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Modern brake controllers all use a solid state accelerometer (like what's in your smartphone) to measure how fast your're trying to stop and send a voltage signal to your trailer brakes that is higher the faster you are slowing down. So, they are called proportional controllers. 

There will be two adjustments you will make on the controller once it is installed. The first sets the max voltage output so that the trailer brakes are just short of locking up the trailer wheels when you stop  using the trailer brakes only. That gives you the best stopping power in an emergency braking situation. Most of us find that when we do that setup we wind up at full 12V output from the controller and the trailer brakes still don't lock up. That's because rPod brakes are a bit on the wimpy side. 

The second adjustment (Tekonsha calls it boost level) sets the voltage output relative to how fast you are slowing down. That effectively sets the balance between how much braking action you get from your tow vehicle brakes vs your trailer brakes. That is something you can adjust depending on road conditions, trailer weight relative to TV weight, and steepness of grade you are descending. With a relatively light tow vehicle you can set the "boost" higher so that the trailer brakes do more of the work, for example. 

So, whichever controller you get be sure you know how to set it up and adjust it. That will also familiarize you with the manual control which you should use each time you hitch up to be sure that the trailer brakes are actually working. You can also use it if you ever start to get any trailer sway to bring the trailer back in line without touching your tow vehicle brakes which you don't ever want to do in that situation.