| Price | Varmilo |
| Release | October 30, 2026 |
| Compatibility | PS5 / NS2 / PC |
| Dimensions | 13.4″ x 9.5″ x 1.4″ |
| Weight | 3.24 to 3.66 lbs |
Introduction
Remember that one Leave Britney Alone video in which Chris Crocker goes “more, more, more, more, more”? Well, that’s exactly what Varmilo is doing with the JZA1.
You see, this bestselling company has already released enough controllers to go down in the fightstick industry’s hall of fame, but with the JZA1, Varmilo wants more.
Quick language lesson… JZA1 is probably the alphanumeric transliteration of the Japanese jizai (じざい), which can mean:
- Free
- At will
- Unconstrained
Unboxing
Your JZA1 should arrive with:
- Three blank buttons
- Three spare buttons
- Three spare switches
- Theme badge
- Cable
- “Crowbar”
- Optional wireless dongle
You read that correctly. There’s a wireless version of the JZA1! More on that later…
Performance
The JZA1 has an outrageous 19-button layout, so beyond the classic 12-button layout, you can press the seven extra buttons with your:
- Left pinky
- Left middle finger
- Left thumb
- Right thumb
- Right index
- Right palm
- Right pinky
That right pinky button can be a bit far to reach, and the same goes to the right palm button. That said, the JZA1’s ABS buttons have a small size of 22 mm.
For your reference, most leverless controllers come with 24 mm buttons and a 30 mm jump button. Other than that, you can say that the JZA1’s attack buttons are in the popular Sega 2P layout.
Now, how about we briefly gloss over the JZA1’s function buttons, which are to the toggle’s right?
- Start
- Guide
- Fn
- Update
- Reset
Another unique aspect about the JZA1 is how it uses Varmilo’s low profile EC switches, and EC stands for electrostatic capacitance.
Basically, the JZA1 has a blade-shaped metallic strip inside each switch, which penetrates the matching PCB hole whenever it actuates. What does this mean in layman’s terms?
- No metal contact
- More longevity
- Solder-free hot swapping
Still not sold on the JZA1’s switch concept? Here are the hardcore specs:
- Pre-travel: 1.0 ± 0.2 mm
- Total travel: 1.8 ± 0.3 mm
- Actuation force: 35 ± 10 gf
- Bottom-out force: 40 ± 10 gf
In other words, you can consider those switches to be featherweight. By the way, you can conveniently adjust the JZA1’s settings through the Varmilo Web Driver.
Hardware
The JZA1 not only has ABS buttons but has an ABS case too. This is one of the highest quality plastics that fightsticks are commonly made of. On top of the controller, there’s an acrylic sheet.
With that being said, you can buy the JZA1 in two versions:
- PC version (can’t extend its compatibility)
- PS version (doesn’t support Windows)
The PS version not supporting Windows is a bit disappointing, right? Anyway, here is some data about the JZA1’s polling rates:
- PC wired: 4 kHz
- PC wireless: 2 kHz
- PS version: 1 kHz
- Response time: <5 ms
For your information, <1 ms input latency is the industry standard for wired leverless controllers. Having said that, what about the JZA1’s battery? To the best of our knowledge, here you go:
- Battery: 10,000 mAh
- Minimum life: 19 hours (with the lighting on)
- Maximum life: 125 hours (with the lighting off)
Appearance
The JZA1 looks quite similar to Varmilo’s FK2. Unless you grab custom art through our art service, you can order the controller in three interesting themes.
What’s interesting is that the Astrology theme looks like it has a bigger wrist rest, but that’s probably just an optical illusion. Without further ado, behold the JZA1’s themes:
| Theme | Case & Buttons | Art |
|---|---|---|
| Astrology | Black | Purple |
| Lunar Sea Melody | White | Blue |
| Sakura | White | Pink |
Conclusion
If the JZA1’s 19 button layout is too outrageous for you, you can use its three included blank buttons. Also, it’s quite convenient that you can use this innovative controller wirelessly.
- Insane 19-button layout
- Blank buttons included
- Electrostatic switches
- Varmilo Web Driver
- Customizable art
- Three themes
- Wired or wireless
- PS or PC version
- PS version is Windows-incompatible
- Smaller buttons not for everyone
- <5 ms response time