Accessory manufacturer Hori has introduced another budget-friendly alternative to the official Switch 2 Pro Controller, with a new pad coming in at roughly $54 when converted from Japanese yen (thanks, The Verge).
This means it's priced significantly lower than the $89.99 Nintendo itself is asking for with its official offering, but a few sacrifices have been made to bring costs down. So crucially, the Horipad Turbo controller cannot wake the Switch 2 remotely, there's no headphone jack, and it doesn't sport any NFC functionality for your amiibos.
What it does do, however, is let you lock the buttons in the middle – like the home, capture, +, and - buttons – via a small toggle located on the back. Why? Well, who knows, but there you go.
In all seriousness though, there are plenty of arcade controllers these days that include tournament lock toggles to disable any inessential inputs while in the heat of battle. It's possible Hori might want to capture some of that niche, but these new pads don't particularly strike us as the go-to option for fight fans.
Aside from that, the joysticks utilise TMR technology to minimise any potential stick drift, while there are two additional inputs on the back of the pad to rival those found on the Pro Controller. Finally, Hori has seen fit to allow remapping across pretty much the entire suite of buttons, so that should come in handy if you like to tinker around with that kind of stuff.
There's no word on when (or even if) these new pads will make their way to the West, but we'll be keep a close eye on them regardless. Even if they don't sport all the features you're looking for in a Switch 2 controller, it's always nice to have options.