8Bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller with Charging Dock, Wireless Pro Controller with Hall Effect Sensing Joystick, Compatibl

From a casual user/gamer, this thing feels absolutely solid in your hand! D-Pad has a nice solid ‘click’ to it without being mechanically loud like some. Charging base is handy to have, doubles as an extra USB slot which is where the non-bluetooth adapter resides — very cleverly designed. The side paddles on the back can be accidentally triggered depending on your hand size.Bluetooth works just fine, didn’t notice any harsh latency issues but I stuck with 2.4G.Only con I have is it comes in the Nintendo button layout. They don’t buy the Xbox button layout here that I could find so you will need to seek out their store to purchase them. Said buttons are colored unlike the black/white the controller comes with.

Out of all of 8bitdo’s offerings I think this is their best bang for your buck and takes almost everything they learned from the faults and wants of the SN30 Pro to the Pro 2 and created a nearly perfect “pro” controller for the Switch and PC. The inclusion of a 2.4 Dongle and Dock really makes this a hard package to pass. I haven’t really had much experience with 2.4 dongles but it’s been really convenient to just leave the usb in a hub or dock and just pick up and play with the controller without needing to sync or wait for the Bluetooth to connect. The controller it self looks slick and not too big. The Dpad out all the 8bitdo controllers i own, is one of thier better ones. I dont know if they finally fixed thier quality control or what but this dpad is actually accurate to the praise people would say about 8bitdos previous pads unlike some of thier controllers i own. I even opened the controller up took the pad out and back in and it works just as good, something i cant say about the 8bitdo controllers i had to take apart (and a side note this dpad is a differtent make than say a Pro 2 so you cant interchange them)(Another side note but disassembly is eaiser now too). Buttons feel good and the new hall effect thumbstick feel very smooth. The addtions from the Pro 2 like the ultimate software, mode switch toggle and profiles return and are very welcomed. But theres a big issue along with some small stuff i have that bring this controller down so now here come some of my complaints.Despite all the plus sides and features of this controller I don’t think it will ever replace my regularly used controllers like my Xbox One or PS4 and PS5 controller. It’s mostly due to the form factor. The controller in small burst doesn’t seem to bad but for longer sessions (more than 40mins) my hands start to feel bad using it. I pretty sure it’s due to the handles of the controller being angled more inward instead of slightly outwards like the Xbox One and Switch Pro Controller. Specifically when I have to press buttons like A (Switch) it feels awkward to do.Another gripe I have is that the dongle only works for the d input mode and not the Switch mode. It’s not a huge deal to me since I mostly used this controller for PC games but it would have been nice to not have to reconnect for Bluetooth if you plan on using the controller on more than one device.Unlike the back buttons and profile switch feature, a removable battery is not included and is just built in which is a shame cause if the controller battery goes bad your just gonna have to get a new one instead just getting a pack of double a’s or a replacement pack.Some small things I wanted to mention, 1st there’s still no amiibo/nfc support which is not horrible but the Gulikit Controllers do so it’d be nice to have it here too (especially since this version is advertised for the Switch). 2ndly there is no Pink version while the 2.4hrz has a pink varrient I sort of get why but seems a bit odd imoOverall this is certainly 8bitdo’s most feature rich controller, a neat option if your looking for a PC/Switch controller that offers more features than your average 1st Party controller and dont already have multiple controllers. However, the form factor really hurts this controller for me to the point I only see this controller as a novelty/set dressing compared to an 1st party Xbox or Switch Controller. It’s great as a guest controller since it’s smaller than most similarly sized controllers and the 2.4 dongle makes it quick and easy to pick up and use wireleslly.I kind of hope 8bitdo do a mold/model update to this controller with a better form factor cause I really did want to like this controller despite preferring symmetrical thumbstick layout for controllers. I really like that this looks more like an originally designed controller instead of just being a SNES controller but with handles slapped on (though i wouldnt mind a M30 but with handles and analouge sticks, an M30 Pro).Plus I wish 8bitdo did more color options like they used to do, I get that these controllers cost more than something like the n30 sf30 but the wired options are cheaper. I think it wouldn’t be too bad of an idea to offer more colors for the wired options. Most controllers already come in black or white, it would set thier controllers apart more from others and even add more reasons to buy them.

If you’re looking a single controller to share between PC and Switch, this is one to look at. This controller is essentially a hybrid of an Xbox Series controller and a Switch Pro controller – built much like the former but with features that allow it to used as the latter. While it does work very well as a hybrid controller for both platforms, there are some limitations that could leave some people wanting in terms of using it on other platforms, or using features of one platform on the other.Pros:Build quality and button feel is good – very similar to the Xbox Series controller. It features all your standard buttons and sticks, plus two extra buttons on the back that can be mapped via 8BitDo’s software. This also applies to all other buttons on the controller, and the controller allows setting three separate mapping profiles. There are a whole plethora of other things that can be configured to the profiles via the software, such as stick and trigger sensitivity, vibration intensity, and button macros.The controller also features Hall effect magnetic sticks, which are theoretically immune to the drift issues that plague so many controllers nowadays, however I cannot personally confirm or deny this.The D-pad is very solid and is a MASSIVE improvement over the terrible one on the Switch Pro controller.Gyro controls seem to work well on Switch, though I haven’t done any extensive 1:1 comparison with the Pro controller or Joy-Cons.Pairing on PC and Switch was mostly painless and switching between the two after pairing is more or less seamless. The only issue was that when I initially paired it to my PC, it was recognized as a Pro controller and didn’t work at all, however after completely rebooting the controller it properly registered as an XInput controller.The controller comes with a charging dock, which is a very nice bonus inclusion. Typically an accessory like that would be a separate purchase. Another very nice thing about it is that is actually acts as a hub for the 2.4g receiver, so instead of plugging the receiver into your PC, you simply plug the dock into the PC instead and the receiver works through the dock. The controller is also smart enough to sleep when placed in the dock, which is very convenient.Cons:Probably the biggest con here is the big lack of flexibility this controller provides compared to other 8BitDo controllers. The Bluetooth and 2.4g modes may has well have been called Switch and PC modes, because that’s essentially what they are. The controller appears to only work as a Pro controller over Bluetooth, and only as an XInput controller over 2.4g. No (at least explicit) DInput or Mac modes here. No gyro on PC over 2.4g, either. However this doesn’t necessarily mean that the controller doesn’t work on other platforms. I’ve seen reports that it does work on Steam Deck over Bluetooth, though getting it to may be a bit fiddly. I’m not sure whether or not it acts as a Pro controller in that scenario, however if it does then it’s likely that the analog triggers will only work as digital triggers on Steam Deck. This it just a guess, however. You can also connect it to an Android phone over Bluetooth, but I’ve heard that whether or not it actually works depends on the game you’re playing. Can’t speak to how well it works on Mac, if at all.A/B/X/Y buttons are in Switch layout instead of Xbox layout, and cannot be physically changed around. Note that this doesn’t affect their functionality at all – when in 2.4g mode on PC the B button will still work as the A button, and so on. It’s just that the layout may be visually confusing for some but there’s not much that can be done about that as long as the platforms continue to have different button layouts.No HD Rumble on Switch. As far as I know this doesn’t exist in any third party controller for Switch at all, but I don’t know if it would have been impossible for them to include. Regardless, it is a bit of a letdown, as games that utilize its capabilities produce a not-so-great feeling on the standard vibration motors this controller has.Rumble interferes with gyro. I can’t fathom how they overlooked this but if the controller is rumbling while using gyro aiming it will mess with the gyroscope and throw off your aim. However, severity depends on the intensity and pattern of the rumble. Aiming a bow in Monster Hunter Rise is affected pretty badly whereas aiming while riding an inkrail in Splatoon 3 is still noticeably affected but more manageable.No NFC support, so no using Amiibo with this controller. Not really a con for me since I don’t use them, but for those who do, be aware.So-so:The analog triggers are a bit of a double-edged sword. They’re good to have for PC games, but the Switch has digital triggers, so some games that are designed with them in mind may not feel as good on analog triggers. One example would be Splatoon 3, where a certain weapon type attacks by rapidly pressing the right trigger, which feels much better on a digital trigger. They don’t feature any sort of adjustable locking mechanism like the Xbox Elite controller either, so they can’t really be “converted” to digital triggers. The best you can do is adjust the sensitivity via the configuration software so that they activate earlier or later in the press.Oddities:The sticks behave a bit oddly in PC calibration tools, but I’m not sure whether or not it’s really an issue. Spinning them in a circle along the edge of the stick doesn’t produce a perfect circle, with the stick moving outside of the circle in the calibration monitor at some points. However in practice the sticks seem to work fine, so I’m unsure if there’s any issue here.The controller can wake the Switch, but it’s not detailed in any documentation and it’s a bit odd. Basically you have to wake the controller and then shake it a bit. After that the Switch should wake, but even after that the controller takes a second or two to fully connect.