Design

• Smaller and lighter than original Pro Controller
• Matte dark grey plastic with glossy light grey accents
• New C, GL and GR buttons

Those familiar with the 2017 Pro Controller will immediately recognise the silhouette the 2025 follow-up strikes; especially with those rounded grips and corners. In spite of this generational coherence though, Nintendo claims (according to Welcome Tour) to have redesigned the Switch 2 Pro Controller “from the ground up”.

The geometry has been slimmed down, with a thinner cross-section and fractionally narrower grips (supposedly inspired by the original GameCube controller). On the one hand, this provides more space for your fingers to rest underneath, without risk of crowding. On the other, the whole controller is fractionally smaller, meaning larger-handed players who already found the original Pro Controller at all cramped, might struggle with prolonged gaming sessions.

In practice though, I loved handling the new Pro Controller. The updated design uses fewer seams, meaning your hands always feel like they’re touching a continuously smooth surface. The lightly-textured plastic used only holds onto sweat for a matter of moments before evaporating, and fewer grooves also mean less dirt accumulation over time; it feels fantastic.

The only caveat is that – as revealed by numerous independent teardowns – a heavier reliance on adhesive makes this generation a little harder to repair at home.

Sure, I miss the translucent smoke black plastic of the previous model, but aesthetically the Switch 2 Pro Controller otherwise looks clean, elegant and functional. The dark grey semi-matte plastic of the body is, this time, nicely contrasted by glossy light grey accents around the base of the thumbsticks and across the entire top face of the controller.

Knowing a few of the Switch 2 titles that are yet to launch, I am also excited to see what special variants of new Pro Controller Nintendo has up its sleeve; perhaps a Metroid Prime 4 edition with purple accents, or a Donkey Kong Bananza flavour with a yellow body?

The elephant in the room here is that the Switch 2 Pro Controller has also gained a few new buttons. On the top face, the new C button sits bottom-centre, just above the new 3.5mm audio jack. This lets you use wired headphones for the Switch 2’s new GameChat feature, and as a way to wirelessly stream game audio too.

Perhaps one of the most notable additions that feels truly ‘Pro’ here is a new pair of back buttons set into the underside of the controller grips. GL and GR – as they’re labelled – are positioned so that your middle fingers rest on each comfortably; more on those in a bit.

Performance and Features

• Larger face buttons and a revised D-pad compared to predecessor
• Impressively smooth potentiometer thumbsticks
• Whisper-quiet buttons and sticks

The Switch 2 Pro Controller weighs a little less than its predecessor (235 grams, versus 246), and despite its smaller volume, actually sports even larger face buttons than previously.

The A, B, X and Y buttons feature what feels like marginally less travel than on the previous Pro Controller, resulting in more precision. This is offset by a silicone membrane and an internal silicone surround, collectively softening their feel without muddying the sensation of pressing each button; comfortable and responsive.

The new D-pad is a step in the right direction too, compared to the maligned iteration on the original Pro Controller. It’s unquestionably more tactile, whether pressing cardinal directions or aiming for the diagonals. That said, I’d welcome even more responsiveness and precision on future iterations, as misreads still happen.

The capture and home buttons are a tad larger this time around, while the + and – now rely on a raised membrane-based construction; making them less tactile, but easier to hit without having to look down.

The L and R shoulder buttons offer a similarly soft-but-absolute response when pressed, with the ZL and ZR triggers sporting short travel and a similar feel to the previous Pro Controller.

Some fans were hoping for analogue triggers, but in most games I think the current implementation works perfectly well. Racing or flight simulators would likely have reaped the biggest benefits if Nintendo had opted for analogue here, but use cases to justify such a change otherwise seem in the minority.

As for those shiny new GL and GR buttons, in testing they proved expertly balanced. You’re unlikely to actuate them without meaning to, whilst also not requiring an uncomfortable amount of force to depress them. Not to mention opting for buttons instead of paddles – as you’d find on the likes of the DualSense Edge and Elite Series 2 – makes for a more responsive and comfortable experience.

Setting them up is easy too. While in-game, just long-press the Home button and you have the option to assign any other input on the controller to GR or GL. It’s quick, intuitive and the console automatically saves your mapping on a game-by-game basis. Being able to hold the accelerator in Mario Kart World proved infinitely more comfortable by using GR, while being able to more easily whistle-sprint in Breath of the Wild felt like a welcome upgrade too.

It’s time to talk about those thumbsticks and, safe to say, Nintendo has worked some magic here (although ‘engineering wizardry’ would be more accurate).

The first thing you’ll notice is how smooth they feel, and throughout their full range of motion too. They’re notably taller than the thumbsticks on the included Joy-Con 2s (sporting better grip on the caps to boot), with offset heights and thinner stalks, resulting in smooth high-precision, high-control movement.

The internal design means that you’re never pushing the sticks to their absolute limit, with an added “sheet” (according to Welcome Tour – see above) that helps maintain smoothness at their boundaries, while mitigating stick grind.

In fact, practically all of the gamepad’s key controls are impressively quiet, so much so that this is easily the quietest controller I’ve ever used, making it perfect for late night gaming sessions, even with a baby or significant other sleeping nearby.

The fly in the ointment for some might be that Nintendo has once again opted for potentiometer-based input – the same technology that has led to stick drift in the past. Testing with a calibration tool, neither stick on my Switch 2 Pro Controller showed any notable deadzone, and both were naturally dead-centre too.

Nintendo once again turned to Japanese supplier Alps Alpine for what appear to be (going by teardowns) custom-made potentiometers. Only prolonged testing will reveal whether these fall foul of stick drift, but from personal use; they’re nothing but dreamily smooth and wonderfully precise.

As stick drift is such a hot-button topic where Nintendo’s hardware is concerned, if the persistence of potentiometer sticks has suddenly rendered the Switch 2 Pro Controller dead in the water for you, consider 8BitDo’s recently updated Ultimate 2 Bluetooth Controller instead. It boasts TMR (Tunnel Magnetoresistance) sticks, Hall Effect triggers, and was just updated to support the Switch 2.

Features and Battery Life

• HD Rumble 2 + Home button console wake support
• GL and GR programmable on game-by-game basis
• 40-hours use w/ 3-hour recharge

Sticking with feel for a moment, the Switch 2 Pro Controller also features upgraded linear actuators to support HD Rumble 2 (also found in the new Joy-Cons). While tech demos within Welcome Tour show off the versatility of the experience (simulating actions like riding a motorcycle), the strength of the vibration here isn’t as pronounced as I’d hoped.

The Joy-Con 2s actually do a better job of showing the feature off, so – like the D-pad – while it’s a nice improvement over the previous Pro Controller, Nintendo could have gone further.

Other features worth mentioning are the NFC read area behind the Switch 2 logo on the face of the controller (for use with Amiibo), gyroscope support, and that tweaked Home button. Currently, the Switch 2 Pro Controller is the only gamepad (aside from the in-box right Joy-Con 2) which can wake the Switch 2 from sleep, by simply long-pressing the Home button.

This is a handy upgrade for those of you planning on grabbing the 2025 Pro Controller, but a seemingly needless sting for first-gen Pro Controller die-hards, whose controllers miss out on this convenient upgrade. The reason as to why the previous Pro Controller can’t wake a paired Switch 2 relates to a difference in BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) standards, but why Nintendo couldn’t perhaps patch in a workaround seems unclear.

Playing fast-paced games – like Mario Kart World – from across the room, I never noticed any discernible input latency, but for those who consider themselves competitive Fortnite players, you do have the option to plug the included five-foot USB-C to A cable into the Pro Controller and the Switch 2 dock, for lower latency input. Nintendo states that this method is even faster on the Switch 2 Pro Controller, compared to using the previous model wired, but doesn’t specific by how much.

The same can be said for audio support. The convenience of being able to throw audio to your favourite wired headphones using the newly integrated (CTIA standard) 3.5mm headphone jack is great for late-night gaming sessions, and also lets you better appreciate the details in a games’ sound design (or the exceptional Mario Kart World soundtrack, in my case).

Finally, let’s talk battery. One of the best aspects of the original Pro Controller was its outlandish battery longevity and the same is true of the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller.

After an initial out-of-box recharge, despite using the gamepad consistently since the Switch 2’s release, I’ve only recharged once, and the battery hadn’t even completely diminished. With the same promise of 40-hours of use per charge, the Switch 2 Pro Controller leaves noteworthy rivals in the dust, as far as longevity goes.

Although the quoted output hasn’t changed, the battery behind the new Pro Controller’s long life finally has. For the longest time, Nintendo used the 1300mAh Li-ion battery that originated in its 3DS handhelds. It was used by both the Wii U Pro Controller and the previous Switch Pro Controller, for example.

Even with the same 40-hour promise as before, the Switch 2 Pro Controller actually uses a smaller but newer 1070mAh cell, which brings the added benefit of significantly faster charging; refilling from flat to full in three hours, as opposed to six on the last Pro Controller.

Along with the shoulder buttons, the top face of the controller plays host to the pairing button, USB-C port, player LEDs (moved from the bottom to make room for the headphone jack), and a charge LED. Confusingly, this LED glows orange when the controller is on charge, and simply turns off when it’s fully charged, which isn’t the clearest indicator (as it could be mistaken for not charging at all). However, this smaller oversight is something Nintendo can worry about fixing on its next Pro Controller.

Should you buy it?

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