Topic: What is the best alternative to the Pro Controller?

Thanks. Does it require any kind of adapter to work with the Switch?

@psychoBrew Nope, just follow the directions to pair it with the Switch over Bluetooth. It also comes with a USB cable so you can charge it and play wired if you need to.

Thanks again. I just ordered that controller in black. All the reviews are extremely positive on it and some say it's better than the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. The biggest negative is the rumble isn't the greatest but I often find rumble ruins the immersion for me instead of enhancing it like it's supposed to so that's not a big deal.

PS4 controller is a good controller. However, some downsides must be mentioned.

First, is the battery life, rivaled only by the Wii U gamepad. Like, single digits.

Secondly, is that analog triggers don't do anything on Switch. Imo, they make playing games harder to enjoy when all games on Switch are designed to use a button press. A soft pull should work, but it's not ideal.

Thirdly, is there's one less button. No capture button. For me that's a deal breaker but perhaps you could use system settings to remap to another button (it won't detect the mousepad though so, you'd have to sacrifice select or something like that). Something to keep in mind.

Fourth, is I'm not sure if it will turn the system on wirelessly. Maybe it will, but I know the 8bitdo controllers do not.

Thankfully, my Pro Controllers are doing great. I have one for my Switch and another for my PC. I've looked into 3rd party controllers and, I did see one with gyro and another with gyro and replaceable batteries. Some reviews have complained about issues, others say they're perfect and would give 6 stars if possible. Guess it depends on the luck of the draw.

https://www.amazon.com/PowerA-Enhanced-Wireless-Controller-Ni...

https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Switch-USB-C-Wireless-HORIPAD...

There's also the 8bitdo controller, with gyro, but comes with the caveat of not turning the system on wirelessly.

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Controller-Bluetooth-Vibratio...

Personally, I just can't accept substitutes for the Switch Pro. I like it too much. But, maybe my opinion would change if I had issues. Probably not though. Given it's the 4th year, if I've gotten this much out of them I'd likely just replace it with another pro controller.

But that's just my two cents.

I've played my Switch every day since launch. Well beyond the 1000 hour mark, possibly beyond the 2000 hour mark but I'd have to add all the games up to be sure. Nothing wrong with my controllers. Not the joycons or pros.

But you can always go with 8BitDo or get an adapter to use a PS4 controller.

@psychoBrew Cool, I hope you like it! I'm definitely happy with mine. I still have a functioning Pro Controller as well, but I tend to prefer one or the other depending on the game.

Also, maybe they fixed it in a firmware update, but I haven't noticed anything weird about the rumble. But to be honest it's sort of an afterthought for me. You can download their software and adjust the rumble anyway if you wanted to, but I haven't messed with the software at all yet.

@Heavyarms55 Yeah I think it must be temperature, or hand size, or ventilation, or type of game played. I've got 8 joycon controllers and they've all got drift of some kind. That's 100% failure rate, either I'm super unlucky or my house doesn't agree with the controllers. I've not had this issue with Wii, Wii U, PS4 or Xbox controllers. So it seems like it's Joycon specific.

I decided to get the 8bitdo receiver as it's cheaper than buying a new controller.

@Wargoose I've got 4 sets of joycon, none of which have drift, so that's 0% failure rate. Add in my friend's Switches and they haven't had the issue either. Still 0%. shrug I can't deny it apparently happens to people - clearly it did to you. And that lawsuit NL reported as well as various polls seem to suggest it does happen in decently high numbers. But I just don't buy into this widespread idea that people seem to have.

There must be something people are missing. Some factor. Maybe like you said, temperature or ventilation or maybe it's room humidity or dirt contamination that makes it happen.

@Heavyarms55 Yeah I think that's definitely the case, as it seems to be 0% or nearly 100% failure rate which people mainly experience. I don't like the US mentality of let's sue over every little fault.

Nintendo should research what's causing it though, just to improve the quality of the product. As like I say, all my other controllers work fine. So is there something in the design, that makes them more susceptible to the elements or wear and tear.

I really like the concept of the joycon, but I don't think I'll buy any replacements until Nintendo does something to tackle it.

@Heavyarms55 @Wargoose I used to experience symptoms that people refer to as 'joy-con drift' when I just bought the system end of '17. For me personally the trick was to move some other devices away from the Switch (e.g. PS4 and dual shock controllers). After that, I never experienced the drift again. Now I'm not saying that solves the problem for everyone, but I do expect that not all people who experience the drift have tried all possible solutions like these. So I'm very happy with my 2 pairs of joy-cons.

My Pro controller is another story though. The d-pad has always been too sturdy; it's practically unusable for platformers and it leads to a lot of 'mis-presses' in other games (e.g. item selection in Animal crossing or weapon selection in BOTW). Besides that it just doesn't feel very well built. I'll probably buy a new one in a short while though, since the alternatives aren't that great. I'm also one of the rare cases who's not happy about their 8bitdo SF30Pro. I may consider the SF30Pro+ though, who knows

@toiletduck That's interesting, my consoles are all quite close to one another. I've got a Wii U, Switch and PS4 hooked up to the TV. However I do play the switch as a handheld occasionally, and the controllers still drift even when I've taken it on a Train or to someone else's house.

@Wargoose ah yeah, back when I experienced the issue, I didn't have any symptoms in handheld iirc. That's why I put in the disclaimer: my solution would probably only work for a certain percentage of people

To be clear, I have two sets of joycons and have not experienced any issues with them. My problems are with the pro controller only (thanks to Smash).

The SN30 Pro+ is a fantastic controller. I am really happy with it. All movements and button presses are crisp and precise. To me, it's a step above the pro controller. The only real negatives with it is it's inability to wake the Switch from sleep mode and it's very hard to read button labels on the all black version in dim lighting, but I can easily get around those issues (I just need to remember which system I'm using so I don't get button layouts confused).

Thanks for the recommendation.

I also wanted to mention that rumble works fine. Great actually. It's a slower rumble than my Nintendo controllers, but I prefer it that way.

@psychoBrew Glad you're happy with it! I really like the D-pad on it compared to the Pro. I've been playing some Tetris and 2D games lately, and it makes a huge difference for me.