in a simple, compact box. Inside the box, we find:

• The controller
• 2.4 GHz dongle
• Basic USB-C charging cable
• User manual

It’s currently listed for $39.99 on Amazon.com.

• Layout: Xbox
• Connectivity: Wired, Bluetooth, 2.4GHz
• Compatibility: Windows, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch
• Analog Sticks: Hall Effect, with Tension Adjustment
• Triggers: Hall Effect, with hair trigger stops
• Main Switches: Silicone dome ABXY
• Extra Buttons: 2 programmable rear buttons
• Gyroscope: 6 Axis gyro
• Haptics: Asymmetric motors
• Battery: 800mAh
• Polling Rate: 1000Hz (Wired and 2.4GHz)
• Colours: White, Genshin Impact Yoimiya special edition (costs more)
• Software: Flydigi Space Station 4.0
• Price: Controller only – $40; Bundle including dock, case, etc costs more

The Direwolf 4 looks really clean and simple, with a bit of flare that makes it stand out amongst basic controllers. I like the blue accents on the sticks a lot. Other than that, it’s just white all around.

The build quality is solid. No creaking or machining marks anywhere. The plastics used for the shell are nice and sturdy. It weighs about 236g

The D-pad, button, triggers, back buttons, everything shares the same white colour. The analog sticks are grey, and the same grey colour is used for the font on the ABXY buttons.

The handles used a slightly textured plastic to provide grip. This actually isn’t a very grippy texture, which leads to the controller actually slipping out of my hands a little bit every so often. This could have been done a lot better, and I recommend using aftermarket grips available from brands such as Talongames.

The flydigi logo on the front is a button as well.

There is no RGB in this controller.

The Direwolf 4 uses Flydigi’s own FORCEFLEX hall effect sticks, and they perform well. This is the same stick mechanism used in the Vader 4 Pro. Smooth all the way through, and very accurate. The anti-friction mechanism works well and the smoothness is on par with premium controllers. It uses an internal restriction ring, so you won’t see any anti-friction ring on the outside as you do with many controllers.

The Direwolf 4 is one of the only controllers at this price point that offer adjustable stick tension mechanism. The sticks can be adjusted from 40gf to 80gf using the ring around the sticks.

The material used for the ring is… not ideal IMO. The ring is also not as stable as the ones used in Flydigi’s own Vader series. There is no tactility when you adjust the tension like in Vader 5S. This is a nitpicky complaint tbh, because once you set the tension, you don’t change it often.

It’s a linear stick and feels consistent. There is a tiny bit of snap back at lower tensions.

The stick centering is good and there isn’t a large bump in the middle.

The ABXY buttons are the only “average” experience in this controller. It’s a basic feeling membrane switch mechanism. It’s okay. Gets the job done. But the material of the button is another story…

Flydigi has opted for a glossy, slippery plastic for the buttons that just constantly slip under your thumb. The slight curvature on the buttons makes this even more prominent. I didn’t ever mis-click with these buttons at all, but it is still a rather unpleasant experience compared to a lot of other controllers when I think about it.

Other than this complaint, the performance itself is alright.

The D-Pad is one of the strengths of this controller. The Direwolf 4 has a microswitch d-pad which is a hybrid style between a circular Xbox style and a cross style D-pad. This makes it versatile enough to use for all types of games comfortably.

It’s a mechanical D-pad with nice, crisp feeling micro switches. There’s juuuust enough travel to feel nice and bouncy without feeling mushy and unresponsive. The tactility is great. The central pivot is great too. Diagonals are easy to hit and very consistent.

I used this D-pad for movement in different genres of games, and this was a great experience. The games I tested are Celeste, Hollow Knight : Silksong, Mortal Kombat, Blaz Blue Central Fiction, and some emulated retro games.

It did take a little getting used to for fighting games, but it wasn’t uncomfortable or anything. Once I got used to the travel distance, it became comfortable.

The shoulder bumpers are good. They’re mechanical switches, and are nice and tactile. There’s very minimal pre and post travel, which is good. The textured section gives it a nice grip.

The triggers are really nice. They’re hall effect triggers. The travel distance is plentiful, there aren’t any calibration or dead-zone issues, no creaking or noises of that sort. The textured plastic makes it fairly grippy, which is nice.

The trigger locks are excellent as well. It converts the triggers into a mouse microswitch, which is very clicky and satisfying. Just like the d-pad, there’s a little bit of pre-travel which adds to the bouncy feedback of it, resulting in a less fatiguing experience for your fingers.

There’s 2 extra buttons at the back. They’re placed in a comfortable position, and are easy to press. There were zero accidental presses in the time I used it. It’s a tactile button with a nice, comfortable actuation force.

You can program the buttons to do a lot of things using the flydigi space station 4.0 software

SOUND TEST

The Flydigi Direwolf 4 comes with an 800mAh battery. This lasted for about 17 hours with rumble enabled.

There’s a pair of asymmetric motors in the handles. They work fine and are fairly detailed. I’ve had a satisfying experience with these rumbles while playing forza and some single player games.

Flydigi’s Space Station 4.0 is one of my favourite controller softwares. You get some really granular control over the settings. You can adjust and remap pretty much everything. I won’t go into details of the software in this review, but know that it is very nice.

• Gyroscope – 6 Axis Gyro, works pretty well on PC, switch and android.
• Charging Dock – Available separately for $15
• Audio Port – none

The Direwolf 4 is a tri-mode controller, which means it can be used in wired, Bluetooth and 2.4ghz wireless mode. One drawback to the Direwolf 4 is that it doesn’t support D-input. This is kinda weird in 2026, but Flydigi’s software allows you to remap everything as you wish, so it’s not a deal breaker IMO. The latency numbers are as follows:

MODE	BUTTON LATENCY	STICK LATENCY	POLLING RATE
Wired X-input	5ms	10ms	1000Hz
2.4gHz X-input	7ms	10ms	1000Hz
Bluetooth X-input	20ms	33ms	125Hz
Bluetooth Switch	27ms	33ms	125Hz

These are decent latency numbers, and the usage experience mirrors this data. I felt no connection hiccups or latency when gaming with the Direwolf 4 on my PC. Bluetooth latency is a little disappointing, but it’s a result of the low polling rate in Bluetooth mode.

The Direwolf 4 hits a lot of good points, and has a combination of features that are difficult to find all in a single controller at this price point. The most impressive one being the presence of a Gyroscope which is also usable on PC, not just the Switch.

I recommend this controller for any gamers looking for a well balanced and wide feature set under $40. It stands out amongst the competition.

The only disappointments here are the bluetooth performance and the grip texture (or lack thereof). The tension adjustment ring could have been more robust as well but… Just the fact that we’re getting a tension adjustment mechanism at this price is very exciting to me.