Topic: Mobapad M12, alternative for Joycon 2

I got my pair of Mobapad M12 HDs in the mail today. I know many people here have been waiting for Mobapad to get these out, what with the M6 HDs having been pretty much the best controllers made for the Switch 1, so I thought I should share some initial impressions of their Switch 2 successor:

• The joysticks are super smooth. I haven't tried the official Pro Controller 2 yet, but I know Mobapad has built their joysticks in a similar manner to it, and it shows. No matter how much you swerve them, you can't feel any friction at all. And unlike the Pro Controller joysticks these use TMR, so there should be no risk of drifting.
• The joystick thumb pieces are wider than with the M6, which is nice for someone with fairly thick fingers like myself. That means that you can't replace them with the M6 extra joysticks Mobapad sells, though, if you'd want to customise the M12. In fact, I'm not sure if you can remove the joysticks at all. You definitely can't remove the faceplates, so the M12 doesn't have the same customisation options the M6 had.
• The mechanical face buttons feel pretty much the same as with the M6, though they're a bit larger. The M6 already had great face buttons, so I wasn't expecting to improve upon those.
• What they have improved are the mechanical triggers, which have less travel and feel more precise than with the M6. They have a bit clickier sound than their M6 counterparts though, but overall I'm happy they've changed the triggers with this model, as they were the weakest part of the M6.
• The D-pad is surprisingly a bit smaller than with the M6, and it also has a slightly concave profile. I'm not sure why they decreased the size, but the change isn't huge, and it still feels very nice, with minimal travel and precise mechanical buttons. I haven't yet had much time to test it with 2D platformers etc. though.
• I didn't test the gyro because I don't really use it in games, but I know the M12 HD has the same 6 point gyro as the M6 and the Switch 1 joycons, as opposed to the 9 point gyro of the S2 joycons and the M12 S model.
• The M12 also doesn't have the HD Rumble 2, it's closer to the original HD Rumble, which the M6 also had. The vibrations do feel more subdued than those of the M6 though, which I appreciate. I think it's partially because M12 seems to have a more solid build with less wobbly parts which would vibrate alongside the motors.
• I wish Mobapad had given us more colour options (I love my pink M6 HDs), but the matte blacks of the M12 at least look quite professional and very similar to the blacks used in the actual console. So if you want third-party joycons that don't stand out when attached to the Switch 2, that's what you get here.
• The back buttons as well as the remapping and macro options work pretty much the same as with the M6, though they've made it a bit easier to program these by using the joycons themselves. I still prefer to do that in the Mobapad app though.
• The M12s are slightly taller than the M6s, proportionate to how the Switch 2 is taller than the Switch 1. I actually really like this, because as I said I have thick fingers, and since Mobapad hasn't included your typical downward horns in these models, with the M6 my little fingers often felt like they didn't have enough space to rest comfortably. With the M12s there's no such issue, my whole hand has a nice grip of the controller.

All in all, I would say that if you want a variation of the M6 HD for the Switch 2 with pretty much the same qualities, then the M12 HD is a good choice. Mobapad has improved the joysticks and triggers, but other than that these joycons are quite similar to their predecessor. They don't have mouse mode, which is a disappointment, but so far no third-party controllers have it. Hopefully Mobapad will eventually produce a model with mouse functionality, because other than that the M12s are better than the official Joycons in almost every regard.

Ayyyy nice! I got the M12S so I'm still waiting for it to come

It seems Mobapad has sold out the initial batch of the M12 S, because their site doesn't have it available anymore, not even as a preorder, while you can still order the M12 HD.

Yeah, although not sure what's happening on M12S because they can just put it on out of stock if it's truly stock issue. (They also pushed for people to upgrade from S to HD by paying 10 bucks)

It's kinda weird, yeah. Their site also doesn't show the M12 charging grip anymore, even though you could preorder it at the same time as the controller. I had preordered the grip too, but it didn't arrive with the controller. But they haven't cancelled the order either, so presumably the grip should still arrive separately.

I guess it's possible they weren't sure how many orders they would get for these various products, so they only put the M12 S and the charging grip into production once they had enough orders for the M12 HD, which presumably is easier to produce since it's more similar to the M6 than the M12 S is? I can't think of other reasons why the two different controller types and the grip are now shipped with different schedules, even though the preorder schedule was the same for all three.

yeah... it's all very weird and makes me worried how M12S will be, but at least since the HD one is going fine, hopefully the S one should be too? Oh well, can only see maybe in another month. I will hopefully remember to update this thread when I got mine whenever that is.

@darkfenrir Yeah, it is a bit shady, and if it was any other company I probably would've cancelled my order for the grip, but since they had a such a great product with the M6 and were reliable in delivering their orders with that (I ended up ordering two pairs of M6 HDs + various customisation parts + the Switch carrying case fitted for the M6), I'm willing to trust them with this one. Let's just hope they don't waste the goodwill they've accumulated from their previous products.

@Polvasti Yup!! I never tried their previous product (I went with Hori Split Pad Pro for my switch 1), but I heard of the quality so this will be my first time grabbing their stuff

I personally prefer the joypad enclosure type designs but totally accept they make the Switch 2 far larger as a portable but it works for me. I think I paid about £16 as there was a £7.50 bonus with Quidco cashback on top of normal cashback and there was a Quidco approved voucher you could use on the aliexpress site.

I'd like to give a glowing recommendation but there was an issue and that was after a week or so one of the buttons started sticking but I continued to use it and it became completely free moving again, maybe a plastic burr inside? I just can't get on with the original joycons, two small for my hands. It works well as a portable or docked use. I'm not quite sure how much battery runtime I get, I would guess about 8 hours give or take an hour. Maybe a bit less if I have the lighting effects on.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010217176301.html

1. This controller is specifically designed for the Switch Pro Controller and Switch consoles.
2. Features six-axis motion sensing functionality.
3. High-precision Hall-effect joysticks + Hall-effect triggers, with joystick response rates exceeding 1000Hz.
4. Includes multi-level vibration adjustment functionality.
5. Supports TURBO functionality, allowing users to customize button assignments.
6. Features adjustable RGB lighting.
7. Includes dual-plug Type-C charging cable, enabling simultaneous charging of both the controller and Switch 2 Controller. Play while charging.

I'm not going to pretend I take it out and about though. I tend to use it in portable mode mostly around the house. I have a Switch Lite that I take out of the house at times.

Ah if I want something like that I probably will just get something from gamesir tbh XD

So, after a few days of use, I noticed the battery in the M12 HDs was running low quite quickly. I didn't know what was causing it, so I went to the Mobapad home page, and their product page for the M12 HD had been updated to inform that the controllers only charge when they're attached to the Switch 2 and the Switch 2 is in an active state. They're drawing a charge from the console only if it's not turned off or in a sleep state, so if you put your Switch 2 in the dock after your gaming session, they won't charge properly unless you leave the actually leave the console on.

This is obviously not practical at all, though the issue would be kinda fixed if I'd have the charging grip that can also be used to charge the controllers. But like I said, I didn't receive the grip together with the controllers, even though I had ordered them at the same time. Also, I noticed that they're now selling the M12 HDs as one package which includes the charging grip, which makes sense since the grip is the only practical way to charge the controllers... But when I made my preorder, the grip was still an optional accessory with a separate price. (Though the price of the controller + grip bundle they have on the site now is still higher than what they cost together as a preorder, since the preorder was discounted.)

I messaged Mobapad to complain about all this, since the information about how the M12 HDs actually charges was not available when I preordered them, so I felt they've mislead their customers by only adding that stuff to their site later. They promised to give me the charging grip free of charge, which I felt was good enough for me, since I do otherwise like the controllers a lot, and the discounted preorder price was very nice. But the whole thing is still a bit of a bummer, so for anyone who has already ordered the M12 HDs or about to order them, do note that they don't charge the same way the actual S2 joycons do.

As for what's causing this issue, presumably it's because the M12 HDs work with the Switch 1 connection protocol instead of the Switch 2 protocol, which is why they also don't have the C button and only include 6-axis gyro instead of the 9-axis gyro that the official S2 controllers have. So the console seems to be treating them as S1 controllers, and seemingly doesn't want to charge them when turned off or in a sleep state. Since the M12 S does have C button and 9-axis gyro, I'm guessing they do work with S2 protocol and shouldn't have a similar charging limitation. But I'd be interested to hear from @Darkfenrir or anyone else who ordered the S model about how their controllers are working.

I get it that Mobapad and other third-party accessory companies haven't probably fully cracked all the S2 functions yet, and it's possible they're also limited by Nintendo's patents, which is why they can't make controllers with all the same features as the official joycons. (The biggest missing feature is obviously the mouse mode, at the moment I don't think anyone besides Nintendo is making controllers with it, so I suspect that might be a patent issue too.) But they should at least be fully transparent about what their products can and can't do.

I'm sure we'll eventually get alternative controllers that have all the same functions as the official joycons, but it doesn't seem like that's gonna happen any time soon. Apparently Nyxi (the other company besides Mobapad that produces quality joycon alternatives for the Switch 2) has made some promises that they're eventually gonna do a new version of their S2 controllers which would include mouse mode, but I don't think they've provided any timeframe when that might actually happen.

@Polvasti Yeah we'll see how the M12S will go, I haven't even received any news if it has been shipped haha. Maybe another 2-3 weeks before it will arrive on my hand since I asked an importer to do it for me.

One more positive thing I have to say about the M12 HDs: since they do run on Switch 1 protocol, Windows will recognise them as joycons over a bluetooth connection, so you can set them up on Steam and use them to play games on the PC. (Whereas you can't do that with Switch 2 joycons, Windows simply doesn't recognise them as a split game controller.) And if you have the Mobapad USB dongle for PCs, that one will automatically recognise them, so you don't even need to set them up.

This is actually a really nice feature for me, because for reasons of ergonomy I have used a split controller in PC gaming for years, and the Mobapad M6 HDs were my default controller for PC too. And since the M12 HDs are essentially an improved version of their M6 predecessors, I'm gonna switch to using them in Steam as well.

Straight out of the box, the M12 HD wasn't able to wake the Switch 2 from sleep by pressing the home button, but today Mobapad released a firmware update which adds that function. I tested it, and the M12s do indeed wake up the console now just like official controllers do.

I think I'm leaning towards the Hyperion3's. Just because the sticks are taller with more range, and they're just beefier/more ergonomic in the hands, aside from better in and out connectivity with NS2. I hear the D-pad isn't quite as good but that's irrelevent for what i need them for, but then there's the step down vanilla rumble which i hear is overly agressive.

I plan on only using these as a Wii Remote Plus & Nunchuck replacement when played on my TV(I don't game in handheld), until Nintendo magically whips out a Wii NSO and sells us brand new WRP & Nunchuck controllers, with a wired USB Sensor Bar that can hopefully be used outside the NSO service for certain NS2 titles like Pikmin 1,2&3, Super Mario Galaxy 1+2, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and more.

But thanks to NS2's 9-Axis gyro, Hyperion 3 and Mobapad 12-S might just make for a pretty decent alternative or solution in the time being.

Me, I love HD Rumble and don't use gyro much, so the M12 HD was an easy choice over the Nyxi and the M12 S. But it's still frustrating that all these features are split between different controllers (with all of them lacking mouse mode) instead of one controller having everything, like the M6 HD did with Switch 1.

@Polvasti
Somebody mentioned that there will be a Hyperion3 Pro with either both 9-Axis & 'HD' Rumble 1 or 2, but I'm not entirely sure when.

Both H3 & 12/12-S are incomplete/have missing features, as is, and it's annoying how Moba decided to release two separate JCN2 alternatives instead of just creating one set with both 9-Axis and what should of been HD Rumble '2'. I want a 12-S 'Super' with both 9-Axis and HD Rumble 2. Instead of having to cut features in order to maintaine a lower sticker price.

@WaveBoy There's been some speculation that HD Rumble 2 is proprietary Nintendo technology that the third-party controller makers haven't (yet) managed to reverse-engineer. That would explain why both Hyperion 3 and M12 S, which work on Switch 2 protocol, have settled for your bog-standard rumble. I'm not sure why neither of those two models have HD Rumble 1 though. I'm guessing it's either because there's something with the Switch 2 protocol that causes issues with the Switch 1 rumble, or because including features like 9-axis gyro have already made these models costly enough to produce that installing ALPS motors for HD Rumble would make them too expensive for consumers.

@Polvasti Thanks for your honest review on these. I'd begun scoping them out, but the more I read I decided to 'hold fire' and instead wait for the (hopefully inevitable) HORI pads.

For Switch1 I had the HORI Split Pad Pro and also the slimmer HORI Split Pad Compact. The 'Compact' was perfect for me, much slimmer than the 'Pro' and incredibly comfortable. Aside from missing rumble functionality, which I can live without, they were genuinely great.

@Polvasti
But is HD Rumble '1' still considered propriety Nintendo Property?
If people are hellbent on sticking with HDR2, than you're better off just upgrading and optimizing the official JCN2's, with a D-pad, Stick caps and Backside grip(Dbrand killswitch etc). This still doesn't solve or even mitigate the right stick being placed directly below B,A,X&Y which i just can't get over. At least with H3 & 12-S it's pushed to the left a bit more.

And like i said, i don't game in handheld, I'm only intersted in HD3 or MP12-S as a Wii remote Plus & Nunchuck replacement, and if I'm stuck with basic/vanilla rumble than I'll take that, as long as i get 9-Axis Gyro IF it's just as good as the JCN2 & Pro 2 controllers, in return with greater beefier ergonomics and traditional sticks than what the JCN2's have to offer. Still leaning towards Hyperion 3.