Switch 2 Pro Controller: Built to Break? Full Teardown

It is obvious that they don't want average consumers fixing these. What parent has the time to take the controller apart like that to change the battery. Nintendo are slime
- I chose the appropriate name then. 😀
  
  It's a good game!

Years ago, controllers where almost unbreakable. Look at where we are now.
- Yep.
  I can not tell you the level of abuse my NES controllers took from young, not-yet-emotionally-regulated idiots. All of which still work flawlessly.
- Like the Logitech one used in that submarine? ;)
  
  The F310 is not why the submarine blew up.
  honestly its decent for as cheap as it is for retropi stuff.
  
  and it was A USED defective line one too, from early 2010s.

I don't get why Sony and Nintendo refuse to follow Xbox and just have a battery door you can throw AAs or a battery pack into. It is a far better design. Still, props to Nintendo for being the only one of the big three to have modular sticks on all their regular controllers (Sony and Microsoft have soldered sticks except on their high end controllers). Disassembly seems a bit tedious on this controller but not a total nightmare. However, all of them need to have modular USB ports, as it's a common failure point that needs to be user serviceable. I do wonder how Nintendo are going to handle the new EU repairability laws when they release Switch 2 revisions.
- I've been arguing this point about the batteries for ages. I bought a rechargeable set from Costco for like $12. Six AA batteries on rotation in my Xbox controllers means I can game wirelessly in perpetuity. I've been using those same batteries for over 5 years now and only recently felt it could be time for some new ones.
  
  If you have one nearby, get your new rechargeables from IKEA. The LADDA 2450s are far cheaper rebrands of the usually decently expensive Panasonic Eneloop Pro, and they last such a long time compared to most rechargeables.
- I've used both Xbox One controller (powered by AA rechargeable batteries), and Xbox Elite Series 2 (built in rechargeable battery). The battery life on the first one was really poor compared to the Elite 2. Considering the fact I did not have to charge the Elite often, I'd guess the battery might outlive the rest of the controller, and if not you could still probably find a replacement on AliExpress. Convenience of a battery that you have to charge less often than once a week is really much higher than using AA batteries.
  
  What sort of AAs were you using? I used to get around at least a month or two on a set of fully charged standard Eneloop AAs. Then again, I didn't use my Xbox too intensely, maybe you had a different experience. It would make sense for the Elite to have longer battery life simply because of better battery chemistry (lithium ion on the integrated pack compared to AAs with nickel metal hydride).
- I don’t get why Sony and Nintendo refuse to follow Xbox and just have a battery door you can throw AAs or a battery pack into. It is a far better design
  because when the battery takes a shit in a couple years from all the charge/discharge cycles.. You'll have to buy a whole new 60-90 dollar controller, rather than a cheap set of eneloops.
  Its planned obsolescence.

The only good point was sticks aren't soldered this time. Rest of the design seems overly complicated. Though, I don't really know much about these things.

I read steam 2 pro controller and got super excited for a sec there

Can someone explain where the assumption comes from that the sticks are definitely going to drift, just because they use potentiometers? I get that people got burned by the Switch 1 Joycons, but doesn't pretty much every other gamepad ever (except perhaps a few specialty ones) also use that technology for the sticks?
I've personally never had any sticks develop drift, on any controller I've owned. If Xbox, Playstation, PC and older Nintendo controllers all didn't have the problems the Switch 1 Joycons did, then why the assumption the Switch 2 will be like the Switch 1 and not like all the other consoles that use potentiometer sticks with no issues?
- my joycons didn't drift but my brother's did, all of them. I gave him mine and took my sweet ass time replacing the sticks in his. I put hall effect in one pair and pots in the other. Mine came back with drift. Then his second pot stick joycons came back with drift. I put hall sticks in all of them and so far so good.
  My assumption is that handling of the controllers and the game's stick use intensity come in to play.
  
  I’ve had 8 joy cons drift. 6 of them I sent in to have Nintendo fix, the last pair I fixed myself with Hall effect sticks. I’ve also replaced some friends joycons with Hall effect sticks.
  
  Heavy usage and maybe more importantly dust/dirt.
- All potentiometer based controllers can drift eventually, the problem is the joycons are very thin and drift fairly quickly. Normally it takes years of heavy usage (think a competitive smash player jamming the thing back and forth) to become a problem. Joy cons fail under relatively average usage in a year or two, which is not normal.
  Everyone assumes the Switch 2 joysticks are going to have the problem because they look almost exactly the same as the Switch 1 joysticks.
  
  Everyone assumes the Switch 2 joysticks are going to have the problem because they look almost exactly the same as the Switch 1 joysticks.
  I suspect that the reason Switch 1 JoyCons were so brittle had to do with the flap that dust could get under. That was changed for the Switch 2, so I think people are just way too quick to assume they're one and the same.
- Can someone explain where the assumption comes from that the sticks are definitely going to drift, just because they use potentiometers? I get that people got burned by the Switch 1 Joycons, but doesn’t pretty much every other gamepad ever (except perhaps a few specialty ones) also use that technology for the sticks?
  Nobody really knows. But Nintendo remains silent on the topic, and combined with people looking into the controller and seeing the exacty same technology this raises a lot of concerns.
  The fact that they made both Joycon and Pro Controller so much harder to repair also adds to this - one of the saving graces of the Switch 1 Joycons was how easy it was to repair. If we find out in a few months that drift remains a problem in this one it's going to be a far, far worse problem between higher costs for accessories and low repairability.
  So while I agree there's plenty of speculation going on, I also think it's an important topic that should be heavily discussed so people are aware of the risks when purchasing the console.
  I’ve personally never had any sticks develop drift
  You're lucky. I've had two pairs of joycons drift (one of them twice) and also had this problem on both sticks of my Pro controller.
  I'll probably buy a Switch 2 at some point in the future, but outside of handheld mode I'll just stick to my Switch 1 accessories which have all be modded with Hall Sticks.
- The absolute only stick drift I have ever experienced was with the Joycon. I sent it into Nintendo and got it back 2 weeks later, no more drift.
  Maybe I’m lucky, but I’ve spent a lot on games over the years with dozens of controllers across various systems.

Honestly get a third party HE controller and call it a day...
- https://www.8bitdo.com/ultimate-2-wireless-controller/
  Can highly recommend this one. TMR sticks, even. Feels very good. Needle accurate sticks, honestly.
  
  Are you using it? Have been meaning to get it for a little while.
- They will find some way to break 3rd party peripherals.
  
  Third party controllers work just fine. Please don't make up misinformation.

all the news coming out about NINTENDO, nothing has good has come out of that, seems like they are releasing in anticipation of the new pokemon console games thats going to be on switch, they are probably betting on that market.