Logitech F710 Wireless Gamepad

A Discontinued Gamepad That Still Makes Sense for Indian PC Builders

The Logitech F710 is officially discontinued. Logitech stopped manufacturing it years ago. And yet, I keep recommending it to Indian PC builders. That tells you something about the state of the mid-range wireless gamepad market in India, and something about how good the F710 still is for its specific use case.

At ₹3,499–3,799 on Amazon India and Flipkart, it's not cheap for a pad this old. But the price has held because demand has held - mostly from PC-focused buyers who want wireless without Bluetooth complexity. Those buyers are making a sensible choice.

The nano-receiver is the whole pitch

Bluetooth gamepads have a pairing problem on PCs. Every time you switch the controller between devices, or your PC goes to sleep and wakes up, or the Bluetooth stack hiccups, you're fumbling through a reconnection sequence. The F710 avoids all of that. The 2.4GHz nano-receiver plugs into a USB port, the controller is detected within a second of turning it on, and it never needs pairing again. For a living-room PC setup or an HTPC where you want to pick up the controller and immediately play, this is genuinely better than Bluetooth.

The 2.4GHz connection is reliable up to about 10 metres in my experience. No input lag worth measuring. It holds the connection cleanly as long as there's no extreme wireless congestion - something that can occasionally be an issue in dense urban apartments, though I haven't had real problems.

XInput and DirectInput modes

The F710 has a hardware switch on the back that toggles between XInput and DirectInput. XInput is what modern PC games use - it makes the F710 appear as an Xbox-style controller, which means near-universal game compatibility. DirectInput is the older standard, useful for very old games or specific emulators that expect it. Having both in one pad, switchable without software, is a feature most cheaper controllers don't bother with. It's practical for people who play a mix of recent and older titles.

The controller layout is comfortable - offset analog sticks in the Xbox style, four face buttons with good travel, bumpers and analog triggers that have proper pressure curves. The analog triggers in particular are a step up from budget pads. The D-pad is decent, not exceptional.

The AA battery situation

This is the main gripe. The F710 runs on two AA batteries, and Logitech claims up to 40 hours of playtime. In practice I've seen 25–35 hours depending on how much you're running rumble. You'll buy rechargeable AAs if you're smart about it. The non-rechargeable design feels dated compared to pads with built-in USB-C charging, and at ₹3,500+ you have a right to expect better. But the tradeoff is that if your batteries die mid-session and you have spares, you're back in five seconds. That's a real advantage over a pad that needs 30 minutes of charging.

Stock and the discontinued problem

Because the F710 is discontinued, stock in India is limited and shrinking. Prices fluctuate more than usual - I've seen it swing ₹200–300 in a single week on Amazon India. If you want one, don't wait. GST is included in the listed price on major platforms. There's no import duty risk since it entered the supply chain through official channels, but grey-market units occasionally appear at unusual prices - check seller ratings.

Who should buy this

PC builders setting up an HTPC or living-room gaming rig who want a set-it-and-forget-it wireless experience. Buyers who've been burned by Bluetooth pairing issues on other gamepads. Anyone who plays a mix of old and new PC games and needs both XInput and DirectInput support.

Who should skip this

If you want a rechargeable pad, look elsewhere - the F710's AA battery design is the real age showing. If you need a gamepad for fighting games, the D-pad isn't good enough. And if you're buying for Android or console use, this is a PC-only peripheral. Also: if you find the price has crept above ₹4,000, walk away - at that point the value math stops working.