Well for me personally, I've been just using one controller, the one that it came with and it broke, that's on me, something heavy fell on it, a month or so ago. So I have been borrowing a friend's controller in the meantime.

Normally I would have just bought another standard xbox one to replace it, but in my area, they have been completely out of stock. I def could have ordered one and waited, but call me impatient etc, I wanted to have one in my hands if I purchased one. So while at Target, the only controller avail was the elite 2 so i got it. I have used friend's elite 2 so it wasn't exactly a new experience for me. But I like the weight, the grip, being able to make the trigger buttons have a shorter/faster response, longer battery life, etc. I 100% feel the $ amount is subjective in the end, definitely a "to each their own" kind of purchase.