Xbox Elite Series 3 controller has been leaked by a Brazilian regulator – and there’s a lot to unpack
New buttons, a removable battery, and more
👀 The Xbox Elite Series 3 has leaked via a Brazilian regulator, revealing several new hardware features
🆕 Key updates include bottom scroll wheels, a dedicated Wi-Fi cloud button, and a hot-swappable rechargeable battery
🎮 The design features flatter face buttons, a two-stage trigger lock, and a profile button that doubles as a Share button
📆 A full reveal is expected at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 7, 2026
Microsoft’s long-awaited Xbox Elite Series 3 controller has been prematurely leaked by a Brazilian regulator, giving us a clear look at what the new gamepad entails.
As spotted by Tecnoblog, the new Xbox pro controller has some distinct differences over the previous model. There are two mouse-like scroll wheels on the bottom of the controller, which may be used to adjust volume and game/chat mix. The face buttons also seem flatter, and there’s a new type of circular D-Pad design.
Along with the usual swappable D-pad, stick sizes, lockable triggers, removable back paddles, and rubberized grips, the Xbox Elite Series 3 controller lets you swap out the rechargeable battery. It’s smaller than the battery in the Elite Series 2, which is 2050mAh versus 1528mAh, but hopefully it delivers similar battery life, and it can at least be hot swapped out for a fresh one.
The Xbox Elite Series 3 controller will also feature a new dedicated cloud button that lets the controller connect directly to Wi-Fi to cut latency when using it for Xbox Cloud Gaming. Judging from the leaked images, the triggers will only feature a two-stage lock instead of a three-stage one, and it seems like the profile button will now act as the Share button.
It’s unclear whether the new Xbox Elite Series 3 controller will offer other more advanced features, such as gyro support and haptic feedback.
Hopefully, Microsoft will include TMR or at least Hall effect sticks and triggers for its new Elite 3 controller, which has become the standard with third-party pads, and even Valve’s new Steam Controller features TMR sticks. The controller’s durability will also need to be improved, as many users have encountered build quality issues with the previous pad.
We could see a full reveal of the Xbox Elite Series 3 controller at the Xbox Game Showcase on June 7, 2026, as this leak seems to be legitimate.
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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. He also runs a retro gaming YouTube channel called Game on, boy! Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.