Wireless Pro Game Controller for Switch Review

When my Joy-Con started to drift - an issue still unrecognised by Nintendo of Europe - I decided that I needed a replacement. However, since the expensive official Joy-Cons had a known issue - the aforementioned Joy-Con Drift - I wasn’t about to spend money on those. So, I went for a cheap alternative from a website that ships directly from China - the Wireless Pro Game Controller for Switch.

Sure, it took three weeks to arrive due to customs, and in the meantime I had managed to repair the issue using a toolkit purchased from the same website, but heck why not have a second set of Joy-Cons?

Inside the box you’ll find both a left and a right Joy-Con-style controller, as well as a double-ended USB-C cable to charge them. There’s also a user guide, translated kinda poorly into English. It describes how to connect either one or both sides to the Switch, and it’s just a case of turning it on whilst in the Controller options menu. It also mentions updating the Wireless Pro, but with no details how.

The build quality of the controllers is surprisingly solid, to say it cost less than half the price of the Nintendo ones. All of the buttons click when pushed, they don’t wobble a noticeable amount more than the official ones, and the thumbsticks move perfectly well. I will admit that the clicking is a little louder than on the official Joy-Cons, though, and the release buttons on the rear are incredibly stiff.

From the images on the store website that I purchased from, the Wireless Pro Game Controller for Switch looked a few centimeters larger than the Joy-Cons. In person, however, they are about one centimetre wider, but no longer and only a touch deeper. The left one slots onto the Switch itself fine, but the right one was a little stiff.

It’s worth noting the Wireless Pro only works wirelessly. They do slide onto the Switch, but they do not charge from it and act as if they are unattached. You need to use the bundled USB cable to charge, and it takes around two hours to charge for around four hours of use.

Whilst playing a game the controls work perfectly, once you get used to pressing the triggers a little harder than usual. The rumble is less subtle than the Joy-Cons, but still works fine. The motion controls also work, at least in Super Mario Odyssey - I haven’t found another game to try them out in. Screenshots and the Home button also work as expected. The only thing that does not work is the NFC reader - so you can’t scan Amiibos using the Wireless Pro Game Controller for Switch.

I’m very happy with the Wireless Pro Game Controller for Switch. It feels solid, works well and I could have bought three of them for the price of one Joy-Con. Even though I didn’t wind up needing to replace my Joy-Con (because, again, I repaired it myself for about a tenner), this would definitely have been a suitable replacement. And now more people can play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at once, so bonus.