Type "best gaming controller under 2500 India" into Google right now and you'll get a handful of list-style roundups that read like they were assembled straight off an Amazon search page: the same five or six products everyone else recommends, and zero mention of what actually happens once you try pairing one with BGMI on your phone. That gap is exactly what this guide fills.
REDRAG doesn't run an in-house hardware lab, so what follows isn't a stopwatch-and-clipboard latency test. It's a research-first comparison built from manufacturer spec sheets, official user manuals, and live pricing checked across half a dozen Indian retailers this month, focused on five controllers that consistently show up in this price bracket: EvoFox's One S V2, Ant Esports' SUPERNOVA, Cosmic Byte's ARES, Zebronics' MAX FURY, and the Amazon Basics Pro Series gamepad.
Quick Verdict!
If you just want one answer: the EvoFox One S V2 is the most well-rounded pick under ₹2,500, with genuine Hall Effect sticks, three connection modes, and dedicated macro buttons at a real street price around ₹1,600. If you'd rather skip batteries and pairing entirely, the Zebronics MAX FURY (wired-only, often under ₹1,200) is the simplest reliable option for pure PC use. Keep reading for who each of the five actually suits, and why "works with BGMI" isn't as simple a claim as most listings make it sound.
How We Compared These Five Controllers
Every price, spec, and compatibility claim below was cross-checked against the brand's own product page or official user manual PDF, then checked again against current listings on Amazon.in, Flipkart, and at least one independent Indian retailer (Computech Store, MDComputers, or Green Apple Compunet, depending on the brand). Where a manufacturer's own manual disagreed with the flashy bullet points on the sales page, like a "designed for PC" disclaimer buried under a headline claim of universal compatibility, we've flagged it rather than repeating the marketing copy.
Prices in this segment move fast. EvoFox's One S V2, for instance, has swung between roughly ₹1,405 and ₹1,689 over the past few months on the same listing. Treat every price below as a September 2026 reference point, not a guarantee, and check the live listing before you buy.
Why Hall Effect Joysticks Matter Under ₹2,500
Traditional analog sticks use a physical potentiometer, a small contact wiper that rubs against a resistive track every time you move the stick. Do that a few thousand times and the contact wears down, which is why older controllers eventually start drifting on their own even when you're not touching them. Hall Effect sticks replace that physical contact with a magnet and a magnetic field sensor, so there's nothing to wear out mechanically.
Three of the five controllers here, EvoFox's One S V2, Ant Esports' SUPERNOVA, and Cosmic Byte's ARES Tri-Mode, use Hall Effect sticks and triggers. The other two, Zebronics' MAX FURY and the Amazon Basics Pro Series, use standard analog sticks. That's not automatically a dealbreaker at this price, but it's a real trade-off worth knowing before you buy rather than discovering a year in.
Spec Comparison: Every Gaming Controller Under ₹2,500 We Looked At
| Controller | Connectivity | Joystick Type | Battery | Platforms | Street Price* | MRP | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EvoFox One S V2 | 2.4GHz dongle, Bluetooth 5.0, wired USB-C | Hall Effect | Not published (fast Type-C charging) | PC, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Android TV | ~₹1,599 | ₹2,299 | All-round PC + phone use |
| Ant Esports SUPERNOVA | Bluetooth, 2.4GHz dongle, wired | Hall Effect | 1000mAh, up to 20 hours | Windows PC, PS4/PS3, Steam Deck, Android, iOS, Mac | ~₹1,899 to ₹1,997 | ₹3,999 | Feature set (touchpad, audio jack) |
| Cosmic Byte ARES (Tri-Mode) | 2.4GHz dongle, Bluetooth 5.0, wired USB-C | Hall Effect | Not published (rechargeable) | Windows PC, Android (OTG), iOS (MFI) | ~₹1,300 to ₹1,600 | ₹3,499 | Cheapest genuine Hall Effect pick |
| Zebronics MAX FURY | Wired only (USB-C) | Standard analog | None, cable-powered | Windows PC, Android (game/device dependent) | ~₹899 to ₹1,199 | ₹1,999 | Simple, cheap PC use |
| Amazon Basics Pro Series | Bluetooth 5.3, 2.4GHz, wired USB-C | Standard analog | 800mAh, up to 8 hours | Windows 8/10/11, Nintendo Switch, Android, PS3 | ~₹1,599 to ₹2,299 | ₹4,999 | Switch + widest platform list |
*Street prices are approximate, based on live Indian retail listings checked in September 2026. This segment discounts heavily and often, so treat the printed MRP with a healthy amount of skepticism.
EvoFox One S V2: Best All-Rounder
The One S V2 is EvoFox's (Amkette's gaming brand) current tri-mode pad, connecting over a 2.4GHz dongle, Bluetooth 5.0 with EDR, or a wired USB-C cable, and switching between PC, Android, iOS, iPadOS, and Android TV. It runs Hall Effect joysticks and analog triggers under EvoFox's "HallSense" branding, polls at 1000Hz, and adds three dedicated macro buttons (labelled M, MR, and ML) that most controllers at this price skip entirely.
Listed MRP is ₹2,299, but the actual street price has consistently sat around ₹1,599 for the past few months, which puts real headroom under the ₹2,500 ceiling even before any festive sale. One honest gap in EvoFox's own listings: there's no clearly published battery capacity or runtime figure, so you can't directly compare its battery life against the Ant Esports SUPERNOVA's stated 20 hours. Fast Type-C charging is advertised, which at least should mean shorter top-ups when it does run low.
- Genuine Hall Effect joysticks and triggers at a real street price near ₹1,600
- Three connection modes cover PC, phone, and tablet use
- 1000Hz polling rate and dedicated macro buttons are rare at this price
- Fast Type-C charging reduces downtime when the battery does run out
- No published battery capacity or runtime figure to compare against rivals
- Bluetooth mode helps with pairing to a phone, but that doesn't solve BGMI's lack of native controller support (more on this below)
Ant Esports SUPERNOVA: Best Feature Set
Ant Esports packs the most extras into the SUPERNOVA of any controller on this list: Hall Effect joysticks and triggers, RGB lighting with memory, a touchpad, a 6-axis motion sensor, and a 3.5mm audio jack that carries headset audio when you're wired into a PS4, Steam Deck, or PC. It's rated for a 1,000mAh battery, good for up to 20 hours, with auto-sleep and one-touch reconnect to the last paired device, plus a reset pinhole if the connection ever gets stuck.
The MRP here is the highest on this list at ₹3,999, but the real street price has been sitting around ₹1,899 to ₹1,997 across most retailers, comfortably inside budget. One thing worth double-checking before you buy: Ant Esports also sells a separate "Supernova Lite" model, which is Bluetooth-only and doesn't carry Hall Effect sticks. It's a distinctly different, cheaper product, so make sure the listing you're ordering says "Tri-Mode" or specifically mentions Hall Effect joysticks, not just "Supernova."
Cosmic Byte ARES: Cheapest Genuine Hall Effect Pick (Read This Before Ordering)
Cosmic Byte's Ares lineup is the single most confusing naming situation in this entire comparison, so it's worth slowing down here. At least three distinct products are sharing the Ares name:
- Ares Wireless: 2.4GHz dongle only, no Bluetooth, explicitly built for Windows PC. It won't pair to your phone at all.
- Ares Tri-Mode: adds Bluetooth 5.0 and wired USB-C on top of the 2.4GHz dongle, with Hall Effect joysticks and triggers and an upgraded 1000Hz polling rate. This is the version relevant to this comparison.
- Ares Pro: everything in the Tri-Mode, plus a 3.5mm audio jack, an extra macro button, and companion software, at a noticeably higher price.
Warning!
Search "Cosmic Byte Ares" on any Indian retailer, and all three variants can show up in the same results grid with near-identical product photos. Look for "Tri-Mode" or "Bluetooth" explicitly in the title before you order, or you may end up with a PC-only dongle controller when you wanted something you can pair to your phone.
The Ares Tri-Mode carries an MRP of ₹3,499 but sells for roughly ₹1,300 to ₹1,600 depending on the retailer, which makes it the cheapest way to get genuine Hall Effect sticks on this entire list. Cosmic Byte's own official user manual for the Ares line is upfront that the pad is built primarily for Windows PC, with Android support (via OTG) and iOS support (via MFI certification) both present but positioned as secondary use cases rather than the main design goal.
Zebronics MAX FURY: Cheapest Reliable Option, But Wired Only
The MAX FURY is the outlier on this list in one important way: it's wired only. There's no Bluetooth and no 2.4GHz wireless mode, just a Type-C connection, with a bundled Type-C-to-USB-A cable for PC and a Type-C OTG adapter in the box for phone use. Zebronics' own spec sheet flags Android compatibility as "subject to game and device compatibility," which is a polite way of saying don't count on it working with every app.
What you do get for that trade-off is the lowest real price on this entire list, typically ₹899 to ₹1,199 against a ₹1,999 MRP, plus 17 buttons, dual vibration motors, a transparent RGB shell, adjustable-speed turbo, and quad front triggers with both X-Input and D-Input support. There's no Hall Effect here, so expect eventual mechanical drift with heavy daily use, but for straightforward wired PC gaming, emulation, or a couch setup where you don't want to think about charging, it's a solid, no-fuss pick at the price.
Amazon Basics Pro Series Gamepad: Best for Switch Owners
Amazon's own Pro Series gamepad is the only controller on this list that explicitly lists Nintendo Switch compatibility alongside Android, PS3, and Windows 8/10/11, connecting over Bluetooth 5.3, a 2.4GHz dongle, or wired USB-C. It carries an 800mAh battery rated for roughly 8 hours and an 8-metre wireless range, noticeably shorter than the SUPERNOVA's claimed 20 hours, so if long unplugged sessions matter to you, that's a real difference. Dual vibration with four adjustable intensity levels, a 6-axis gyroscope, and RGB LED indicators round out the feature list.
One honest gap: unlike EvoFox, Ant Esports, and Cosmic Byte, all of which lead with Hall Effect as a headline feature, Amazon's own listing doesn't mention Hall Effect sticks anywhere. It's reasonable to assume standard potentiometer sticks here, which is worth factoring in if long-term stick durability matters more to you than platform breadth. Real street price runs from about ₹1,599 to ₹2,299, comfortably within budget but toward the top end of this list.
Does BGMI or COD Mobile Actually Support These Controllers?
This is where most "best controller for PC, mobile and cloud gaming" lists quietly go vague, so let's not do that. If your main reason for buying any controller on this list is to use it in BGMI on your phone, here's the direct answer: BGMI does not officially support Bluetooth or USB gamepads. Krafton built the game entirely around its touch control scheme, and there's no native option to enable a controller the way there is in some other mobile titles. Third-party apps exist that remap controller buttons onto touch coordinates, but that's not a sanctioned control method, and using one carries a real risk of your account getting flagged.
If phone-based competitive shooters are the priority, our own BGMI controller and touch settings guide covers the setups Indian players actually use instead, including clip-on trigger controllers, which are a different category of accessory entirely from the gamepads on this list.
Call of Duty: Mobile is the better-supported game here. It has a dedicated Controller section in its settings menu with an explicit toggle to allow controller input, and Activision officially lists Sony and Microsoft licensed pads (DualShock 4, DualSense, Xbox One, and Xbox Series controllers) as supported. None of the five budget controllers in this guide are on that official list, but because they connect over standard Bluetooth HID, most of them should still pair and function for basic input, just without any official guarantee from Activision that everything will behave exactly as it would with a licensed pad. Treat it as "usually works," not "officially promised."
What About GeForce NOW?
The answer here depends heavily on how you're accessing GeForce NOW. If you're using the PC app or a browser on a laptop, every controller on this list behaves exactly like it would in a locally installed Steam game, since the streamed session simply reads standard PC input at the operating system level. Plug in the 2.4GHz dongle or connect over Bluetooth like you normally would, and it should just work.
On the GeForce NOW Android app specifically, Nvidia's own setup guidance recommends a narrower list of controllers it has specifically tested, like the SHIELD controller and select Razer and SteelSeries models. A generic Bluetooth pad from this list will usually still get picked up through Android's standard gamepad input handling for basic movement and button presses, but it isn't on Nvidia's officially verified list for the mobile app the way it would be for the PC client.
PC Gaming: Does 2.4GHz Dongle vs Bluetooth Actually Matter?
Yes, and it's worth understanding why. A proprietary 2.4GHz USB dongle talks to the controller over a dedicated, uncontested radio channel, which generally gives it lower and more consistent input latency than Bluetooth, a protocol designed more for general-purpose device pairing than competitive gaming. That's exactly why EvoFox, Ant Esports, and Cosmic Byte all position the 2.4GHz dongle mode as the recommended option for PC gaming in their own manuals, while Bluetooth is framed mainly as the convenient way to pair with a phone or tablet. If you're gaming on a Steam library through one of these controllers, use the bundled dongle over Bluetooth whenever you have the choice.
Which One Should You Actually Buy?
| If you mainly... | Buy this |
|---|---|
| Play Steam or PC games and want the best all-round feature set | EvoFox One S V2 |
| Want Steam Deck-style extras: touchpad, wired headset audio, longest battery life | Ant Esports SUPERNOVA |
| Want genuine Hall Effect sticks for the least money, mainly on PC | Cosmic Byte ARES Tri-Mode (confirm the Tri-Mode SKU) |
| Don't want to think about batteries or pairing, just plug-and-play | Zebronics MAX FURY |
| Also own a Nintendo Switch and want one pad across Switch, Android, and PC | Amazon Basics Pro Series |
| Want to play BGMI or COD Mobile competitively on your phone | None of these, or any controller, will help in BGMI; COD Mobile officially favors licensed console pads |
If you're building out a full budget peripheral setup rather than buying one piece at a time, our best gaming headset under ₹1,500 guide covers the audio side of the same budget range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does BGMI support Bluetooth game controllers?
No. BGMI's core control scheme is built entirely around touch input, and Krafton hasn't added native gamepad support. Third-party apps can force a controller to work by remapping its buttons onto touch coordinates, but that isn't an officially sanctioned method and can put your account at risk. Clip-on trigger controllers are a different, safe category of accessory that many Indian players use instead.
Which of these five controllers is best for GeForce NOW?
On a PC or in a browser, all five work identically to a normal Steam controller since the streamed session reads standard PC input. On the GeForce NOW Android app specifically, Nvidia's own guidance leans toward a narrower list of officially tested controllers, though most standard Bluetooth pads still pair for basic use.
Do Hall Effect joysticks really matter under ₹2,500?
Yes, more than most budget shoppers realize. Hall Effect sticks use a magnet and a magnetic sensor instead of a physical contact point, so there's no surface to wear down over time. Three of the five controllers here, the EvoFox One S V2, Ant Esports SUPERNOVA, and Cosmic Byte ARES Tri-Mode, use Hall Effect. The other two use standard analog sticks that will eventually develop drift with heavy daily use.
Is the Cosmic Byte ARES the same as the ARES Pro?
No, and this trips up a lot of buyers. The base Ares Wireless is 2.4GHz-only with no Bluetooth, the Ares Tri-Mode adds Bluetooth and wired USB-C, and the Ares Pro adds a 3.5mm audio jack, an extra macro button, and companion software at a higher price. Always check the exact listing title before ordering.
Can I use the Zebronics MAX FURY on my phone?
Technically yes, using the bundled Type-C OTG adapter with a supported game, but Zebronics' own spec sheet flags Android compatibility as dependent on the specific game and device, and there's no Bluetooth mode at all. If phone use matters to you, one of the tri-mode wireless options on this list is a safer bet.
Why is there such a big gap between MRP and the actual selling price?
Budget Indian gaming peripheral brands routinely list an inflated MRP and sell permanently at 40 to 60 percent off, which is standard practice across this segment rather than a genuine seasonal discount. Judge these controllers by the price you'll actually pay at checkout, not the printed MRP.
Closing Thoughts
At this price, none of these five controllers are going to feel like a premium Xbox or DualSense pad, and none of them should be bought expecting BGMI to suddenly recognize a gamepad. What they do offer is real Hall Effect precision for as little as ₹1,300 to ₹1,600 (Cosmic Byte ARES Tri-Mode and EvoFox One S V2), genuine multi-device flexibility, and, in Zebronics' case, a dead-simple wired option that avoids batteries entirely. Match the pick to how you'll actually use it rather than the longest spec sheet, and double-check the exact listing title for the Cosmic Byte and Ant Esports lines before you check out.
