INTRODUCTION

   Double Dragon may have been one of the very first beat'em up games i ever played back in the late 80's (back then of course we all used to frequent places with Arcade games) but it certainly wasn't the last so many others followed later on both on the Amiga 500/Plus and the PC including most titles in the extremely popular Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat series. It's worth pointing out that back then due to the type of controllers used in Arcade games joysticks were the way to go (either with the Amiga or the PC) if you wanted to play any game including soccer titles like Kick Off and FIFA international soccer. This of course changed when the first next generation consoles came out so the mighty joystick was for the most part replaced with the gamepad which offered more buttons and thus faster reaction times. Today the market is literally filled with gamepads of all sizes by both popular and unknown manufacturers and after receiving an invitation by a rather new manufacturer called EasySMX asking us to test one of their latest wireless models we accepted.

   EasySMX Network Technology is an innovative technology company established in 2012. We are headquartered in Shenzhen, a fast-growing high tech city of China. As from 2014, we started to focus on gaming peripherals and accessories with a mission is to selling high quality gaming accessories every gamer can afford and rely on. We have already established direct connections with many excellent suppliers in China, and gathered a large number of outstanding R&D talents to deliver high quality products to gamers over the worlds. Our products have been selling on Amazon in U.S. UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Japan and get high appraisal from customers. In the near future, we plan to include other international markets, and create more winning gaming accessories for our customers.

   Just like with most gamepads out in the market currently the ESM-9013 Game Controller is largely based on the original DualShock controller bundled with the very first SONY PlayStation game console. Of course it also looks a lot like the XBOX 360 controller but still the original DualShock gamepad is pretty much where it all started even for the XBOX controllers. In terms of available controls the ESM-9013 features two analog sticks, single four-way digital cross (directional pad or d-pad for short), 4 fire/action buttons (Y/X/B/A), two shoulder (bumper) buttons and two trigger buttons. Also thanks to a bundled nano receiver the ESM-9013 makes use of a 2.4GHz wireless system (32.8ft/10 meter range) which is compatible with Windows PC's (XP/7/8/8.1/10), PlayStation 3 Game Consoles and Android devices (from version 4.0 and above) so you don't have to worry about cables getting in the way of enjoying your favorite game. Last but not least the ESM-9013 gamepad features an asymmetric vibrating motor and with the help of two 1800mAh AA batteries it can keep going for up to a total of 20 hours.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

EasySMX packs the ESM-9013 inside a small black cardboard box with just their logo at the front.

The color combination is placed on the left side of the box while the product name and various certifications are located on the right.

At the rear EasySMX has just placed their logo.

Both the gamepad and its nano receiver are placed inside a formed piece of plastic.

Along with the ESM-9013 gamepad and its nano receiver EasySMX has also placed a registration paper (also a USD10 voucher) and the user manual.

THE ESM-9013

We received the black and blue version of the ESM-9013 which features textured rubber handgrips on both ends right next to the blue lines.

The directional pad and one of the analog sticks are placed on the left side.

On the right side we find the second analog stick and the Y/X/B/A buttons.

The round button at the top can be used to activate the gamepad while the turbo button is the quick auto fire button (you will need to press the button you want to use prior to pressing the turbo button).

As always the shoulder and trigger buttons are located at the front of the gamepad (in the middle you can see the battery compartment release button).

The battery compartment is located on the base of the gamepad.

Much like other nano receivers the one bundled with the ESM-9013 is tiny.

I never was into consoles but the ESM-9013 does look nice.

Remember that for Windows XP systems you will need to download the XBOX360 driver as seen above.

CONCLUSION

   Since we're not really into game consoles we tested two ESM-9013 gamepads with two of our test rigs for a period of two weeks with mostly positive results (games we used the ESM-9013 with were WWE19, NBA19, FIFA19 and NBA 2k Playgrounds 2). Build quality is quite good (better than expected for the price as you will see later on), range is indeed valid up to 10 meters (the signal is still strong even with a concrete wall in between) and as for battery life well we weren't able to hit 20 hours of continuous use but we did surpass 18 which is not a bad number either. Unfortunately rather than using a rechargeable battery pack like some of their other models EasySMX chose to power the ESM-9013 with two AA batteries and although according to them they can provide it with enough juice to keep going for a total of 20 hours (the rechargeable models feature less than half that) it still feels off for an 2018 model (getting a charger with 4 rechargeable AA batteries is probably the best way to go about).

   When we said that build quality is a lot better than expected for the price we weren't exaggerating since currently the ESM-9013 gamepad by EasySMX retails for just USD26.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 22.8Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). True you can’t expect XBOX360 controller quality for that amount but after two weeks of using the ESM-9013 gamepads they still feel new and don’t seem to have any visible quality issues. That being said there are many higher quality models in the market that also cost a lot more but if you’re on a tight budget and not willing to spend much on a wireless gamepad the ESM-9013 by EasySMX is certainly worth your attention.

PROS

- Overall Quality 
- Wireless (10 Meter Range)
- Turbo Button (Quick Repeat)
- Asymmetric Vibration Motor
- Battery Life (Up To 20 Hours)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- AA Battery Powered (Not Rechargeable)
- PC, PS3 & Android Compatible Only