Understanding Your Grade
Your grade evaluates the geometric perfection of the thumbstick module's outer boundary.
A+ (Esports Ready) means the stick achieves a flawless circle, critical for consistent diagonal movement in games like Apex Legends and Rocket League.
F (Defective) indicates severe asymmetry, meaning diagonal inputs will hit their max value prematurely or not at all.
Since you're using a Xbox Series X|S with a Hall Effect module, you can expect the underlying tech to be extremely precise and symmetric.
Xbox Series controllers are the reference for the classic "squircle" pattern: the stick housing is nearly square and the thumbstick rubs its gate at the diagonals, which produces the well-known slight circularity pinch on every unit. Because the gate geometry causes it, the pattern is expected on both sticks and both axes — a low grade here is a replacement signal only when the pinch is strongly asymmetric or accompanied by visible stick wobble.
Hall effect sticks measure stick position with a magnetic field instead of a physical wiper dragging across a carbon track. Because nothing rubs, the module keeps its geometric precision for far longer and shows almost no rim-to-rim variance when new. The practical result on a circularity graph is a tight, evenly distributed ring: your diagonals reach maximum extension together, with little wasted input near the corners. The trade-off is that calibration is digital, so a poor grade on a Hall effect module usually points to a firmware zero-point offset or a loose joystick gate rather than worn carbon.
Hall effect modules stay round because the magnetic Hall cell reads position without contact, which means the failure modes are digital rather than mechanical. If a Hall stick grades poorly, look for a zero-point offset in the controller firmware or a magnet that has shifted in its holder — both produce a clean, uniform error rather than the patchy ring of worn carbon. Since there is no track to wear, a Hall module that grades badly on day one is almost always a calibration or assembly issue, and re-running the test after a firmware reset frequently recovers a full A-grade ring.
For the Xbox Series pad, the squircle pinch is baked into the gate geometry, so treat an even A/B+ as expected and reserve judgment for one-sided results. A common real-world pattern on well-played Xbox units is a wear notch at the 4 and 8 o'clock positions from years of left-stick forward input — that shows up as a local ring dip rather than a uniform shrink, and it is a clear replacement signal. Also check stick wobble before grading: a loose collar creates a blurred, wide ring that reads as poor circularity even with healthy sensors.
Xbox controllers are produced in large volume across several factory batches, and community teardowns note that stick module quality varies between production runs, so a low circularity grade is worth confirming with a second sample from a different unit before you treat it as a design issue. The squircle gate pinch is present on every unit, but a healthy one still grades within the A or B band — a grade that drops into the C range with an even, symmetric ring is more consistent with a firm gate than a failing sensor. Because the gate itself shapes the reading, the same Xbox pad can grade differently after the stick collar wears in, so re-run the test at the same stick angle each time you compare runs.