Everyone plays their Nintendo Switch a different way, it's the Switch's defining characteristic and what makes the console so special. I'm primarily a handheld player because I travel a lot and because I like to wind down with my Switch in bed at the end of the day. Unfortunately, I find holding the Switch tends to get pretty uncomfortable after 30 minutes or so. I've talked to other Switch owners and many have experienced the same hand cramps that I do.
For years my solution has been to use the SwitchGrip Pro from Satisfye, and while that solves the problem by making the Switch more comfortable to hold, it creates a number of entirely different problems. The Switch can't be docked while in the SwitchGrip Pro, meaning you have to take it off and do something with it. Similarly, if you remove the Joy-Cons for multiplayer, the grip has to come off.
Hori recently released the Nintendo Switch Split Pad Pro, replacements for the Joy-Cons that give the Switch a pro controller feel while playing handheld. The Split Pad Pro is the Switch accessory I've been waiting three years for and has completely reinvigorated my love of the Switch. It isn't perfect, but it's an absolute game-changer.
Slimmed Down and Bulked Up
The Split Pad Pro adds about 2 grams to the weight of the Switch which I found to be negligible, but it does add some significant length, making it a bit trickier to transport. The Split Pad does not have HD Rumble, Motion Controls, NFC, or an IR camera. You can't use them unattached because they don't have Bluetooth, so don't think of them as total replacements for the Joy-Cons, especially if you like to use them for multiplayer.
If you're like me and play mostly single-player and online games in handheld, you won't notice that any of these features are missing. Instead, Hori really focused on the build quality and layout to make the Split Pad Pro the best feeling controller it could be. What's more, they've added a programmable back trigger to each side, because apparently Hori knows the way directly into my heart.
Most importantly though, the Split Pad Pro just feels amazing to hold. I've let people with small, medium, and large hands play with it and they all agree that it's much more comfortable to hold than the Joy-Cons.
A Perfect Controller Layout
Everything on the Split Pad Pro is bigger. The shoulder buttons are wider, longer, and easier to rest your index fingers on. The face buttons are all large and feel exactly how you would expect them to, and the d-pad is a legit cross button d-pad (as opposed to the separate buttons on the Joy-Con) and is so much easier to press than the Joy-Cons d-pad because it isn't directly beneath the analog stick, meaning you shouldn't need to arch your thumb to press it.
Speaking of the analog sticks, they have a longer throw than the Joy-Con sticks, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and they snap to center and zero out perfectly. The back triggers are perfectly positioned and feel great as a replacement for the face buttons. In first and third-person games I usually set them to jump and reload, typically B and Y, but for Smash I like to set them up as my block and throw. I only use controllers with back buttons on my PS4, so I'm glad to have them now on my Switch as well.
I love the way the buttons and d-pad feel, but the shoulder buttons are a little mushy. I would have preferred a more pronounced click with a shorter travel on these, but it's hard to complain about them when everything else is so perfect. Both sides also have a turbo button for some reason. I can't think of any game I would ever use them for and they're such a relic of an age when third party controllers were cheap and lousy. The Split Pad Pro is decidedly not cheap or lousy, so I think they could have done without the turbo button. There may be a use for it I can't think of for a game I haven't played, but I can't imagine many people would miss it.
The Perfect Controller For Handheld Players
I love that I can dock my Switch with the Split Pad Pro attached. I love the way they feel in my hands and the way the buttons are laid out. Hori has a reputation for making fight sticks and controllers with exceptional build quality and I think they've really outdone themselves this time. I'll have to adapt the way I travel with my Switch somewhat, as it certainly won't fit into my hard case with these controllers attached, but if I have to keep them separate and attach them when every time I play my Switch while I travel that's an easy sacrifice to make. For playing at home though, there's nothing better
A Switch Pad Pro was provided to TheGamer by Hori for this review. The Split Pad Pro is available on Amazon for only $49.99 currently and is an absolute must-buy for any handheld Switch player.