Given the company’s history with controllers developing drift issues, the Switch Pro 2 gamepad might not be your best choice. | Image: iFixit
iFixit has shared a full teardown video of the Switch 2 Pro controller and is not impressed by how difficult it is to access the $85 accessory’s internal components, including its rechargeable battery that will inevitably lose its ability to hold a charge over time.
The online repair site goes so far as to call the Pro 2 a “piss-poor excuse for a controller” for several different reasons. Opening the controller requires you to first forcefully remove a faceplate held in place by adhesive tape before a single screw is visible. But you’ll need to extract several other parts and components, including the controller’s mainboard, before its battery is even accessible.
As previously revealed, the Pro 2 is still using older potentiometer-based joysticks that are prone to developing drift over time. They do feature a modular design that will potentially make them easier to swap with third-party Hall effect or TMR replacements, but reassembling the controller after that DIY upgrade will require you to replace all the adhesive tape you destroyed during disassembly.
There are cheaper alternatives to the Switch 2 Pro controller that offer additional functionality, better performance, and more longevity with durable joysticks and batteries that are easy to replace.
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The Switch 1 Pro Controller had plenty of issues too. I have to wonder if the Switch 2 Pro Controller has the same janky d-pad issue that basically every Switch 1 Pro Controller (except the ones modified by end consumers to fix the issue) had.
Did it? I love the switch one pro controllers I have. They have been great since day one
It's usually not terribly noticeable except on certain games (I think Celest was one example I heard) or if you're speedrunning (which was why it bothered me so much specifically). Basically, pressing one of the D-pad buttons can often register a different D-pad input even if the operator of the controller presses in exactly the correct part of the D-pad.
The way the D-pad is constructed is that the part your finger makes contact with is a plastic piece that pivots about a "post" and when you tip it one direction or another far enough, it presses on a pressure pad on the controller's motherboard. The problem is just that the "post" is about... maybe half a millimeter shorter than it ought to be, so it pivots a little less than it should and pancakes a little more than it should, resulting in the wrong pressure pad being hit.
That's already way more info than you asked for. Lol. But if you want even more info, this YouTube video has a simple fix and this 3D-printable part on Thingiverse is about a more sophisticated fix. I've tried both and can confirm the latter is a little bit better in my experience. The former fixed the misinput issue, but made D-pad down a bit less responsive. The latter, I have no complaints about.
Thanks. Yeah I hadn't noticed this issue but I feel like I will now lol