Unboxing video reveals Xbox One wireless controller, and how it works with Microsoft Surface Book

Microsoft’s recently released wireless game controller for Xbox comes with some interesting features, which have been showcased in a YouTube video published by WinBeta.

For one thing, Microsoft takes the word “wireless” to heart, by eliminating the need for triple or double A batteries, in place of a Lithium-Ion battery pack and a charging kit.

As seen in the video, the controller’s charging kit allows charging over USB, during gameplay, and it can be connected to either an Xbox gaming console, or to a PC. On this note, the battery pack has a rather small footprint, and it fits seamlessly into the unit, which provides a convenient front-facing port connecting the controller to an Xbox console, or to a Windows 10 PC.

The one caveat with the new controller, is that while the controller can be used wirelessly with the Xbox, natively, playing games on PCs does require a $25 wireless adapter. With that said, the extra cost is typical when it comes to PCs, and true for any wireless accessory, such as mice and keyboards.

Priced at $75, coming round at $100 when including the wireless receiver, the controller works just as well on the Surface Book as it does on Xbox One, without additional setups or hoops to jump through. This is mostly due to the fact that Xbox also runs on Windows 10, which means that most Windows 10 PCs are expected to be 100% compatible with the new wireless controller.

Another reason for the separate wireless receiver is that the new controller features a built-in stereo headset jack, designed to be used with a separate headset, for chat sessions during gameplay. When using the wireless controller on a PC like the Surface Book featured in the video, audio can be streamed directly through the controller, eliminating the need to have a long dangling wire connecting a headset to a PC, or the Xbox console itself.