Hori Nintendo Switch Split Pad Pro (Red) Ergonomic Controller for Handheld Mode - Officially Licensed By Nintendo

Okay seriously? For less than 50 bucks I completely transformed my Switch experience with just these 2 things?No seriously, the switch was either made purely for kids or people with tiny dainty fingers because the joycons are just annoying. I have decent man-size hands not sausage fingers or anything. I'm a guitarist so my fingers are more formed than normal with a few callouses but I cannot enjoy the joycons, I can't even use the plus and minus buttons because they are so tiny.Now, I had my reservations, after seeing all the reviews and YouTube comparisons I seriously thought I'd try them and have to return them in a week or so. C'mon! Who in their right mind can be so objective about these! They're great! These are what the switch should have been released with. Then again my niece can't play because of her tiny fingers but hey such an expensive fragile system shouldn't even be for kids anyways.Here's my real review now...Right off the bat they're not THAT big, if anything they're the perfect size for me and I would imagine most other consumers. Most YouTube D-bags immediately point out the size and bulkiness. That's not the case at all. The box they came in was pretty compact. First impressions I was surprised how ergonomic they were all while not being so bulky. The back makes it look and feel slimmer as compared to the top. It feels GREAT when in handheld mode. A lot of complaints immediately go to how long it makes the switch and how weird it is to get used to. For me I was immediately comfortable but maybe that's just me. Another complaint I heard was that the buttons were "mushy" (their words not mine). If you're not a fan of the clickety buttons of the joycons this is a MAJOR improvement. The buttons actually feel like a gaming controller's buttons if not better. The triggers while not like a ps4 controller they still feel great and while not sensitive like the joycons they are both ergonomic and tactile. I click them just for fun that's how good they feel. Now... The analog sticks or however you want to call them are probably the biggest change from the joycons. While the joycons are of a different design in how movement works on the sticks, on the Hori Pad they feel like a gaming controller should! I tried playing something like Borderlands remastered with the joycons or other shooters and it's just not comfortable at all at least not until the Hori Split Pad Pro came into the picture and knocked it out of the park. While not perfect like a ps4 controller the improvement is very visible.Okay now the weight... With the Hori Pad the weight is kinda awkwardly dispersed. Because it makes the overall Switch longer it's obvious how the weight can be affected. The Hori Split Pad controllers are really light in their own so when fully attached it's the screen that feels heavier. Because of the weight difference I recommend holding the switch from the middle in the screen I feel really insecure about electronics to I don't want to stress where the Hori connects. Though it IS very secure and doesn't get loose or creak like the joycons I still don't wanna risk anything so that's me.The added adaptive buttons on the back... They're confusing at first I thought you could customize any button to be registered to the back/bottom triggers it's actually just the top triggers of the Hori Pad while that's slightly disappointing I don't mind as I love the Hori Pad overall itself that the adaptive triggers don't bother me and I rarely use them. It's still a okayish bonus though. Also the turbo buttons I don't really use because I have no idea how it works. Sounds complicated so I don't even notice it's there half the time. Another okay bonus.What else... Okay, Battery life. I hear a bunch of people complain about the battery life that the Hori Pad sucks from the console itself is too much. In my opinion that doesn't seem to make the case. If anything I really didn't notice any huge battery life difference. I charge all my devices diligently either way to make sure I have stuff charged for my day but that I notice any difference in battery life? I don't. I know they joycons have their own battery life and whatnot but let's be honest the switch overall batter life is not so great. Either way I don't spend hours a day playing I work on the road independently doing deliveries so I play on my off times and sometimes after I get home from work.Some negative stuff that's hard to swallow because I love this accessory so much...Unfortunately... Because the switch is so long now and slightly bigger it's harder to have it be more portable. It's very cumbersome and carrying it around with the Hori Split Pad Pro attached is just annoying. Back then I bought a case from Spigen and it helped a lot in portability and comfort I could carry it in my hoodie pocket and just carry it around there or in my switch backpack. Unfortunately with the Hori Pad you'd need a specialized case which I bought but still it doesn't help so much in portability. It's like carrying around a tablet. Which is why I resort to removing the Hori Pad when I am going on a trip or something to help in portability. Just means I have to put up with the horrible joycons. Another small defect in the Hori Pad is that compared to the screen width the Hori controllers are thicker and they're slightly raised a couple centimeters from the screen. Not a huge issue it just looks funny. I can easily ignore this though considering the split pad has it's own stand feature connected on each controller. So instead of having the controllers flat on a table and rolling around maybe it stands on its own slightly. Here's another downside. (Almost forgot) NO HD RUMBLE AND NOT MOTION TRACKING. That's a big one and I understand for a lot of people it's a huge problem. While it doesn't bother me much because I don't care much for the rumble (it's not good compared to the ps4 and xbox controller rumble) and also with the improved analog sticks, you don't really need motion tracking anymore I can say that honestly. I only hope that when and if they make a new model of the Hori split pad pro with all these problems fixed I would gladly pay $50 maybe $60 dollars for another type of controllers like these.Overall, the Hori Split Pad Pro should be a must have. It solves a lot of the issues in design of the Switch and Joycons in itself. Considering that for about $40+ bucks you can get a much better gaming experience overall with your switch console AND have a reliable and comfortable new design to compliment your playstyle I'd say this a steal and a no brainer.Because let's be honest, the joycons suck. You're definitely gonna be happier with these on your switch and you'll notice all the positives instantly. I cannot recommend these enough. Btw I took my time with this review, I've owned these a couple weeks now and I'm still happy with them. I want another pair in another color now... I tried to be as detailed as possible because I hate when reviews leave out a lot of stuff and don't give you the right idea of a product before you buy so thanks if you got this far. Good luck may this item help in your quest!

Very good, easy to grip. It has automatic turbo button to assign. No joy- con drift and easy to use.

Three years ago, my joy-cons suffered the dreaded drift curse and left it impossible to play my Switch. To save money I bought some 3rd Party controllers to play while docked, but I still needed something for handheld mode. I found out about the HORI Split pad pro and I bought the Daemon X Machina edition. I loved using it over the Joy-Cons because of the comfort of a bigger controller, the grips and the best feature in my opinion…an actual D-Pad (made fighting & classic games so much easier to play).The downside of the Hori pads is that they don’t have rumble, gyro/motion controls or are capable of reading Amiibos. It’s a bummer for games like Breath of the wild and most likely Tears of the Kingdom, where gyro is necessary.But I find that most games don’t use those features anyway. They also don’t have their own power source like the joy-cons and apparently pull power from the switch itself while in use. I haven’t noticed a significant difference in battery life when using them and it isn’t a problem. The Hori pads also have mappable back buttons and a turbo mode option. I haven’t had a reason to use those features, so I can’t speak on how well they work.One of the things I’ve heard so many people praise Hori controllers for, is drift resistance. For three years I didn’t have issues with drifting…until recently. Anything dependent on the analog stick would plummet to the bottom of the screen. I don’t know if it’s just manufacturing or design issues, but drift seems to be nearly unavoidable now (I keep my controllers in cases to avoid dust accumulation)Reluctantly, I bought a replacement (Volcanic Red).You’re probably wondering why I still chose to give 5 stars for a product that might repeat what’s happened in the past. Well I honestly can’t be certain that it’ll happen again. Maybe drift is just an unfortunate chance that will happen with new generation controllers (Xbox & PS5 controllers drift as well). My Joy-cons lasted for 3 years as well.But a part of why I still gave 5 stars, is how better the overall feel is of my new Hori pads. They feel more comfortable to hold and the inputs feel more responsive than my Daemon edition. This actually makes me look forward to using them more. Since my Daemon edition was the first wave of split pad controllers, it’s possible the newer controllers have been made better. Update: After several more days of use, yes the inputs are much better than my older model.

Great quality and fits perfectly in the palm of the hands

The lack of being able to remap the main buttons is a little aggravating. I know it's a weird gripe but still feel it should be noted