Last month, Asus unveiled the ROG Raikiri 2 Pro controller and what a spectacle it was. It’s a PC-only controller that packs in a few key upgrades, like an 8,000Hz polling rate, a bigger battery, and a new colour display. That’s all well and good. The only trouble was that it was a China-only release, with no word on a global release. Sooner than we’d expected, but later than we’d hoped, Asus’ Raikiri 2 Pro has made it out.
Pro enough for you?
Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone entirely global yet. Listings for the controller have since appeared in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — revealing the controller’s European pricing. It seems Asus is taking a phased approach for the controller, meaning that South Africa may get hold of the controller before long. We got the last one, anyway.
The new controller hopes to justify the ‘2 Pro’ moniker with a somewhat fresh design to accommodate some of its new features. We’re talking a new D-Pad and a row of five backlit buttons below. RGB light strips surround the grips, with further customisation made possible by removing the magnetic faceplate. Sold separately, obviously. Micro switch ABXY buttons, back buttons, and hot-swappable TMR joysticks round out the offerings here.
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It’s a wholly customisable controller that makes use of a new full-colour display on the face to make that happen. It replaces the monochrome OLED display that we saw on the previous controllers. Here, you’ll spend time tweaking the RGB lighting, remapping controls, and swapping between profiles on the fly. Too bad it’s PC-only. Another major improvement sees the polling rate bumped to 8,000Hz — 7,000 steps up from 1,000Hz before.
It won’t come cheap. The listings we mentioned price the ROG Raikiri 2 Pro at €220, translating to a little over R4,100 locally. That’s before any taxes are slapped on, of course. The Xbox-specific Raikiri 2 still demands a price of R4,500 in SA. Asus will at least pack in a case, charging dock, USB cable, and a few extras for your money.
