Is the Fly Digi Apex 5 the new king of
controllers in 2025? After 3 weeks of
testing this thing out, I'm ready to
give you my honest review. Quick
disclaimer, I got this controller from a
friend who's a beta tester for Fly Digi.
I am not sponsored or affiliated with
Fly Digi myself yet. Stick around until
the end for my recommendations. And if
you enjoy content like this, consider
subscribing and clicking the like
button. Okay, let's get into it.
So, first of all, I'd like to mention
that this is a very early domestic
Chinese version of the Apex 5. The
international version will have English
writing on the box and better quality
control according to Fly Digi on their
Discord. With that in mind, inside the
box, you get the controller, a braided
USB A to C cable, a 2.4 GHz wireless
dongle, some paperwork, and the new
removable back paddles. Overall, the box
is pretty flimsy and doesn't really
match the quality and price of the Apex
5. I also wish Fly Digi included a dock
instead of selling it separately. I
mean, even some controllers that are
half the price include a dock these
days. Hopefully, Fly Digi ups their
packaging game for future releases like
the Vader 5 Pro and the Vader 5S on
Xbox.
[Music]
The Apex 5 is a high-tech controller
featuring customizable RGB lighting, a
customizable 150 Hz display, adjustable
Hall effect sticks, clicky micro switch
face buttons and D-pad, Hall effect
triggers with adaptive trigger support,
six remappable buttons, including extra
top bumpers and removable back paddles,
texturized rubber back grips, six axis
motion controls, a 1000 Hz polling rate,
a large 1500 millia hour battery,
Windows Windows, Android, Nintendo
Switch, and iOS connectivity, and it
also connects to Xbox and PS5 with
adapters. Unfortunately, the Apex 5 only
supports Xinput on PC, and Dinput only
works for adaptive trigger enabled
games. As you can see from John Punch's
results on Gamepad Law, the Apex 5
performs exceptionally well with ultra
lowwired and wireless latency, fantastic
linearity, and a high 847 point stick
resolution.
Space Station 4.0 is your standard
controller software with features you'd
expect like RGB lighting customization,
vibration intensity, button remapping,
joystick circularity, sensitivity, and
dead zones, gyro controls, and trigger
modes. You can also enable adaptive
triggers from supported games and
customize the screen like I did. And of
course, like most other controller
software, you can update your Apex 5's
firmware from right within the app. It's
also worth noting that you can customize
most of these features on the onboard
display and don't necessarily need to
open space station. The software has
actually grown on me since I've started
using it and I think it does a pretty
solid job of letting you tweak away at
all your settings. It seems like Fly
Digi is pushing Space Station 4.0 to be
their main hub over anything Steam or
Dinput related. So, you better get used
to using it if you own one of their
devices.
As soon as you put your hands on the
Apex 5, you feel like you're holding
something expensive. It's weighty,
solidly built, and feels like the next
evolution of Xbox styled controllers.
The plastic face plate is a nice matte
finish, which doesn't stick to your
hands or get overly fingerprinty. And
the textured back grips feel premium and
are nicely placed. The RGB lighting and
upgraded screen accentuate the
futuristic look of the Apex 5 and let
you customize it to be your own. Also,
as this commenter pointed out, I am a
sucker for clicky buttons, so of course
I love those. The D-pad feels like a
step down from the metal D-pad on the
Apex 4 Blackmmith Wukong Edition, but
it's still solid and performs well. As
someone who prefers standard locking
triggers like on the Vader 4 Pro, I
don't love the Apex 5's trigger stops.
Even with the dampening set to the
minimum, you can still pull the trigger
down, which feels awkward while gaming,
and I've noticed my right trigger is
easier to activate than the left. I'm
also not the biggest fan of the new back
button and paddle layout. While testing
the Apex 5, I found myself accidentally
engaging the paddles and pinching my
finger underneath, so I decided to
remove them altogether. Thankfully, this
isn't the end of the world since the
Apex 5 has two extra top bumpers. But I
do prefer the old Apex 4 layout over
this. Another design decision that feels
like one step forward but another step
back is with the face plate. The Apex 4
Blackmth Wukong Edition lets you adjust
stick tension without removing a face
plate. And many people, myself included,
find this to be a better design than the
standard Apex 4 and 5. The friend who
sent me this beta unit also made me
aware of a flaw in the joystick module's
pin structure that slips out and can
cause unwanted noise. I personally
didn't find this to be an issue since
you have to press really hard to hear
it, but I know some people might expect
a more perfect product for this price.
Other than those flaws and my personal
preferences, I really do love how the
Apex 5 looks and feels. Fly Digi has set
the bar for premium pro controllers, and
I always use them as a point of
comparison for quality and construction.
So, is the Fly Digi Apex 5 really the
best controller of 2025? I think it will
be a little bit divisive within the
controller community. The lack of native
Steam and Dinput support is a big loss
for many PC players, and Fly Digi
doesn't seem keen to add them anytime
soon. The uncomfortable new back button
layout and quality control issues some
early adopters are reporting also make
it hard to justify forking up nearly
$200. With all of that said, however,
the Apex 5 is still one of the best
feeling controllers I've ever put my
hands on. Even with all of its flaws,
this controller oozes quality, and I
actually like that Fly Digi is
experimenting with their designs and
taking risks. If you're already a fan of
Fly Digi products and don't mind leaving
quality control to fate, then you'll
probably enjoy the Apex 5. Personally,
I'd recommend picking up the cheaper
Vader 4 Pro if you're on the fence. For
less than half the price, you're getting
one of the best controllers of last year
with a better back button layout, micro
switch triggers, and the unbeatable
tension ring joystick design. Hopefully,
Fly Digi will fix some of the Apex 5's
flaws on the international release, and
if I get my hands on one, I'll gladly
update my review. For now, this
controller is a slight disappointment in
a year filled with excellent controller
releases. If you have any questions
about the Apex 5 or need help with tech
issues, let me know in the comments. And
as always, if you found this review
helpful, consider subscribing and
clicking the like button. All right, see
you next time.