Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller Review: Nintendo’s Best Controller Ever

Nintendo could’ve phoned in the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller by slapping a few new buttons on its Switch 1 counterpart. Instead, the company revamped every inch of that design, resulting in an innovative gamepad that boasts the smoothest joysticks on the market.

Brand

Nintendo

Platform

Nintendo Switch 2

Battery

1070 mAh

Connectivity

Bluetooth, Wired, NFC (for amiibo)

The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro is a welcome upgrade from the original, with chunky buttons, and two extra triggers at the back that are remappable. Additionally, it has the same functions as Joy Con 2, minus being a mouse.

Pros & Cons

• Uniquely smooth analog sticks
• Ergonomic and texturally comfortable
• Per-game back paddle software customization
• Internal microphone and a headphone jack
• Bigger, more tactile buttons
• Long battery life

• Sticks aren’t Hall effect or TMR
• Expensive

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Price and Availability

The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller retails for $84.99 and comes with a USB-C charging cable.

Ergonomic Design at Its Finest

The extent to which the Switch 2 Pro Controller improves over its predecessor is immediately felt from the second your hands clasp around it.

While I loved the original Switch Pro Controller for eight long years, my core issues with it were never quelled. In particular, its small grips forced my middle, ring, and pinky fingers to squash together. The Switch 2 Pro Controller solves this problem completely by adjusting the grips to ride further up the pad’s backside. It also took inspiration from the GameCube controller by slimming the grips, something I learned from Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It also helps the controller naturally guide your middle or ring fingers to the back paddles.

The Switch 2 Pro Controller is a touch smaller than its predecessor, making these upgrades to the grip critical to still comfortably fit all hand sizes. To this same end, nearly every component has increased in size, from the face buttons to the joysticks to the D-pad. Because my fingers had to stretch less to reach buttons, it allowed for faster inputs than were feasible on the original Pro Controller. It’s a subtle difference that makes a tangible impression.

The controller’s soft plastic casing is easy on the hands and mercifully breathable. If you’re prone to sweaty palms, this is going to be a massive boon for you. I also admire Nintendo’s new design philosophy of removing contact points between hands and connective grooves in the plastic. Gone are the days of your hands rubbing up against the gaps between the Switch Pro Controller’s body and grips, ingraining muck into the crevices. I don’t foresee this controller needing the same cleaning my Switch 1 Pro Controllers do.

Uniformly Better Buttons and Sticks

Given the prominent issue of drift in the Switch 1’s controllers, people were understandably disappointed to learn that the Switch 2’s updated models wouldn’t employ Hall effect or TMR sticks. It’s impossible to say if Nintendo’s alternative solution will end up more durable, but one thing’s for sure: they feel smoother than any joysticks I’ve ever used, enough so that I’d consider them transformative.

Dubbed as “smooth-gliding sticks” by Nintendo, these joysticks have a ring of soft material around their base that prevents them from ever hitting the plastic casing. This creates the sensation that they’re endlessly coasting around the edges of their travel points without any clacking or hitching. If I had to find a point of comparison, I’d say this feels akin to a long drift in Mario Kart World, a comparison that underscores why that launch game feels so damn good when played on the Switch 2 Pro Controller.

All of this said, I do wish Nintendo could’ve implemented this stick design while still using magnetic sensors. If they prove to drift with regularity, it’ll undermine all the advancements made.

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I’ve already mentioned how most buttons on the controller have been enlarged, but what’s even more important is how much more tactile they feel. Any mushiness found in the prior Pro Controller has been eliminated. This is most prevalent in the bumpers and triggers, which have a calculatedly soft click without feeling either rigid or squishy. Speaking of triggers, they’re digital yet again, though this is more a Switch 2 problem dictated by the Joy-Con form factor and how games are designed around that. It precludes full compatibility with some PC games, but at present there’s no way to connect this to your PC, nor is it the intended functionality of this product.

Aside from the “C” button used to access GameChat, the back paddles are the major new addition to the Switch 2 Pro Controller’s button lineup. Normally, I find myself ignoring paddles due to the frustrations of having to remap them within clunky third-party software, but Nintendo found a perfect solution to that problem by adding that functionality to the side panel accessed by holding down the home button. Not only does this make remapping quick and easy, but paddles are also mapped on a per-game basis rather than a handful of profiles. This should be the new gold standard for paddle remapping on all future consoles. This same feature is also available in the much cheaper Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip.

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Ready-Made for the Switch 2’s New Features

Easy paddle remapping is the marquee feature for this gamepad, but there are also a number of other ways in which the new Pro Controller makes the Switch 2 experience better.

If you use the Switch 2’s GameChat feature, this controller is the perfect companion. It includes a microphone so your Switch 2’s doesn’t need to capture your voice from across the room, and a 3.5 mm audio jack if you’d rather use a headset of your own or just listen to game audio through headphones.

The improved HD rumble is also a bonus, just as it is in the Joy-Con 2. While innovations in rumble technology are starting to deliver diminishing returns, it’s still a notable step beyond what the original Switch Pro Controller is capable of. An NFC scanner is also present for anyone who uses amiibo, just as has been true of Nintendo controllers across the past three hardware generations.

I was also glad to see that the Switch 2 Pro Controller retained its predecessor’s long battery life. It took a handful of days of regular use until I needed a charge, so forgetting to plug it in overnight doesn’t have to put the kibosh on your nightly gaming session. This said, given the high price of the controller, it would’ve been nice to have seen a charging dock included.

It’s also worth noting that the Switch 2 Pro Controller can turn on the Switch 2 console while the original model can’t. While technically a point in the new gamepad’s favor, both should have this core functionality, and I hope Nintendo addresses it in a firmware update.

Should You Buy the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller?

There’s no question that the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller is the premiere Switch 2 gamepad. At the same time, $84.99 is a lot to stomach. You can get still-exceptional third-party alternatives like the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 for a lower price, and that particular controller comes with the benefit of long-lasting TMR sticks.

However, if money isn’t a factor, treat yourself to the Switch 2 Pro Controller. Between its best-in-class ergonomics, per-game back paddle customization, and sublimely smooth joysticks, this thing is packed with killer features that will quickly come to define your Switch 2 experience. It pretty easily clears the high bar of being Nintendo’s best controller ever.

Brand

Nintendo

Platform

Nintendo Switch 2

Battery

1070 mAh

Connectivity

Bluetooth, Wired, NFC (for amiibo)

The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro is a welcome upgrade from the original, with chunky buttons, and two extra triggers at the back that are remappable. Additionally, it has the same functions as Joy Con 2, minus being a mouse.