It’s very frustrating to buy a controller for the Steam Deck. There are all sorts of compatibility issues and restrictions. The PlayStation controller seems to be the one that best accommodates the variety of inputs that the Steam Deck has, including the trackpad. However, the button layout is nothing like the Deck, which uses the Xbox controller pattern.
These are my impressions, but I may be wrong. Any suggestions?
In my opinion, buy a PS5 controller. It works great for my Deck, and despite the different button icons they all map to the same thing. If you’re familiar with the default Deck controls then you’ll be fine, only difference is that the physical button icons on the controller are different. Gyro, rumble, LEDs, triggers work and feel great.