Ifyoo SGSX1 Ergonomic Grip

Hardware Type: Grip

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Review:

(Note: This product was received at no cost for review via the Amazon Vine program.)

Since I’ve first started trying out Grip-style devices for Nintendo Switch, I’ve encountered some that replace your Joy-Cons, some that can even act as an independent controller, and even one that can be used whether your Joy-Cons are attached or unattached to your Nintendo Switch. However, the Ifyoo SGSX1 Ergonomic Grip aims for something a bit different – this Grip is designed with the goal of making your Nintendo Switch more comfortable to hold while being as unobtrusive as possible.

Unlike most other grips, the SGSX1 doesn’t encase your entire Nintendo Switch, but instead just the two attached Joy-Cons. This grip comes with a left and right piece, and that’s it – nothing to connect the two. This means that the Joy-Cons are free to connect and disconnect from the Nintendo Switch as Joy-Cons normally do, and the Nintendo Switch can even be docked normally in Nintendo’s dock without detaching these grips.

While the grips are attached, they expand the profile of the Joy-Cons, but not out or down. Rather, they primarily extend back, pushing your fingers behind the Nintendo Switch out into a more curled position around textured plastic instead of flat against the back of the unit. This is more comfortable than the Nintendo Switch normally is on its own, but it’s not as drastic a difference as some other Grips.

This minimal difference seems largely undone by the few issues this introduces. First, and perhaps most obviously, changing the profile of the Nintendo Switch by bulking out either side in the back means that the Nintendo Switch won’t be fitting in most fitted cases while these grips are attached.

That’s a given, but one other negative quality these grips have is that they make it very difficult to press the button on the back of each Joy-Con to detach the Joy-Con from the Nintendo Switch. For some reason, this Grip’s design wraps plastic around each button, making it more difficult to press in, especially if you have larger fingers.

Beyond that, there’s not much more to these Grips. They don’t have any electronics or moving parts, they’re just a couple of pieces of molded plastic, and for the $14 price they’re selling at, that seems a bit steep – just a few more bucks and you could get a low-end Pro-style controller instead.

In the end, yes, the Ifyoo SGSX1 Ergonomic Grip does make the Nintendo Switch more comfortable, but unfortunately this difference is marginal, and it doesn’t make up for the frustration caused by the difficulty of removing the Joy-Cons from your Nintendo Switch, nor does it justify this Grip’s price tag. If you’re looking to improve your control options on Nintendo Switch, I think there are better uses for your money.

tl;dr – The Ifyoo SGSX1 Ergonomic Grip is a Grip-style accessory for your Joy-Cons that aims to make holding your Nintendo Switch in portable mode more comfortable while being otherwise as unobtrusive as possible. It accomplished the first of these goals, if only a little, but the issues it causes with making it more difficult to remove Joy-Cons from your Nintendo Switch, as well as the somewhat high price tag, both make it so the benefits are outweighed by the flaws. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say this Grip is bad, I do think there are much better ways to spend your money on controller options on Nintendo Switch.

Grade: C-

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