I personally prefer wireless controllers with a USB receiver so I am not at the mercy of Bluetooth deciding to work or not work that day. Also, Bluetooth controllers won’t wake the Steam Deck from sleep.

I use the Xbox Wireless Adapter, but I needed to install the drivers manually, which was a pain in the ass. And each time you update the Steam Deck, you need to do it again. Once I do this, it works great, but it’s really annoying. I really wish Valve would include the drivers for this.

Actually, I wish Valve would come out with their own controller.

Edit: Here’s the guide I used to install the drivers in case you want to do the same: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/yr248o/install_guide_for_xbox_controller_dongle_firmware/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

I don’t know much about this stuff, but I use a DualSense and I like it. It’s comfortable and the joysticks have a nice resistance to them. I can map the controls to match the deck controls. You can’t use some of the cool DualSense features like adaptive triggers, and there’s no gyro or rumble, but I realized the other day that there’s a trackpad! It’s pretty jerky but maybe that can be fixed with settings.

Previously I used a switch pro controller and it felt a little cheap. Obviously until Valve releases another controller, nothing is going to match the capabilities of the deck controls.

Dualsense works great. Centre trackpad and gyro pair very well with Steam.

I just use a wireless Xbox controller with my steam deck. Works just fine over Bluetooth.

Switch Pro lacks analog triggers and depending on what games you play it can be a really bad thing.

Stadia controller

I’ve been using leftover stadia controllers, they work pretty well.

The only issue is sometimes the controller won’t work unless I toggle Bluetooth on and back off.

I’ve tried Stadia controllers, they’re janky but when they work they work.

I’ve tried Switch Pro controllers, same thing.

Xbox Series S/X controllers work perfectly. Absolutely no issues. I highly recommend them.

When I say janky, I mean sometimes inputs don’t work, you need to disconnect and reconnect them, sometimes even reboot the entire console for them to be recognized. Never had these issues with Xbox controllers.

I tried both, a Microsoft Xbox Series X Wireless Controller, and a DualShock 4. I’m not happy with either, but if I had to choose, I’d go with the DualShock.

The Xbox gamepad does not have a gyro sensor, and also does not have a touchpad. Furthermore, the build quality is really bad. I also have an Xbox 360 gamepad (which doesn’t have Bluetooth, so it can’t be connected to the Deck without an expensive USB receiver), and putting the Xbox 360 and Xbox Series X gamepads side by side shows just how horrible the new gamepads are… Another issue with the Xbox Series X gamepad is that you probably need to update the firmware before you can pair it properly with the Steam Deck, what requires access to a Windows PC or an Xbox console (I couldn’t get the firmware update to work from within a VM, even though the USB forwarding worked). The main advantage of the Xbox Series X gamepad is, that it uses regular AA accumulators, so you don’t need to worry about the battery dying.

The PS4 gamepad on the other hand has a touchpad, a gyro sensor, and the build quality is pretty good. It does have other drawbacks though: Unlike the Xbox gamepad it does not use normal AA batteries, but has a built-in battery that isn’t as straightforward to replace. Also, its Bluetooth tends to severely interfere with the Steam Deck’s WLAN, up to the point that the WLAN connection just dies when using the PS4 gamepad. (I solved that by buying a wired Ethernet adapter and connecting that over USB, but that’s not always an option…)

I use an 8bitdo Pro 2 controller.

switch pro seems to have issues.
I like xBox (removable batteries, good controller) and kingkong 2 pro (can connect to other consolwa, has accelerometer) and have both

I use one of my 100 Stadia controllers.

A controller with HAL joystick implying high precision, no deadzone required and will never drift. I personnally chose the Gulikit King Kong 2 pro controller and love it ^^