Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Shares rank 5 of 6 game controllers by recommenders
Recommended for simple, intuitive use, Steam and Linux support, and month-long charges. Common caveat: battery access requires near-full disassembly.
Recommended for simple, intuitive use, Steam and Linux support, and month-long charges. Common caveat: battery access requires near-full disassembly.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 58%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple, intuitive, easy to use
“excellent examples of UX in hardware (e.g. Switch controls)”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Fujitsu launches made-in-Japan next-generation CPU FUJITSU-MONAKA” “a simple analog input that I can take to the couch”
Comment from 19 May 2026 in “OpenBSD 7.9 Released”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Battery needs near-full disassembly
“The pro controller in particular requires almost complete disassembly to get to the module”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries” “the Pro controller in particular has to be disassembled from the front first”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries” Reduced battery life
“Literally the worst case scenario for dramatic reduction in battery life.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries” “16% less battery life in a controller is pretty significant!”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries” Poor Mac and Switch support
“My Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller didn't work with my Mac”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “FreeBSD doesn't have Wi-Fi driver for my old MacBook. AI build one for me” “the Switch controller support being rather poor”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March”
Other game controllers people recommend
The four most recommended other game controllers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam Controller | 74 | 44 | 63% | 10 | — | — |
| Xbox Wireless Controller | 18 | 9 | 67% | 11 | — | Approved |
| 8BitDo controller | 13 | 3 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| PS5 DualSense controller | 10 | 6 | 63% | 6 | — | — |
| Nintendo Switch Pro ControllerThis page | 7 | 5 | 58% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
12 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Truly we live in a golden period where any of the major console vendor's controllers can be reasonably well-supported on Steam and Linux.”
“excellent examples of UX in hardware (e.g. Switch controls)”
“Literally the worst case scenario for dramatic reduction in battery life.”
“Luckily I have the pro controller so I could map A to the back paddle”
“the Pro controller in particular has to be disassembled from the front first”
“The pro controller in particular requires almost complete disassembly to get to the module”
“The controller works perfectly and I charge it once a month.”
“16% less battery life in a controller is pretty significant!”
“a simple analog input that I can take to the couch”
“the Switch controller support being rather poor”
“My Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller didn't work with my Mac”
“plug it in via USB and it automatically pairs to the console you plugged it into”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.