20 Best Switch Controller For Smash (2023 Updated)

I never write reviews but I really want to because of all the mixed reviews to give some perspective. Before the getting this controller I tried using a PowerA brand wireless rechargeable controller because of the design and mappable buttons.

The PowerA controller looked really nice but the quality of the controller was very poor. The controller kept de syncing, there was tons of input lag, and the build quality was very poor. The materials used in the controller felt cheap.

The switch pro controller is the way to go in my opinion. Every issue I had with the third party controller is completely gone. The controller is quick, responsive, and made of higher quality materials for sure.

The buttons and triggers are very springy and responsive. Though I have seen some complaints about the D-Pad I actually like it. The controller was much quicker to sync up to the switch, I have had zero input lag at all and the quality is better where I don’t feel like the controller will break within a couple of gaming sessions like I did with the other controller.

The only downside is the price and the fact that the Switch Pro controller doesn’t come with different designs. To sum up, if you can justify the price of the controller it is definitely worth picking up.

The 3rd party wireless controllers go for around $50 so for the extra $20 I think it is worth it to pick up the Nintendo Brand Switch.

My son has been a Nintendo Switch owner for almost 2 years, and while he loves the joy-con controller and grip overall, sometimes he prefer a more reliable and “traditional” controller. I finally picked this controller for him as Christmas gift ( only this Nintendocontroller can make him happy for this Christmas).

He was totally excited to see this controller as gift under tree. This is one of the most comfortable controllers he ever had, which increases the enjoyment of my Switch games even more. The battery life is good, the layout makes sense, and it has built in motion-sensors for gyro-scope aiming, which comes in handy for games like “Splatoon 2” and “Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

” The only major downside to this controller is that the button layout for the “pause” and “home” buttons took a bit of time for him to get used to, partially since the color scheme can make the buttons look similar.

Other than that, hes totally in love with this controller. the battery life is good, and the controller itself is very comfortable. He recommends choosing this controller for your switch. Controller that feels great! The controller is a little pricey, but more than worth it for a gamer like my son.

I wasnt sure at first how worth it getting a pro controller would be, since I was perfectly content using joy cons for a long time. But eventually I just got tired of how often the joy cons would develop glitches and issues, and I wanted something new I knew would 100% work when Splatoon 3 released (something I was very much looking forward to), so I finally gave a pro controller a try.

It took a little getting used to of course, but after a couple of days I now find it much more comfortable and satisfying to hold, and the lack of the joy cons reputation for developing drift etc. is reassuring.

Simple but appealing design. Love the subtle translucency, letting you see some of the inner workings. Reminds me of an old GameBoy Advance I had, and is nostalgic and cool. The buttons and sticks all feel great to use; especially the triggers (ZL & ZR) which is nice for Splatoon as I will be using them a lot! Not to mention this listing was 20 cheaper than it wouldve been to buy a pro controller from the Nintendo store.

All around a great experience.

Excellent controller for Nintendo Switch with the best colour scheme they offer, a unique texture and an additional plastic midframe compared to the standard Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, this is probably the best official Nintendo Switch controller made by Nintendo.

Not without fault, the initial set-up isn’t as easy as an Xbox Wireless Controller or a Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Pair, the fit and finish is below expectations for the price with seams visible and large, and the additional plastic midplate makes the face of the controller opaque, hiding the circuitry and text usually visible through it.

The sticks exhibit snapback like all Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers, leading to some menu misinputs. Unlike many third party offerings or the Joy-Con Controllers, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller doesn’t offer any additional buttons on the rear or sides of the grips.

The latency is excellent, comparable, and sometimes better, than a wired controller. Overall an excellent controller but not perfect.

This is a counterfeit product. I would say it is a very well made counterfeit, but the seller informed me before I placed the order the controller is genuine Nintendo. when I received the controller some 2 weeks after placing the order, I find the buttons are generally good however the controller makes a rattle when shaken and the left stick moves the screen up from time to time.

this doesn’t happen all the time, but it does, it was very annoying. the controller is about 20 grams lighter than the official one and produces an extremely harsh rumble. there is no variation in intensity AT ALL.

you can hear the rumble from 10 feet away and it is very uncomfortable. the product is made in China and the font on the box (NINTENDO) and the charging cable (Nintendo tm) is off. they do not match the official controller.

it is an acceptable alternative to the official controller, however the seller assured me that it was genuine before I placed the order. This should not be tolerated.

The controller was in good condition and wasn’t worn out. The outside was clean, joystick was tight and buttons weren’t mushy from wear. However there was gunk between the A button and the topcase that caused it to stick.

I took apart, cleaned it and after that it was great. The process only took me five minutes but it’s something that should have been done by you guys, and not left to the customer. If the controller isn’t going to be properly checked and cleaned there isn’t really a reason to buy from this site versus a lower priced ebay listing.

Smash bros.

I am upset. I had purchased this as I had originally bought one of these controllers when first released, but I have since lost it. Upon opening the controller I purchased (sold by ‘Fulfillinc’) I immediately noticed the cord was the “normal” GC controller length, not the extended cord this model was supposed to have.

The rumble motor was also loose and rattling whenever the controller moved. Any vibration also was extremely loud. Overall felt like the controller was simply a knock-off that, at best, had the proper shell slapped onto cheap.

In the decade + since the GameCube’s release, many companies stepped up to offer their products for take on the controller. This is especially warranted as the GameCube’s controller remains one of the most comfortable and intuitive ever released and each game in the Smash Bros.

series to date (Switch version not released as of this writing) made use of this controller an option. For some time now, third party controllers were the only means of obtaining replacements. Unfortunately, replacements were often needed as one of the GameCube controllers flaws was that its joystick, when overused, began to weaken, or was automatically centered at an angle on startup.

This did have a built-in workaround, but remained a constant annoyance and continued use and strain would eventually make it unfeasible unless you were tech-prone enough to replace it yourself. Thus, the third party controllers were almost essential to feed the demand for such controllers for Smash and other games on Wii and Wii U that supported it.

However, in some ways many third party controllers were not quite up to the full range of tasks demanded by these systems. I personally used two such controllers from different companies and the weakness in their design was mainly in the use of the directional pad, which was all but required for certain games, especially RPGs played using the system’s GameBoy Player.

The directional pad was often imprecise, and must have been built with a different feel as I often found my characters walking off in the wrong direction. Nintendo released this new controller along with its 4th entry in the Smash Bros.

series to sate the demands of its strong fanbase and, although an adaptor is required to use it with the system, this new release of the controller was very well received. It shares the same design specifications as its original, meaning that each part of it is fully capable of supporting all the proper functions.

Just try to be gentle with the joystick or you may find yourself replacing it after a few years of use (or less).

I bought this controller about three weeks ago and I’m already having major drift issues with the left stick. I didn’t even use it for the first week I had it because I was still waiting for my Switch to arrive.

So two weeks of (admittedly moderate to heavy) use means that every now and then Link (BOTW) moves forward at a stumbling snail’s pace instead of full speed or tries to walk towards the camera when the stick is in neutral position.

I can fiddle with the stick for a minute to get it back to working for another hour or so before it starts up again. Some might argue that you get what you pay for in this controller, but I went with this controller because even the much more expensive Nintendo Pro controllers have complaints about drift issues.

I figured that if I was unlucky enough to get a problem controller, then at least I wouldn’t have paid $60 or more for it. I still expected this to last at least 3-4 months. There is a two-year manufacture’s warranty apparently, so I may try to work with that, but other’s have complained that it’s a mess of a company to work with.

I will likely give this controller another go (I need to get one before the drift renders my current one unusable) just because it’s a quarter of the price of the pro and I don’t want to throw extra money towards a controller with similar known issues.

My biggest gripe is really a non-issue for most. The design on the controller is skewed/distorted and it bothers me a little. Quality of the controller is good for the price, but I wish it were heavier, even if it’s just added weights, the thing is seriously light.

A downside I did notice is that you can’t use these unless it’s docked, it has a normal full size USB to Micro USB cord, while the Switch itself has a USB C port. You might could find a USB C to Micro USB cord (if they exist) but you’d have to notch the Micro end if it’s got a bigger plug head.

2 buttons you can remap on the fly on the back are also a really nice addition to a controller at this price point, usually those are only found on 2nd or 3rd party offerings at $100 or more. So far I’ve only had about 8-10 hours of use on it and I can report no problems.

I needed a controller to play BOTW. I decided to give this a try as it was the middle ground option in terms of PRICE (about $50. The pro would have been $70 and there was another for $25) I now see why it’s less expensive.

Upon taking it out of the package it just felt really cheap and it’s super light. I could look past that. What I can’t look past is that I’ve had it for about 3 weeks now and the drift is absolutely horrible.

I could be not even touching the controller and my character in game will be walking to the left. There’s a lot of parts in the game that needs me to be precise and this controller prohibits that. I should have spent the extra $20 on the pro.

This controller has my ideal ergonomics. It’s comfortable to hold in my large, long-fingered, man child hands. The coating on the frame is smooth and feels nice to the touch. The controller is matte black, so it doesn’t show dirtiness.

This is a blessing and a curse. Your friends won’t be afraid to use the controller because they won’t see it covered in grease and months of cheesy snack stains, but you may be less inclined to clean it.

In my experience, not cleaning this controller regularly will lead to buttons sticking down when they are depressed. I do not eat food while I play games, and I don’t think that I’m a particularly heavy user.

You must be diligent about cleaning this product. This is an issue with all controllers but I believe I experienced this issue earlier than with other controllers across a variety of consoles. Outside of this issue the product is wonderful to use.

As mentioned it feels great to hold, you can keep a solid grip on it, it pairs easily and has great range, and the buttons/sticks have a nice tactile feel and are very responsive. There are grip buttons, and a button under the middle of the controller.

I haven’t found a use for these yet but I appreciate having the option. The controller charges via a USB-C port which I am super happy about, and the controller holds a charge for much longer than I would expect.

Despite the gorgeous artwork and colours, this controller will not last long. I have had 3 of this same model: 1 of which was a blue/silver motif, same series, one of which was a warranty claim from Power A, the company in question.

In all 3 instances, the left analog stick would begin to ‘drift’ downwards, or flicker erratically. Makes gameplay or even menu navigation unreliable. This defect was present within 2 months of use, and in the case of the warranty replacement, started to appear within 2 weeks.

The defect is consistent and not been corrected even in later runs of the same model. Further, the controllers are not 100% compatible with the Nintendo Switch. Even when browsing settings and attempting to re-calibrate, the Switch will NOT recognize the controllers as valid and will not allow you to calibrate the analog sticks or any other settings.

Your only chance of a refund (unless you obtain it from a retail store and return it) is if you had bought it directly from the Power A website, and only within 60 days of that purchase. Do not buy this.

Not sure if I purchased 2 faulty controllers, but more than likely just not great build quality when it comes to joysticks. All I play is Mario Kart, so after a month my first ones left joystick felt like it was broken inside.

Would randomly get stuck in the down position causing drift. Returned it with protection plan to get a replacement. Used second one a little less to see if I could prolong the life of it. Well second one had the same issue after 2 months.

Build quality just doesn’t hold up like I need it to. I also have the PowerA nano controller just like this one and the build quality is soooo much better in it. Had it for 9 months now and still no drift or stick issues.

If PowerA would improve the quality of parts used, I think this would be a great long lasting controller. Will be returning the second one in hopes i can exchange for another Nano version.

I’ve used this controller for about a week now and I’m really enjoying it. I think it’s a great substitute for those who don’t want to shell over the cash for a pro-controller (like me). And it lights up in just about any color you can think of! Why more companies don’t do this, I’ll never know.

It’s a really nice feature. My only “complaint” is that the left joystick took a few hours for my thumb to get used to only because it’s higher up than the joystick on the Switch blue/red controllers.

Because of this, I had trouble when it came to making precise decisions in games that required fast reactions such as Katana Zero. Again, I’m not sure if this is because the controller is a little bulky for my female hands or if I just needed to give it more time to get used to the button placements.

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who needs an extra controller. I love the feel of it and think the weight of it feels great in your hands. It doesn’t feel cheaply made at all.

So today I grabbed the Nintendo Switch Wireless Afterglow Deluxe controller. I am a Hardware QA Specialist in both China and the UK by profession, so I really got a kick out of the visuals of this device, nice packaging, simple and clear instructions, beautiful transparent controller housing with no visual flow marks from the injection molding process and a brilliant polished finish, high-quality customisable (prismatic) RGB LED’s? with a good deal of brightness, no fingerprint marks on the PCB or other components.

The factory and assembly line where this is made has to be congratulated, this thing is brilliantly assembled with a finish better than many first-party devices. The device itself works well for gaming and pairs well with the Switch, no complaints for the minimum and base functionality required for the controller, also the back button customisation is a nice touch.

Unfortunately that’s as far as my praise can reach, because here comes the less favourable side of this review. Firstly, no USB-C? I’m not entirely sure the reason for choosing Micro-B over USB C. Secondly and more importantly, the controller has no HD Rumble (or Rumble of any kind).

For a controller at this price point (only slightly less than the official Nintendo Pro controller) I would expect the device to have rumble functionality, the device has sufficient space available for the rumble motors, but PDP have chosen to instead fill the space with metal weights to balance the controller and give the controller more weight to generate an appearance of greater quality, this is common practice in design and manufacturing, I’m not suggesting trickery.

But that same weight could have been added by the addition of rumble motors without adding a great deal of expense to the BOM, it would have meant a slightly larger li-ion battery to achieve same battery life with the motors consuming additional power though.

Thirdly, no NFC – not a massive issue, but yet another missing feature for a controller which has a premium price. Would I recommend this product to a friend, heck yes, it looks awesome and works great, but I would only recommend the device once I had made it VERY clear that it had no rumble functionality.

Would I myself purchase another Afterglow Wireless Deluxe Controller? NO! As you can probably tell from my review, vibration-feedback/Haptic technology is a very important aspect of gaming for myself, it adds a whole new dimension to gaming, there’s a reason why it has been a standard feature of nearly all game controllers since the late 90’s – not sure why PDP has chosen to omit this from their design.

Would I purchase an Afterglow Wireless Deluxe Controller if they re-designed it with vibration-feedback? YES! In a heartbeat <3 Pros: + Awesome design + High quality look and feel + Great packaging + Customisable LED's + Customisable back-buttons + Great battery life Cons: - High price - No hd-rumble or any form of vibration feedback - No NFC reader for amiibo etc.

– No USB-C – frustrating when all Switch accessories are USB-C.

For Switch handheld gaming I first tried a Satisfye – ZenGrip bought on Amazon. com. While that is a good product that allows you to still use JoyCon features such as HD Rumble and gyro aiming in handheld mode, I overall prefer the Hori Split Pad Pro for convenience and comfort.

The Split Pad Pro is the best feeling way to play Switch in handheld mode that I have tried so far. Using the split pad pro, my hands don’t hurt anywhere near as much when playing something like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as they do when using just JoyCons and to some extent when using the Satisfye – ZenGrip.

Personally, I like the light weight of the controllers as it doesn’t add unnecessary weight to the console and I can still hold the Switch by holding one of the pads if I need to use the other hand for something at a given moment.

There are some additional buttons included on the split pad pro, however I have not used them yet so I don’t have anything to say about those other than they don’t get in my way. With pre-OLED Switch models you can dock the Switch without having to remove the split pads.

For the Satisfye – ZenGrip, you have to take the grip off just to dock the console and over time I noticed slight imprints and scuffs on the JoyCons after using that product. I can usually play games just fine without much of the JoyCon features such as HD Rumble and gryo aiming, so the Split Pad Pro controllers make more sense to me for max comfort and minimizing wear on the console.

The including attachment part for me adds a lot of value to the split pad pro as aside from allowing you to use the split pad for docked gaming, you can also plug the thing into a PC and use it for pretty much any game that supports a x-input controller (such as an Xbox One controller).

This allows me to travel somewhere with a laptop and use the split pad pro to play games on Steam if I want without needing to bring a separate controller or an additional adapter for the JoyCons (which I’m not even sure is a thing since I have not felt the need to try using JoyCons for PC gaming).

The cord of the attachment is conveniently a decent length too. I used $30 worth of reward certificates on Best Buy to lower the price of this thing to around $55 with tax. I’m not sure I would be OK with paying $80+ for this.

I think $70 or 60 would feel like a more fair price given how long the Split Pad Pro product has been available for and that this set is just adding the attachment.

Controller was decent. returned it for a better controller that was on sale, which was the afterglow wired controller. It was a bit pricier (5 dollars more, i think), but it was worth it for 2 reasons for me: 1.

This PowerA controller has 2 buttons on the back that I often would hit since they are placed on the grips of the controller where my fingers would rest. Hence, any tense or quick moments that occur in my game tends to make me grip the controller tighter, forcing me to press one of the grip buttons.

With the Afterglow controller, I do not have this problem. 2. The placement of the plus, minus, photo and home buttons on the controller are too confusingly close together; granted, I’m coming primarily from a primarily Xbox player, but I constantly get them confused and end up pressing the wrong one if I don’t look down at the controller for the button I want to press.

Again, the Afterglow controller is preferable because the home and photo button are placed much higher away and further away from the plus and minus buttons on this PowerA Controller. Aside from these 2 reasons/comparisons, this controller was functional and worth it if you are on a very tight budget (under 20 bucks).

There were no errors or problems I had with this controller from the 1-2 weeks I was using it (about 20 hours total playtime).

This controller is very functional for several reasons. It is a great backup that never needs a charge when the wireless controllers run out of battery. It also is much more comfortable and ergonomic to hold when playing more immersive games like Mario.

The small switch remotes can be uncomfortable to use for long periods of time and the buttons are too close together, so this controller is a great alternative. I love the changing rainbow backlights, they are super cool.

I also love the grip of the controller, the texture keeps it from slipping out of my hands. I also don’t mind using a wired controller either this one, because the cord is very long so it reaches to my couch with no problems.

Highly recommend this remote (or maybe even 2) for anyone with a Nintendo Switch.

TL:DR – Great controller for PC players and the Switch Pro controller design is real nice. Build quality is cheap so may be a good idea to buy two when around the 15. 99 mark. Great for Devil May Cry 5 too! Can’t speak of long term reliability, but the controller has survived a solid week of Devil May Cry 5 gameplay.

If you don’t know what that is lookup the kind of combos people pull off; it’s a great test of controller durability and input latency since some moves require frame perfect inputs. Build quality is.

okay for the price range. Can’t complain at sub $20 on sale and the screenshot button is a treat on Steam games. Yes, this controller can be used on PC with little to no issues (no issues in my case).

Compared to the Xbox and dual-shock controllers Nintendo really nailed a good balance between comfort and usability. Triggers are quite short, but let you pull of very easy strings of presses. The buttons have very low actuation while most other controllers have a bit more distance before the button presses and the sticks feel nice.

The two programmable back buttons are a treat too, but wish you could do create macros though excellent when in use for hard to reach buttons you need to hold down or for dpad inputs. Be warned, the controller from a feel perspective is very meh, but in use is more than enough.

The super long USB cable is great and if you have any devices that use that port you’re in luck. Cable length alone is probably as much as the controller! Only issues I have with it are how long before the controller breaks down or develops issues.

I have soldering experience so if it does I can just order new parts, but for the average user it may be a good idea to pick up two when they are on sale and call it a day till both break.

This controller is fine for Smash. People have no idea. It’s the gamecube adapter itself that causes issues. We swapped to 2 of these instead and for 100s of hrs have had no phantom inputs. The pads are responsive and are great especially with the home and capture buttons.

I have had to replace one however and too much mashing made the replaceble stick crack the connecting shell. I love the idea of replacable sticks at first but now I think it would be better with a basic gamecube stick placement permanently.

It would also be good to be able to aquire replacement rubber membranes as on the old pad I had also split the A button, making it feel mushy. Overall great for general gameplay and great for smash but be very careful when abusing them.

I bought this controller in the hopes that I would be a good replacement for the GameCube controllers that I use to play Super Smash Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch. I have been wearing out the left joystick on the old controllers, so I was happy to see that this controller had a replacement stick included.

At first, I had trouble getting used to the size, though I like the controller being a bit bigger than the GameCube controller, but now that I’m used to it, I notice the A button sticking down long after I take my thumb off the button.

This affects gameplay quite a bit in Smash Brothers, and my 18-year-old GameCube controllers have never had this problem, at least not to the point where it couldn’t be solved with a little cleaning.

I wish it had a rumble feature like the old GameCube controllers, too. If I could get the A button to work like it should, I would change my rating to four stars.

I had the misfortune of having my left joycon start to drift pretty badly, and since it was right when the coronavirus came in full swing, I knew sending off my joycons for repair wasn’t the best idea right now.

So I decided to buy another controller to use in the meantime, but I wasnt up to spend a ton of money on a pro controller, or new joycons, and I was wary of buying third party controllers since quality wasnt always as high and there could be a switch update that could render them useless.

I decided on this controller cause it was the cheapest nintendo branded one in the store, and I’ve played on gamecube controllers before and they’re very enjoyable to use imo. I’ve had this controller for over a month and have pretty much no complaints, its so fun to use I’m planning on getting the wireless version in the future since I know I’ll love it.

The only complaints I have is that the plastic shell isnt as sturdy as I’d like, since I can feel some very small movement between the top n bottom pieces. It also doesn’t have rumble or an NFC reader, and if you’re playing something like Mario odyssey you most likely wont be able to do any of the moves that require shaking the joycons.

Also for anyone concerned that the C stick would make some games harder to play since it wouldnt feel like a normal joystick, the controller comes with a spare normal joystick top that you can swap the C stick part out for.

Overall, if you need a cheap switch controller n dont mind losing some extra features the joycons have, I completely recommend this controller.

I own a Gold color PowerA wireless GameCube controller. It’s a solid controller, nice weight, good button feedback and decent joysticks. My problems unfortunately outweigh the positives. The D-Pad. The D-pad is extremely sensitive, when putting inputs in if you even slightly move your finger to the side a right or left, or up and down input will be put in.

While this is annoying not many games have problems with this, save for some like Monster Hunter Rise, but still, it’s a bit disappointing. My second gripe, is the left stick. The left stick has only recently begun to give me major problems.

It will begin to drift off target, usually downwards and can be extremely annoying to deal with. I’ve found that simply firmly pressing down on the joystick can fix this, but only temporarily until it begins to drift again.

My third gripe, the ZR and ZL buttons. Not only are they not analog as advertised but they are the single loudest thing I have heard come from a controller, minus Wiimote speakers. The obnoxious click is sure to distract your opponent in any Smash tournament, and disrupt anyone wherever you are.

The response to them is also flawed. Without a full press you are not inputting anything, though this is only a minor problem that can simply be remedied with practice it is still irritating. My next gripe is back to the joysticks.

The brackets for the joysticks don’t line up perfectly. When doing a joystick calibration check before writing this I was again realized that the gates for the joysticks are off by a significant margin.

This is not the end of the world, but if playing Melee through an emulator this will be sure to rear it’s ugly head. Another slight gripe. The right ZR button is now making this squeak sound whenever pressed down, most likely due to some sort of spring squeaking.

That’s all I’ve got to say. It’s an ok controller with some major issues that should have been avoided, but for casual and nostalgic players, this is an ok controller. It plays well with PC and Switch with bluetooth capabilities.

And one piece of advice for any possible purchasers, this controller is classified as a pro controller on the Switch, so when changing button mapping in smash make sure to switch controls from there.

Love the GameCube feel. Some ppl say it doesn’t feel like the original, but after not having picked up a GameCube controller for many years, who cares! For being a nintendo switch official controller, it’s the cheapest one out there, yet fantastic quality and definitely my favorite.

Will hope to buy another in the future. Only complaint is no rechargeable batteries or way to charge the controller, but that is normal to not have with switch pro controllers.

I got this controller when I knew my 6 yr old daughter was getting a Nintendo switch from her dad and me for Christmas. I love this controller. The controllers that come with the switch are nice, but this controller is more familiar to me.

I’m 32 I grew up with controllers you had to hold with both hands. It very comfortable. The connection to the Nintendo switch console was extremely easy. It literally only took like 30 seconds if that.

I was a little worried it would be to big for my 6 yr old daughter’s tiny little hands. It fits perfect. It’s weird how it fits perfect in an adult’s hand and a child’s hand. I would definitely recommend getting this PowerA gamecube wireless controller for Nintendo switch.

The controller is honestly better than the official pro controller in my honest opinion. I’m not a diehard gamecube fanatic or a super competitive smash player so this is coming from someone who uses the controller for general use.

It’s super great for some motion control titles like Mario Galaxy in the 3D AllStars collection. I love gyro aim with the controller so BOTW was great. You might get drift, I did but it went away somehow.

PowerA offers a replacement incase you get drift but thats a lot of mailing back and forth or something (I never submitted a claim so I wouldnt know) so keep that in mind.

Pros: Better alternative for those who don’t like the tiny joycon buttons. Works great, I have not had any issues with it. Easy to pair. The controller art is nice. Cheaper than the Switch Pro controller.

Cons: It feels light. Not a lot of weight to it which makes it feel like a cheap plastic toy. No headset jack. Batteries drain pretty quickly depending on how much you use this.

I was surprised how nice this controller is. Everything is honestly well through out and well placed. There is a nice micro texture that makes the grip more comfortable. I like the option of having the rear paddles as optional buttons but how I grip the controller make it less useful for me.

I’m sure other people would enjoy it! The changeable height of the joystick is very much appreciated. I’m hoping more accessories manufacturers will take into consideration not everyone has the same size hands PDP does a great job here.

The audio port option is nice to play some games without having the audio blasting out of the TV or switch. The mic quality depends on what kind of mic you have but its greatly appreciated. This such a nice upgrade over the pro controller which doesn’t have an audio port option at all! Overall for the price the controller is unbeatable.

I find this nicer than the pro controller I don’t care for the wireless options or the rumble pack in the pro controller so this wired option from PDP works perfect for me.

I purchased this controller November 2020 for a great price and wrote a review. I promised to write a review after a year Plus of use and I am here to deliver on that promise. TLDR; This controller can’t be beat when it comes to features, value and build.

Similar priced items don’t have the Paddles. To even get similar paddles your looking at a sweaty $100+ scuf with a bunch of bells and whistles middle range users like me don’t really need. I was at a loss at finding a good middle ground controller until I ran into these.

Why these paddles are not standard is beyond me. Now unto the real reason for the review – Build Quality. 2 years of using this controller grinding warzone with try hard slide canceling movement, maximizing my FPS potential and the paddle buttons are as responsive as ever.

The right joystick is a little loose but still very much playable. The timed test is in and this bad boy is still kicking strong. I just purchased another one to keep for when this model gets discontinued.

This Switch controller is great! It fits nicely in your hands and is very similar to the Pro controllers and an Xbox controller. The textured plastic is also nice and not slippery like some other controllers.

The interchangeable faces are cool if you have different faces to use and it is very easy to take the face off. It comes with a “precision” joystick, but I don’t really notice a difference when using it to play – it is a taller joystick though.

The back programmable paddle buttons are cool, but I can’t seem to find a great purpose for them. It would be awesome if you could program a button combination, but you can only do a single button. You can also change the volume on your plugged-in headphones but pushing the function button and the up or down D-pad keys – a nice feature if you use headphones.

Overall, this is a great controller, albeit corded, that seems to have great manufacturability and very easy to setup.

Bought these as an inexpensive way to play in handheld mode until Satisfye can make a grip to fit the new OLED and I have to say, I love them and I will probably still be using them even after Satisfye drops their grip in November.

It truly has the feeling of a Pro Controller but in handheld mode. I wish they would make a Pro version with rumble, and motion controldont really care about the Amiibo reader function. As an adult male 61 its nice to have controllers that fit your hands and dont make it where you feel cramped.

Have literally used these to play for hours with Metroid Dread and never once suffered any type of hand fatigue. Also built quality is also excellent. Its a wonderful surprise when you buy something on a whim to hold you over and you realize just how great the product actually it.

Makes handling the Switch so much better and comfortable when not docked, especially if going handheld for a while. I have small hands so it seemed a little bulky/big but it wasn’t really a problem. It still felt right in my hands and just overall you much better grip than Joycons (you can hold on one end with actual leverage).

It does add a considerable width to the Switch but unless you’re gaming in tight spaces or you’re swinging it around, not really an issue. Another thing I wanted to point out that I first noticed and worried me a bit was that it was very light.

Shouldn’t be surprised considering that there’s no haptic feedback on this but I was still expecting a bit of weight to it. Regardless, it functions well and makes handheld gaming much more comfortable so in the end, not really an issue.

This controller serves as a solid replacement for the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. It’s wired, so you never have to charge it, but the cable isn’t super long if you’re playing in a bigger space, so keep that in mind! Now it’s not the same size as a pro controller; it’s a bit smaller on the side grips.

While that might be perfect for you if you’re getting this for your child or if you have smaller hands, I found it somewhat hard to use for an extended period of time since I have relatively large hands.

I love that you can detach the cable if you’re not using the controller. That makes storage pretty simple. If you’re in the market for a switch controller, it gets my recommendation!.

My better half and I love our NS, and we love to travel with it every chance we get. The one thing that we missed while playing was an actual controller, so we were elated with this Rock Candy Wired Controller for our NS.

She has on the smaller size hands, and my hands are the opposite in size. However, we both feel comfortable in handling the thumb sticks and shoulder buttons. We thought maybe we’d feel a bit of lag with it being corded (included with the controller), but alas, our fears were allayed.

Love the look of the body of this controller with its frost white yet clear shell. Nice compact size for us to travel with or simply sit on the couch passing time playing on our NS.

First off, I appreciate the detachable 8 foot cable that’s included. It allows enough room to play and store away comfortably. The clear hard shell is super cool to see all the inner wires and stuff.

The controller is smaller then a the typical game controllers for other gaming consoles. But it’s still easy to play on and easy to set up. It does the job and seems sturdy. Everything works pretty decent.

Doesn’t have the fancy extra stuff like others I used before, but it has everything you need to play your games. Honestly it’s pretty nice.

This pad is a bargain, and I mean that in the most positive sense. It’s not as perfectly-weighted as a first-party pro controller, and sometimes doesn’t wake+pair quite as quickly, but it’s a joy to use and the notched/gated control sticks are wonderful for many games beyond Smash.

(It’s not ideal for free-aim stuff like Metroid Dread, but overall I enjoy the gating. ) Battery life and change speed are great, rumble is good and strong, and the buttons are an interesting GameCube-flavored take on the traditional SNES cross layout, which feels more natural than it looks.

The large A and B buttons don’t have the sleek GameCube gloss or convexity, but that takes nothing away from how well they work. I get no use out of the extra “S” button, but it doesn’t hurt anything.

Highly recommended. Even if gated sticks and different-sized buttons aren’t to your taste, as a “spare” controller it’s still a complete bargain.

The sticks are great, the buttons are okay. Getting the controller to connect to pc was a bit of a nightmare. In retrospect i don’t really understand the point of the macro considering they can’t be used in competitive play, but i figured at least the button would be remappable for other fighting games (having 5 face buttons sounded appealing).

Alas, it was not, making it kind of a useless feature that only made navigating the controller while playing games needlessly confusing. The materials are light and dont feel the most quality or hefty, but that’s not too bad, kinda nice to an extent.

The shape and notches combined are pretty good! I just don’t really get why this was done as well as the macro for the reasons mentioned above. It’s both good for serious play but also straight up illegal and gives you an advantage.

Solid and kinda fun controller, just really confusing in design choice.

I am always hesitant to buy 3rd party controllers. I had heard really good things about Retro Fighters and all of the Tech/Gaming channels that received this controller early had great things to say about it.

So, I took the plunge and bought it. It feels very hollow and cheap in all honesty, much like the third party controllers for the Switch on Amazon. I would honestly not recommend it over the Power A wireless controllers with Gamecube layouts.

Those are not perfect either but they feel better than this controller if you are budgeting.

Considering what its replacing, a brick with the Xbox 360s d-pad glued to it would have been a step up. However, this controller is admittedly a good value. The shoulder buttons and triggers are too mushy for my liking, but the price is right and its light years better than Nintendos official N64 tragedy of a controller.

It has a solid feel. The cord is a good length and well made. Its not stiff and hard to bend/wrap/maneuver like some other controller wires. Feels sturdy. The thumb stick is solid too. Again, cant really argue with the $25 I spent on it.

I hope they make some adjustments to the shoulder buttons and triggers to make them less mushy, and maybe move them further apart, but thats all the complaints I really have.

I love this controller. It has a great joystick and great buttons. My brother preffers this controller over the original because of the smaller design. But there are some problems. The L R and Z buttons are able to pivot on the membrane.

The D pad is mushy. The start button is not in an ideal place to press and the joystick was slightly off to the left. I managed to fix it by pushjng the joystick to the right. Over all not big problems though.

Good for what its worth.

This is a great alternative to the original N64 controller. The stuck is a bit more sensitive than the original, but nothing too jarring. The biggest problem is the size. With big hands it can take awhile to get use to the compact design, and even then your hands will cramp after long playthroughs.

But at 25 dollars, it’s a great value and honestly the size isn’t too big a deal for me personally.

This controller has a better fit and feel to the hands than nintendo brand pro controller. It seems to me that the joystick have a more controlled motion of movement and is not as twitchy as nintendo pro controller.

I really love this controller it is my go to controller now. For the price you can’t beat it. the only negative thing is that it is tricky to sync up with the switch. And you can’t wake up the switch with the home button.

you have to manually turn on the switch and then hold the home button for a couple seconds to turn on and sync the controller. then it works great.

At least half the price of the official offerings, and sits much nicer in the hands than the tiny dock for the joycons that they give you with the switch. Several months after purchase and connection is reliable, and no sign of stick drift.

Sure it could do with some nicer contouring or rubberised grips but then it would cost more – this is a great budget solution.

Returned this product a couple days after purchasing. Controller couldn’t hold a stable connection to console and input through the controller was delayed or non existent. Exchanged this product for wired controllers.

The Good: Premium compact build for smaller hands and great for travel. I bought it for that purpose because I wanted a “travel controller” without losing the handlebars/grips. PowerA is a reliable 3rd-party vendor for licensed game console accessories.

The Bad: Yes, it’s primarily a Switch controller, but technically it should also support PC and Android. I don’t have a Switch so my laptop and phone were what I bought it for. It can’t maintain the bluetooth connection in Win10 even after it’s paired.

You need re-pair every time you turn off the controller. There’s massive lag on Android 11 so it’s unusable. These problems may have more to do with OS support for these other platforms but perhaps as a Switch controller, it would’ve been nice.

I’d read all of the negative reviews about this controller stopping working quickly. But my child loves Animal Crossing, so I bought it anyway. I hoped that we would get a good unit, and thought that the reviews might have been flukes.

Stupid of me. Even worse, I should have known to buy the protection plan. But I didn’t, and of course, our controller stopped working after a few months. We never did use it that much either, as my child lost interest periodically.

So, the controller was very lightly used for most of that time. maybe a week in the beginning, then a week a few months later. and then when we picked it up a couple of months later, it didn’t work. Tried changing the batteries.

twice. but nothing. It’s just “dead. ” I would expect better for this price.