Product Review #015: EvoRetro Wireless Switch Pro Controller (Nintendo Switch)

Reviewer: Allan Jenks

Manufacturer: EvoRetro

Price (at time of review): $29.99

Buy EvoRetro's Wireless Switch Pro Control from Amazon here.

There are a lot of options when it comes to third-party controllers for the Nintendo Switch, but many of the options tend to sacrifice quality in order to get the price point where it makes sense to go with their product over the OEM product. Now, sometimes, a company finds a way to balance the quality of their product with an affordable price point, and when this happens, it is a wonderful thing. I tried out the Switch Pro Controller by EvoRetro, and I believe I may have found one of these unicorns. At a price point of $29.99, this controller comes in just over a lot of other wired third-party controllers—typically around $24.99—but has the look, feel, and responsiveness of a much more expensive product, and of course, it’s wireless to boot.

When I took the controller out of the box, the first thing I noticed was the weight. Now, there are some who would disagree with me on this, but I like a controller to have a good weight to it. If it feels like a cheap, hollow piece of plastic, 9 times out of 10, it is. The EvoRetro Switch Pro Controller, however, felt nice and solid, well-built, and not at all cheap. The next thing I noticed was that there is an internal rechargeable battery, which I love, because AA batteries get expensive after a while. It also holds a charge quite well, as I have logged well over 15 hours without the need to recharge it.

The buttons offered enough resistance so that I felt in control of the game, and ergonomically, it fit nicely in my hands. The controller even comes with 2 additional D-Pads that you can swap out to customize the controller to your style. I stuck with the original D-Pad, as I prefer the standard option, but also, I didn’t want to take the controller apart to switch it out. It is modeled after the PS3 controller, however, which did throw me off a bit with regard to the left toggle placement. Thankfully, I also have a PS3—which is also a compatible application for this controller, as are PC and Android—so I was able to adapt fairly quickly.

As far as functionality, the only issues I had with the controller were with syncing it to my Switch, and with getting the turbo button to turn off. The syncing issue was my fault though, as the instructions included in the box tell you exactly how to do it with each type of system you are using, I just apparently remembered the instructions wrong when I tried to sync it. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I re-read the instructions, realized my mistake, and had it all set in no time.

The turbo issue, however, was a bit more frustrating. There are no instructions on how to use the turbo feature, and I had to search Google for quite a while to find the information I needed. As it turned out, to turn the function off is the same process used when turning it on, which is to hold the turbo button and the button you want to be turbo together for 2 seconds. Okay cool… except that there is no indicator that this on/off switching actually occurred until you hit the button again and realize it didn’t. I even tried repeating the sequence again and still found that it had not switched off. I had to resort to shutting the controller completely off and then turning it on again to get the turbo to turn off in several instances. Luckily, I am not really a big turbo user—I really only tried it to test all of features for review purposes—so it really won’t affect my personal gameplay, but it is definitely worth noting if you are a big proponent of the turbo feature.

In all, this controller is a solid, well-constructed product. I had no issues with it other than the turbo button and my failure to read the instructions properly regarding syncing it to my Switch; and for the price, you really can’t beat it! If you are looking for a less expensive substitute for the official Pro Controller, then this will definitely do the trick. It does not have support for NFC functions, but is otherwise great. I would definitely recommend this controller.

Buy EvoRetro's Wireless Switch Pro Control from Amazon here.

Score: 8.5/10

*Review Product Provided by EvoRetro