It's a regression from the original in all the same ways that the Deck is, and it has less to offer over and above what conventional controllers like the DualSense do.
I'm willing to give it a try, but the smaller and less central trackpads compromise the only use cases that make it distinctive as a controller. (Same for the lack of dual-stage triggers.)
If I want to use analog sticks, I already have a ton of controllers with two analog sticks, some of which are generally excellent and have various advantages over the new Steam Controller.
There are some things that only a Steam Controller has ever made possible (e.g., dual trackpad movement), and others that only a Steam Controller has ever done as well (e.g., programmable dual-stage analog triggers, back paddles you can hit from basically anywhere). In the new design, each of them is either removed altogether or compromised and largely reduced to an ancillary role.
Agreed. What this rebirth really needed was magnetic swappable input modules. We have IPD adjustments in our headsets, why not fine tuned button positions. Or trackpads. Or trackballs, whatever folks wanna build. An input hacker paradise platform.
Or a system of rails like the Switch. Or even, tbh, just more than one controller design. An option that forgoes analog sticks altogether and is designed that way from the start could also place buttons differently, have a different grip design, etc., in ways that could be nice.
According to LTT the VR controllers have two stage triggers. Is the controller confirmed to not have them? Would be odd. PS5's triggers are the most advanced though, would be cool to have those. I'll reserve judgement on the new trackpad location until I try it. Though personally I was never a fan of the trackpads on the original or indeed any controller with trackpads.
The old one used Bluetooth if you upgraded it during the transition period or you have a Windows box.
I had to borrow a friend's computer to get mine to run in BT mode because I gave up using the Steam Link fairly early and didn't use the controller again until I bought a Deck, by which point the grace period where a system update fixed it had long since expired.
My usecase for the steam controler was limited (robots); I've always used the dongle, and never needed/desired to explore direct bluetooth as an alternative.
