I am searching for a controller to play emulated switch games on my pc. My requirements are motion controls, good build quality and responsiveness, and preferably hall effect sticks to make the controller last longer avoiding drift.
Some of the options I have: GameSir T4 Cyclone Pro - 47€ GameSir G4 Pro - 48€ 8bitdo Ultimate - 50€ GuliKit King Kong 2 - 5X€ GuliKit King Kong 2 Pro - 60€
And are there any controllers for the sub 50€ price range which are better? All the ones I have mentioned are on that price on aliexpress, except for the GuliKit ones which are a bit higher but if they are REALLY worth it I might stretch a bit more…
I found all of this options in the official aliexpress stores of those brands. Which have great prices compared to other stores.
I can’t speak to the others, but I have a couple 8bitdo controllers and they’re fantastic. If the aliexpress listing is legit, I’d go with that one, no question.
I’ve never heard of the other two brands, but cursory googling doesn’t sound promising for them.
I have the 8BitDo Pro 2 controller, it’s great.
However the thumbstick’s rubber eventually crumbled off after a year or so, so I 3D printed these replacements (it’s for SF30, but fits Pro 2), then I got cheap Switch thumbsticks rubber pad to put on top of them. IIRC, you might be able to request thumbstick replacement from them. The 3D printed treplacement + cheap caps feels kinda better than the original.
I got the King Kong Pro and love it. It’s basically identical to an xbox controller but with gyro support and hall effect sticks.
Regarding the statement that gyro only works in switch mode, it’s the same for all controllers: they can switch between several modes (iOS/android, switch, xinput and directinput on the king kong). The motion controls only work when in switch mode but that mode works perfectly fine in an emulator such as yuzu (and even every game on steam too for that matter).
Seconding 8bitdo.
Very satisfied with mine. Not the ultimate, but the SN30 Pro+. Has no issues connecting to my PC or switch, no mechanical issues so far either, after about 4 years.
8bitdo Ultimate - 50€
Check carefully which variant you’re buying, if you’d like Hall Effect sticks.
There are several 8BitDo “Ultimate” controllers that do not have Hall Effect sticks; I found the branding to be pretty confusing.
This has Hall Effect sticks:
https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Bluetooth-Controller-Charging-Gaming-Console/dp/B0B9BGJVLL/
As does this:
https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Bluetooth-Controller-Charging-Gaming-Console/dp/B0B9BDMWWN/
This does not:
https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Bluetooth-Controller-Switch-Vibration-Nintendo/dp/B0CLM5WDHT/
Nor does this:
https://www.amazon.com/Controller-Raspberry-iOS-iPadOS-tvOS-macOS/dp/B0BZ4GB3PH/
I just have one problem with the 8bitdo.
If you go to the website, I can see it says “motion controls (switch only)” and I don’t know if I should be worried about that considering I want to play emulated switch games ON PC
EDIT: and about the variations, thanks for pointing that out, I was aware of the Ultimate C existed and I did supposed it was some sort of “lite” version. But thanks anyways
I can’t say for sure with 8bitdo but I can say the KK2’s motion controls work on PC so long as the emulator has them. I’d assume this is the case with 8bitdo but I can’t check as I found the problem I had with them to be the neutral wrist/hand position to be uncomfortable very quickly.
Motion control support on PC is rather rare as almost every PC game uses xinput, and therefore almost every controller will simply identify itself as an Xbox controller for the best compatibility. You basically have to check on a controller by controller basis if and how motion controls can be enabled on PC.
I do know that some of the 8bitdo controllers can be configured to show up as Switch Pro Controllers on PC with working motion controls.
I have been researching a bit and it seems you can use them if you connect to your pc but with the switch mode or something like that.
Is that what you mean?
I was aware of the Ultimate C existed and I did supposed it was some sort of “lite” version
Yeah, but just to be clear, it’s not just the Ultimate C that doesn’t have them. The fourth link above is to a non-Bluetooth Ultimate variant with no “C” in its name; that particular variant also doesn’t have Hall Effect sticks.
For me, it was annoying because — at least when I bought mine, haven’t checked recently — 8bitdo doesn’t make a Ultimate controller with an XBox button layout and Hall Effect sticks. You gotta settle for a Nintendo-layout controller. You can remap the buttons in software on your computer, and they apparently sell replacement button caps if you want to make the controller look like an XBox controller, but it’s not internally using the XBox layout, annoyingly-enough.
You sound like you’re specifically wanting a Nintendo layout, so you probably don’t need an XBox layout, but you might still want to be careful that whatever you order does in fact have the Hall Effect sticks.
