After breaking it in for a few hundred hours, I’m prepared to definitively say that yes, this is the best leverless controller currently on the market. Additionally, Jasen has to be one of the coolest people and the most devoted to supporting his product out there.

Going part by part:
- The actual case is sturdy, has some heft, but is also surprisingly lightweight. I usually struggle to find a form factor that feels like it has enough substance but also isn’t going to feel like an anchor in my lap. Panzer 4 is definitely the goldilocks scenario.
- The materials and fit are superb, and everything from the frame to even the *finish* feels extremely durable and high quality. If a nuclear bomb went off, I’m pretty sure the Panzer 4 would be unscathed, and that cockroaches could carry on the FGC in our stead.
- I’ve built and modified a fair number of controllers, and this was by far the easiest and most user-friendly construction I’ve ever come across. Plenty of space to work in, lots of little quality of life touches to help clean cable, and the builder’s guide was super easy to follow.
- I was excited about the possibilities with ABMX, and rightfully so. It’s very easy and quick to swap out switches, and the amount of personalization is out of this world. Currently, I’m using three different types of switches for different “zones” of buttons. Being able to do that is amazing enough, but considering how easy and quick it is to do? It’s still almost unbelievable.
- Even without that high degree of personalization, the ABMX as a platform just *feels good*. Everything sits nice, fits nicely, and you get right to the point without having to futz around with a million different brands of buttons, switches, springs, etc.

The only thing I personally didn’t gel with was the IPFB PCB option. I love the open-source nature, and the price point is hard to argue with. The community is also great at supporting and answering questions. All of that said, you have to be prepared to do a lot of tinkering and tweaking, and I didn’t go into it with that expectation. I also never managed to get PS5 compatibility working – others definitely have, and I got a lot of response and help troubleshooting, but after 6 or so hours of not being able to make things work I opted to switch to a Brook UFB for a simpler “just plug and play.”

In short, the IPFB is definitely a great and cost-effective option, and you just have to consider what system you’re trying to play on and how much tinkering with settings you personally enjoy.

In closing, I genuinely feel like the Panzer 4 has improved the quality of my play, and also unleashed a whole new layer of creativity when personalizing my controllers. I honestly couldn’t be happier, and I could not recommend the Panzer 4 (and especially the ABMX variant) more highly.

If you’re on the fence, LEAP over it and you won’t be sorry.

Incredibly stable and responsive feeling. The support plate makes it feel more like a premium keyboard. The ability to swap switches is very beneficial to tuning for my needs.

I have been a customer of Jasen since 2018 and have had several custom hitboxes made by him, and I design my own custom sticks, including some that have similar rimless configurations as the ABMX. The main challenge is having the MX switch and hot swap stabilized so that there are no electrical contact problems between the MX switch and hot swap electrode. Keyboard users usually glue both together. No such problem here, the ABMX kit has the perfect stabilization, everything is in place, and stays put. The included pcb and wiring makes building the PFS4 even easier and cleaner, and the rimless design allows for super smooth action, in addition to being able to easily change the MX style switches to the ones of your preferences.

In short: Highly recommended!

Looking forward to having more layouts available in that format, including with sticks.

I went from the regular hitbox layout to this, and even running Samducksa 202 mx buttons with multiple different types of switches the difference was immediately noticeable. I'm currently using pre-lubed Gateron silvers and the button press is so smooth with minimal actuation distance (about 1.2mm).
Setup was super easy, and with the printed plexi everything looks just so smooth. I cannot recommend enough to someone playing hitbox or curious to try.

I have tried everything when it comes to arcade style buttons, and nothing remotely comes close to the ABMX design in terms of accuracy and speed. This is instrument-level quality and it shows in its performance. Jump on this now.