Chitu2 1
Image: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo Life

When I first got my hands on Nintendo’s Pro Controller for the Switch 2, I was blown away by just how smooth the analogue sticks felt. The tech is simple yet astoundingly effective: silicone rings were added to the interior, cushioning the movement of the sticks while preventing the caps from making contact with the plastic exterior. Remarkable stuff.

Of course, even with this, Nintendo declined to include Hall Effect or TMR sticks, so the spectre of stick-drift remains a very real concern amongst players (though as we approach the Switch 2’s first anniversary, this has yet to escalate into a widespread issue). Third-party manufacturers have naturally caught on to this worry, and one of the first to offer a real smooth alternative is Mobapad with its new Chitu2 HD controller.

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Mobapad is open about its approach to the Chitu2’s sticks, providing an entire article on how it took direct inspiration from Nintendo and pushed the design further. The result is analogue sticks that faithfully emulate the ‘smooth-gliding’ feel of the Pro Controller while also implementing TMR technology to (theoretically) eliminate stick-drift.

And make no mistake, the sticks on the Chitu2 feel just as good as Nintendo’s official pad, providing zero noise and ‘grinding’ feedback when moved around.

So if high-quality sticks are a priority for you when choosing your next controller, this is probably the best you’re going to get for the time being. TMR technology combined with that magical ‘smooth-gliding’ feel puts the Chitu2’s sticks above and beyond everything else on the market, including Nintendo’s Pro Controller 2. And yes, it’s cheaper than the official offering at $49.99 for the pad on its own, and $65.99 for a charging dock bundle.

Where the Chitu2 might divide opinion is in its buttons. All of the main inputs — including ABXY, the D-pad (which, by the way, comes with two interchangeable designs), and the shoulder buttons — are mechanical, which means that they have ‘clicky’ feedback when actuated. I imagine many of you have already made your mind up about whether or not this is a good thing, and it very much comes down to your preferences regarding the feel of the buttons and the noise they make.

So with the Chitu2, the clicky feedback feels, in my opinion, absolutely incredible. There’s just something really satisfying about knowing exactly when a button has been pressed; it’s hard to describe, but I swear my ability to rapid-press has improved with the clicky feedback. With the D-pad in particular, it's proven especially useful when more precise inputs are required with games like Street Fighter 6 or Contra: Operation Galuga.

On the flip side, the noise is unavoidable. You can hear each and every click, and while it’s not so bad if you’re able to crank up the volume on your TV and drown it out, it’s still very much there. Personally, I find that the overall feel of the buttons outweighs the noise, but I can equally understand if you’re not keen on hearing the click all of the time.

In terms of features, the Chitu2 has almost everything you could want from a third-party pad: Switch 2 wake-up support, NFC compatibility, gyro controls, HD rumble, and back buttons appropriately labelled 'GL' and 'GR'. On the official Pro Controller, you could very quickly map these by holding down the 'Home' button and navigating to the relevant option. You can't do that here, but rather everything's done via the 'Settings' button just beneath the D-pad; it's quick and easy, and once you've mapped the back buttons to your desired input, chances are you won't be fiddling around with it again.

The only thing missing is a dedicated 'C' button for quick GameChat access. Instead, the Chitu2 includes an 'M' button beneath the right analogue stick. You can map this to whatever you want, and this includes custom macros. By default, it's been assigned a macro that essentially takes you back to the Switch 2 home screen and navigates to the chat app - essentially Mobapad's solution for its lack of dedicated 'C' button, which is fine, but not a replacement for the real deal.

Ultimately, however, if this is really the only thing missing, then I can't complain too much; after all, it's exceptionally rare to find a third-party pad with amiibo-reading NFC support these days. If you absolutely need to have a headphone jack too, then it's perhaps worth noting that this isn't included either. Not a big deal for me, but you might think differently.

The Chitu2 comes in three colours: black, white, and a kind of pearlescent pink. The latter is actually my favourite, since the pink colour is pretty subtle and the way the faceplate gradually fades into a kind of blue/purple colour is really lovely. Again, it's not something you see too often, and I'll take anything that brings a bit of unique flair.

The build quality is also really solid, though it does lack that ultra-smooth surface of the Pro Controller. It feels about what you'd expect from a $50 pad, and there's a decent heft to it, which I really appreciate. Battery life also clocks in at between 15-20 hours on a single charge, which is more than acceptable for most pads.

Finally, if you go for the $65 bundle, you get a charging dock, each of which is themed to match the colour of the controller. It's really understated compared to the dock included with 8BitDo's Pro 3, yet the magnetised attachment ensures that the controller won't accidentally fall off while charging. You also get some funky RGB lighting while charging, so that might sway your decision as to whether or not to part with the extra cash.

It's worth noting too that if you go for the black Chitu2 on its own, its faceplate will be glossy, which I'm really not a fan of. Bundled with the charging dock, the faceplate is matte, and it's a lot more pleasing on the eye, though I'm not keen on locking such a feature behind a more expensive product. The white controller appears to be glossy regardless, while the pink is matte with or without the dock.

Basically, then, I'd say just go for the pink; it looks better in general, and if you're not fussed about the dock, you still get the matte finish.

Chitu2 13
Image: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo Life

Conclusion

Mobapad's Chitu2 HD is an excellent controller through and through. Taking inspiration from Nintendo itself, it has TMR analogue sticks with the same 'smooth-gliding' technology as the official Pro Controller 2, meaning these are probably the best sticks on the market right now. The mechanical buttons also feel wonderful, though if you're put off by repetitive clicking noises, this won't be the right choice for you.

Really, the only major thing lacking is a dedicated 'C' button; the macro provided by the 'M' button to navigate to the chat app is an admirable replacement, though not ideal. With wake-up support, HD rumble, gyro controls, and perhaps most surprisingly, NFC support, this is a feature-rich pad at a much more affordable price than Nintendo's own offering.

The samples used in this review was provided by Mobapad.