Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller review: pro enough for me

The new $84.99 Pro Controller for the Switch 2 may not be your idea of a pro-grade controller — perhaps not by a long shot. But it’s certainly more of one than Nintendo’s $69.99 last-gen controller. It has two extra buttons embedded into its grips (one on each side), which can be programmed on a per-game basis, a 3.5mm headphone jack for listening to games or GameChat chatter, and a more premium look and feel. It’s no DualSense Edge, but it’s pro enough for me.

I like that Nintendo kept almost everything the same from its predecessor, except the semi-transparent smoke black shell that hid a secret message: the Fisher Price-sized face buttons, the snappy directional pad, and the compact form factor are all here. I don’t want to generalize, but its size might be perfect for the same crowd who yearns for small phones, those who typically experience hand pain from using the controllers that Sony or Microsoft put out. It has the other trappings that made the last-gen Pro controller worth buying, like Amiibo NFC support and motion controls.

In terms of what’s new in the Switch 2-edition of the Pro Controller, I hope you weren’t holding your breath for eight years waiting for Hall effect or TMR joysticks because they aren’t here. Instead, we have drift-prone potentiometer joysticks again, albeit some of the smoothest and quietest ones that I’ve ever used. There’s so little resistance required to move them, yet they don’t easily register unintentional inputs. We’ll see how well they fare over time. For what it’s worth, my original Pro Controller from 2017 is still kicking.

This controller, like the Switch 2’s right Joy-Con, features a dedicated GameChat button. This button launches the namesake feature, which is free for all Switch 2 owners to use through March 31st, 2026, when it will be gated behind the Nintendo Switch Online paywall. The good news for this controller is, whether you want to use GameChat now or ever, you can reprogram the “C” button to do whatever you’d like it to do. You won’t lose out on GameChat functionality, as there’s a dedicated home menu option for the feature.

The new controller offers some conveniences not found in the predecessor, which may tempt you into upgrading. As mentioned, the Switch 2 Pro Controller has a 3.5mm headphone jack, from which it can output game and GameChat audio to wired headphones or a headset. The ability to stream audio wirelessly from the console to the controller is a big deal for Nintendo, even though it already figured it out in the Wii U Gamepad. Note: the LED player indicator has been moved to the top of the Switch 2 Pro Controller to make room for the 3.5mm jack.

Another, albeit smaller, feature is the ability to wake up the Switch 2 console from sleep with the new Pro Controller. This seems like a sneaky way for Nintendo to bait players into upgrading their last-gen controllers. Wake from sleep is a basic feature, one that shouldn’t be limited to this controller. It’s handy if you typically play your Switch while it’s docked to your TV. Wake from sleep wasn’t utilized in most third-party controllers during the original Switch era, but 8BitDo figured out a way to enable it by shaking some of its controllers. So, it’s always possible that there will soon be cheaper solutions that figure a way around this annoying issue.

Both this controller and the new Joy-Con 2 feature what Nintendo calls HD Rumble 2, an improved version of the tactile rumble introduced with the original Switch. I already thought HD Rumble was nifty in some use cases, and my opinion hasn’t changed as I’ve played Mario Kart World and Switch 2 Edition of Tears of the Kingdom. HD Rumble seemed novel, if not a bit gimmicky, until the introduction of the DualSense and its brilliant haptics in Astro’s Playroom and in several other titles since. The new Switch 2 haptics aren’t on the same level, at least in the launch games.

The GL and GR buttons are arguably my favorite implementation of rear paddles in a controller. While most companies put them on the backside of the gamepad, a place where I rarely rest my fingers, these are curved, wrapping around the grips where my middle fingers naturally rest. Pressing them requires essentially no effort — you don’t even need to arch your fingers to tap the buttons. It’s easy enough to press them in with the meat of my second knuckle by applying some downward pressure. It rules.

If any of the aforementioned additions sound appealing to you, the Switch 2 Pro Controller is probably worth its cost. Yes, I wish it had more futureproof joysticks, and perhaps another feature or two to justify its tariff-boosted price (it was originally $79.99). It’s very likely that third-party controller manufacturers like 8BitDo, GameSir, GuliKit, and others will make options with most, if not all, of the same features at a lower price – so while the Switch 2 Pro Controller is the best option right now, that might not always be the case.