Xbox controller test. Cable, adapter or Bluetooth.
An Xbox controller can reach a PC three ways, and the browser sees each differently. On a cable or Microsoft's wireless adapter it uses Microsoft's own protocol, which Chromium reads on Windows as an XInput pad; over Bluetooth it presents as a HID device. Chromium's list gives the Series controller product 0b12 on USB and 0b13 on Bluetooth. This page shows which you have and measures how often its data arrives.
One check · Five seconds a reading
Asks for: A controller, and a button press. It runs in its own window and nothing leaves this page.
In short
Xbox controller test: the answer first
An Xbox controller can be tested in the browser on a cable, Microsoft's wireless adapter or Bluetooth. The Gamepad API reads it on every link; WebHID only over Bluetooth, because on a cable or the adapter the pad does not use HID. This page shows the model and link from the numbers the browser reports and measures the update interval.
Reading your result
- The product number is the link
- The Series controller reports 0b12 on USB and 0b13 on Bluetooth, so the number shows which link the browser is using.
- Not in the WebHID list
- That is expected on a cable or the adapter. Pair over Bluetooth to read its own reports.
- Drift against a wide dead zone
- Many games use a dead zone wider than this page's 8 percent, so drift shown here may not show in a game yet.
What it measures
Measured here, not assumed.
- Which model and which link
- Microsoft's vendor number 045e with the product number, matched against Chromium's gamepad_id_list.cc: for example 0b12 is the Series controller on USB and 0b13 on Bluetooth, 02ea the One S on USB and 02e0 or 02fd the One S on Bluetooth.
- Gamepad API interval
- Every change of Gamepad.timestamp while you roll a stick for five seconds, capped by Chrome and Edge's 4 ms polling.
- WebHID, over Bluetooth only
- Over Bluetooth the pad is a HID device, so Chrome and Edge can list it and the page counts its own reports. On a cable or the adapter it is not HID, and the list will not show it; the page says so rather than guess.
- Drift at rest
- Each stick read once still for a second, against our 8 percent dead zone. Microsoft's XInput reference dead zone is wider, about 24 percent of full travel, so a game using it hides drift this page shows.
If it fails
The usual failures, and what fixes each.
- Not seen on a cable
- Some USB-C cables carry power only. Use a data cable, and press a button on the page after connecting.
- Bluetooth keeps dropping
- Update the controller's firmware in the Xbox Accessories app. Keep the pad within a few metres and clear of a USB 3 port, whose noise can interfere with 2.4 GHz radios.
- Two controllers show for one
- A remapper such as Steam Input can add a virtual pad beside the real one. Close it, or test the one that reacts.
Where a browser stops
What it cannot tell you.
- The impulse triggers' own motors, beyond what the gamepad tester's rumble button can send. Chromium lists which Xbox models it gives trigger rumble (HasTriggerRumbleSupport in its gamepad code); other engines differ.
- WebHID on a cable or the Xbox Wireless Adapter, which do not use HID.
- Battery level and firmware version. The Xbox Accessories app on Windows shows both.
- Input lag, which needs a camera or a photodiode.
Privacy
Nothing leaves this page.
The camera and microphone are read on this page and stopped as soon as they have been measured. The clip you can play back lives in the browser's memory and is discarded when you leave. The location check discards the position. The internet test sends random bytes to this site and nothing else. The result is stored nowhere unless you ask for it by email, and then only the fact that an email was sent is kept.
Questions
Xbox controller test, answered
- How do I test an Xbox controller on a PC?
- Connect it by cable, adapter or Bluetooth, open the test above and press a button. The page identifies the model and link and measures its update interval; the gamepad tester shows every button and both sticks.
- Why can't WebHID see my Xbox controller?
- On a cable or the Xbox Wireless Adapter it speaks Microsoft's own protocol, not HID, so WebHID cannot list it. Over Bluetooth it is a HID device and appears. The Gamepad API reading works on every link.
- Does the Xbox Series controller work in Chrome?
- Yes, on all three links, through the Gamepad API's standard layout: buttons, triggers and sticks.
- Is the Xbox Wireless Adapter better than Bluetooth for a controller?
- They are different links, and the browser sees them differently: the adapter through XInput, Bluetooth as a HID device. Measure the interval on each with this page and compare.
Read next