Mobapad M12, alternative for Joycon 2 - Nintendo Switch 2 Forum

Polvasti · 2026-05-06T21:35:39+00:00

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.

Topic: Mobapad M12, alternative for Joycon 2

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41
Polvasti
Thu 4th Jun 2026

NerdyPaul wrote:

There were quite a few odd decisions made when developing these products to the point they very much feel like prototypes rather than a finished complete product. I guess that is what racing to be first rather than best will do.

Yeah, it's very clear that Mobapad (or Nyxi or anyone else) hasn't yet managed to fully reverse engineer the Switch 2 joycons, which is why all of these alternative controllers are missing some essential features. Mobapad was in a much better position with the Switch 1, cos they only entered the S1 accessory market several years into that console's lifetime, so all these issues had already been solved, and they could produce the perfect Joycon 1 alternative with the M6 HD.

I'd still be curious to know whether there are some actual Nintendo patents and/or exclusive manufacturing deals stopping third parties from including features like the mouse mode and HD Rumble 2. Because if there are, it might take quite a while before we get any joycon alternatives with full feature parity.

[Edited Thu 4th Jun 2026 by Polvasti]

Polvasti

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