Gamesir VX Aimbox Review

Manufacturer: Gamesir
Where To Buy: Gamesir
RRP: $49.99

Those looking to increase their performance in online titles such as COD: Warzone, Apex Legends, or any number of others will know that to truly compete, a mouse and keyboard set-up is the way forward. While some modern titles offer K&M support on console out of the box, there are still plenty that don’t. That’s where the GameSir VX Aimbox comes in. It offers an easy way to modify your inputs to make use of K&M, though depending on the game, your mileage may vary.

Set up is simple; plug the VX Aimbox in via the USB port on the console, then attach the K&M in either of the side ports. Finally, plug the included USB-C/micro cable into the controller and away you go. Each of the controllers button are mapped to roughly where you’d find them if you were to play on a PC, though if this is your first time playing this way it’ll take a minute to get used to it.

Once you get your bearings though it’s a seamless way to introduce K&M functionality to any game of your choosing. It effectively mimics the controller input, so whether you’re in an online shooter (which this is clearly best suited to) or a 2D side-scroller, the inputs work seamlessly.

Setting up the game to best make use of your new set-up is required though – again, the console still sees the input as coming from a controller. There is a GameSir app which you can pair via your phone to the device, allowing you to choose from various pre-set values for control set-ups or create your own, but I still found that I needed to go into the settings of each game to tweak sensitivity, look inversion etc. The app itself has plenty of presets, but I struggled to tell if they were working as intended in all honesty.

It really can make a massive difference though to the play experience, depending on the title at hand. First up, I checked out some COD: BO Cold War, and after the initial curve of finding the right buttons I was mopping the floor with the enemies before the round was out, thanks to the huge improvement in accuracy by using a mouse. Ramping the sensitivity right up gave the aiming control a great level of accuracy for me, though again you’ll need to fine tune it to where you find comfortable. Rainbow Six: Siege fared just as well. If anything, the sensitivity here only needed a minor adjustment (and nowhere near the top end). I’m not very good at Siege mind, but I definitely had an extra edge that I lack on the gamepad.

I thought I’d try my hand at a few single player games too. Dishonered 2 worked brilliantly, again giving me fantastic control over Emily. Being so used to a pad it took a few goes to get my stealth game on point, but it easily has the potential to give us even more freedom to explore the powers over the gamepad version. Fallout: New Vegas was the last title I tried and it’s here that things fell off a little. Even at the highest sensitivity on both the game and app (and my mouse, which has its own adjustable DPI) camera control was sluggish. Just to turn a corner took a few swipes of the mouse, while trying to make minor adjustments when aiming simply didn’t work well. I played for about an hour, but I soon yearned to go back to the perpetual movement of the sticks for looking. It’s an older game obviously, but this highlights how the VX Aimbox isn’t a one size fits all solution. Any games that require constant right stick movement, such as twin stick shooters, also aren’t suited to this bit of kit either. One final consideration is also where you’re Xbox is located. Unless you have a wireless K&M, you’ll end up with nearly half a dozen cables trailing from the unit (one to the console, controller, keyboard, mouse). My Xbox is on a shelf above my TV, so I had to sit close enough to trail the wires behind the screen, which also left the unit dangling in mid-air. My Series S is located lower down which is better suited for use, but the Series X is my go to machine, so it’s something to bear in mind.

But then that’s not the point; this is for those who regularly play online, FPS-style games and want to up their game. And for that purpose the VX Aimbox does an admirable job. Sitting at around $50 it’s not overly expensive, but you’ll also need to provide your own K&M as well. If you don’t already have them, I’d probably suggest looking at the GameSirVX2 which provides all the same functionality but as a dedicated unit. However, if you do have the extras already, then the VX Aimbox is well worth a look.

Conclusion

The VX Aimbox is a simple to set up bit of kit that works brilliantly for those with a keyboard and mouse and want to up their game when it comes to online shooters. It’s not suited to all game types, but the benefits it brings to those it is suited to more than make the purchase justified.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.