I have the Xbox elite series 2 controller and nothing to compare it to, but I do like it very much.

Fly digi apex 4

Seriously the best d pad I’ve ever used. Crappy software, but the hardware is top notch. I’ve abused it for probably a little less than a thousand hours, and still no drift or dead spots.

I have a Gamesir Tarantula Pro. It's gimmick is that it has a physical switch that let's it switch between an Xbox, PS4, or switch controller. Using it in Xbox mode worked out of the box for me on arch. I have no idea if it would be able to connect to a Wii U. And, as with the 8bitdo being suggested, it's hall effect so it won't develop stick drift

I've got a couple Beitong Asura 2 Pros with hall effect sensors, and they work great, and haven't worn out like xbox controllers and dualshock 4s do.

I use them with USB-C cables instead of the wireless dongle or bluetooth because they just work forever that way.

The buttons are reprogrammable; I make back buttons on everything I can into the thumbstick buttons so I never have to depress the thumbsticks. It also has a d-pad/thumbstick switch mode if you want to use d-pad on games that use thumbstick.

They have a nintendo mode, but I've never tried it.

There was a recent discussion about controllers that may help you, here: https://lemmy.world/post/35100527

To add to my recommendation in that thread of the Logitech F310, for your question specifically:

• The wires on both it and the F510 are built-in, not socketed. In my experience usually only wireless controllers have socketed cables.
• I've never had the buttons on it get swapped around on any OS.
• I've never had any of them develop drift, and they're all 8-12 years old at this point.
• They don't support the WiiU.

I use a DS4 and used a DS3 for years before that.

Using none Xbox controllers on PC used to be a pain, I remember the hoops I had to jump through to get my DS3 pad working with Windows 7. Now it's easier than ever.

I actually didn't like the DS4 controller for the longest time because of the thumb-sticks but found some replacements a while back that has the more comfy (to me) domed design of the earlier PS controllers.

Amazon Link, couldn't find them sold anywhere else in the UK sadly...

Dualsense with a back pedal mod is king tbh. Very easy to set up with no soldering needed.

I think the only thing that could beat it is something like 8bitdo which integrates the extra buttons into steam input, but they don't have a controller that's as good, and from what I've heard their upcoming pro 3 controller that's got the playstation layout isn't that good, especially dpad-wise.

I use my PS2 and PS1 controllers with a converter to PS3 (USB). Debian by default converts the controller to a XBOX360 one (more precisely, the default Duelshock 3 driver does), making it generally supported.

The controllers I use:

Steam controller

Wired xbox controller (Hyperkin branded)

Wired switch controllers (pdp and hori branded)

I have some ps4 controllers that worked well but they don’t hold a charge now so they’re just e-waste.

Sticking with wired or rechargable AAs. Any wired switch and xbox controller I’ve plugged in has gone fine.

I can’t speak for the wireless switch controllers (we have 2 that run on rechargeable AAs), because I’ve never paired them onto a PC. But eneloops last about 6 months in my steam controller, I’ve just been recirculating the same 4 batteries in it since 2017.

DualSense (PS5) for me works right out of the box, especially in PC ports of PS games. It's USB-A to USB-C, so no prop cables.