Quite a bite sized rant with unusual post structure for me, however this rant doesn't have nearly as much ranting that would make it possible to drag on for over 10 minutes anyway, so here's a little small mini one.
When it comes to buying controllers for PC Gaming, aside from the ocean of gaming brands trying to jump on the trend (which I have no experience with; though any experiences are welcome), you generally have the three giants' latest models to look towards, which all work on PC (usually). The Xbox Wireless (One), the DualSense, and the Switch Pro.
Except you might as well be buying from either a snake, a jackal or a vulture. Because they tend to all have catches.
The snake: Sony
Firstly, I own a DualSense first hand. The extra fluffy features are great, but the controller feels bad to use. I already have trust issues with the DualShock 3 considering mine is chipped on the bottom (which I dropped, my bad), has chipping on the left stick's outer frame(?), and has its circle button literally stickied down. Didn't help another DS3 I owned was beat up to all hell.
The DualSense is an upgrade in that regard, but it doesn't soothe any of my trust issues whatsoever. The edge frame of the sticks feel like they're a little razer sharp (almost like they're gonna scrape and potentially also chip), the triggers feel almost stiff and like they need too much force in some games with Adaptive Triggers, pressing them down with Adaptive Triggers enabled on some games make me worried they might break or go loose with too much use, the right stick already drifted without any deadzone (though it does not appear to be the end of the world yet; moving the stick did fix it, and this was after applying a kb+m preset)...
This is also on top of the sticks sometimes almost making noises when pressed down and forward, making me think the sticks are defective. Genuinely, it feels so paranoid triggering to use, it makes me wonder if the build quality is dogshit, or I just am being overly paranoid.
The jackal: Microsoft
First of all, give up buying the Elite. I checked the prices and it's almost as much as the Steam Controller in my region, just for replaceable sticks. And that's just for the base model with no accessories.
The base model is cheaper in general, but keep in mind you're buying Microsoft. For some reason even buying the Windows owned controller doesn't fix the issues, because compared to the DualSense, it has issues with framerate on the third generation model, and the fourth has a completely unknown status! According to the PC Gaming bible, PCGamingWiki anyway. That's very concerning.
There are already more problems past this point however, considering that the base Xbox One model is pretty much a glorified grenade, that uses AA batteries for wireless play. You want to play wireless without disposable batteries? Either buy a rechargeable battery kit, or get Microsoft's battery pack that sells the solution to the problem they've sold you.
You know how much Microsoft's battery pack is? An added 30 dollars. This is compared to the 100 that Amazon tries to make you pay, which at that point, get another DualSense... It's literally cheaper for a controller that is guaranteed to work out of the box.
It's like they're laughing in your face. The Xbox One launch was already an embarrassment over the used game disc shit, and the modern models copies from PlayStation 5's digital only console clown show. I guess they didn't learn their lesson and decided to go the Apple route of charging extra for what could have come in the fucking box.
The vulture: NINTENDO.
The Switch Pro controller might be the worst one of all to use on a PC. Bluetooth 4.0 has high input lag after reconnecting, 5.0+ does not reconnect properly (with 5.4+ being pretty much "probably solved"), and might as well not being worth using on PC. It acts so irrationally, it's impressive it was an option at all. It would be better if it didn't work at all.
Nobody's even bothered to throughoutly test the Joycons, considering that page is super barren.
Other concerns / etc
So pretty much, none of the big 3 seem to make solid controllers for PC use. The DualShock 4 maybe, but most of the store shelves ALL display DualSenses, so we're all shit out of luck, aren't we?
The other brands seem to be way better at making PC controllers, considering the GameSir G7 Pro has Hall Effect sticks, that quick trigger mechanics and four back buttons for just a couple of dollars more than a DualSense.
Hell, their Nova 2 is 40 dollars, has almost all the buttons of the original Xbox One controller, and still has SOME of the features the G7 Pro has. The original is also 7 dollars cheaper, and while it's said to be built a little cheap, it is STILL cheaper than an Xbox One Controller. Holy shit. Sure, the feedback is basic but... Come on, a 40 dollar controller has better joysticks than a 70 dollar one? Math it, please?
They must really like people shilling on these things, huh?