Xbox Unveils the Nano Controller, Its Smallest Gamepad Yet, at $49.99

Microsoft used Xbox Wire on Oct. 14 to introduce the Xbox Nano Controller, a first-party gamepad built around a single idea: shrink everything except the buttons. At a little over five inches long and 3.5 ounces, Microsoft says it is the smallest controller the company has ever shipped, lighter and shorter than most modern smartphones. Pre-orders opened the same day the announcement went live.

All the inputs, none of the bulk

Despite the size cut, Microsoft kept the Nano Controller's layout familiar. It carries all 18 standard gameplay inputs in the same arrangement players already know from a full-size Xbox Wireless Controller, rather than trimming buttons to save space. A rechargeable battery sits inside, and a programmable Action Button can be mapped to shortcuts such as screenshots or gameplay capture. The pad connects over both Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth, so it pairs with consoles, PCs, phones and the growing list of smart TVs that run the Xbox app natively.

Microsoft is framing the reduced footprint as the whole point rather than a compromise, aiming the controller at younger players, people with smaller hands, and anyone who wants something that disappears into a bag or a sweatshirt pocket between sessions.

Price, pre-orders and where it lands first

The Xbox Nano Controller costs $49.99 USD, and pre-orders are open now through the official product page. Microsoft lists availability beginning in November across 36 markets, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Brazil and China, with more regions to follow over time. Pricing and exact availability will vary by country, and Microsoft is pointing buyers to local Microsoft Store listings and authorized retailers rather than running the launch exclusively through its own storefront.

Samsung and Meta bundles add Game Pass Ultimate

Two holiday tie-ins accompany the hardware reveal. In the US, buyers of select Samsung TVs this holiday season can get a Nano Controller bundled with a two-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate trial for new subscribers, taking advantage of the Xbox app already built into Samsung's Gaming Hub for cloud play. A separate US offer pairs the controller with a Meta Quest purchase, again bundling two months of Game Pass Ultimate for new members. Both promotions lean on the Nano Controller's wireless and Bluetooth support to turn cloud gaming on a TV or a headset into a one-box purchase rather than a separate accessory hunt.

Built for the couch, pitched for everywhere else

Microsoft's own examples lean into portability over raw power. The company points to Forza Horizon 6 as a game worth taking beyond the living room, and calls out Minecraft Dungeons II's four-player local and online co-op as an easy way for a family to share one small pile of controllers instead of a shelf of full-size pads. That framing matches the price: at half the cost of a standard Xbox Wireless Controller, the Nano reads less like a replacement for a main controller and more like a second or third pad for a household, a travel spare, or a low-cost way to add players to a couch co-op session.

Microsoft has not said whether the Nano Controller will get the color options or Xbox Design Lab customization that its full-size lineup offers, and the Xbox Wire announcement does not mention a wired version. For now, the pitch is simple: a smaller, cheaper, familiar-feeling pad aimed at getting more hands on a controller rather than adding new ones.

Another piece of Microsoft's screen-agnostic push

The Nano Controller lands alongside a run of Xbox announcements this year aimed at making a console optional rather than central. Microsoft has spent 2026 pushing the Xbox app onto more TVs, PCs and phones so Game Pass Ultimate's cloud catalog can be reached without an Xbox Series X|S in the room, and a $49.99 controller with native Bluetooth support fits neatly into that strategy. Bundling it with a Samsung TV purchase or a Meta Quest headset, rather than only with a console, underlines the point: Microsoft wants the controller in a buyer's hands before it worries about which screen, or whether any Xbox hardware at all, sits behind it.

That also makes the Nano Controller a useful signal for where Xbox accessories are headed next. Rather than iterating on the Elite line's customization and precision, Microsoft built its newest first-party pad around price and portability instead, a trade-off aimed squarely at casual, younger and multi-device players rather than the competitive crowd the Elite Series 2 and Wolverine-class third-party pads chase.