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Afterglow AP.2 plays like a champ. The button response is tight, and the analog sticks feel right. The shoulder buttons have a nice, stiff spring return and the (L2) and (R2) shoulder buttons are longer than OEM and curve outward, helping to eliminate the possibility of your fingers slipping off of them.
With the exception of the Left Analog Stick and the D-pad being in swapped positions (as compared to the OEM PS3 controllers), everything else is pretty much what you expect, where you expect to see it, including the Select and Start buttons, the Home button, the Action buttons and the shoulder buttons. In addition, however, around the front of the controller (where the cord would be on a wired controller), there is a Mini-USB connector, for using the included charging cable to charge the AP.2 and a sync button which pairs the controller up to the included USB dongle.
Powering the untethered AP.2 is a 800 mAh (milliamp hour) non-removable internal Lithium polymer battery. This is reported to provide up to 15 hours of play, but you probably shouldn't be playing 15 hours at a time, anyway. (Seriously, dude... move around once in a while.)
Part of what gives the Afterglow AP.2 its style is, obviously, its illumination. The unit I received for review was red and, well, looked spicy when lit. The unit shown in the product image is the blue version, which, as you can see, has a "cool" look to it when lit. There is also a green version available. Not only are there bright LEDs of either red, green or blue (depending on model), but the circuit boards and the Select and Start buttons are color-coded to match. Well, the Select and Start buttons may be a bit pinkish on the red version, but the circuit boards are a nice red color.
Anyone interested in electronics and videogame controller hardware is likely to find the Afterglow AP.2 especially interesting. With the transparent plastic used for the case of the controller, the circuit boards and hardware components are on display for anyone to see. This also helps to ensure that the quality is high. You can see for yourself that the solder joints are well done and that the wires aren't pinched.
