NBCP Switch Joycons Detachable Grip

Hardware Type: Grip

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Review:

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

As Grip-style Nintendo Switch add-ons to the Nintendo Switch find a decent-sized audience of players who like the Nintendo Switch but don’t care for the way it feels in their hands, it’s amusing to think that the first sort of grips we saw on Nintendo Switch were the ones Nintendo made themselves, specifically their Joy-Con grips. Little more than a piece of plastic with a few metal rails to slide in the Joy-Cons, these grips nevertheless became the official way to transform two Joy-Con controllers into one standard-ish controller.

Most serious players would likely tell you that this stitched-together Frankenstein of two half-controllers was far inferior to a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, or some of the better Pro-style controllers to hit the market, but if you were on a budget, this half-solution would do the job. As we’ve seen countless other controllers and grips release on the Nintendo Switch, it seems a long time coming that we’re now seeing another company trying to improve on this formula.

The NBCP Switch Joycons Detachable Grip, released in 2024, is at its heart the same basic idea as Nintendo’s Joy-Con Grip, providing a plastic housing for two Joy-Con controllers while giving some amount of ergonomics to the grip of the pair of controllers themselves. However, what sets the NBCP Grip apart is that it can separate into two halves, with each half able to attach to either end of the Nintendo Switch hybrid console itself, not only making the transition from one to the other more seamless, but providing Grip-style comfort to the Nintendo Switch while playing in handheld mode.

In size and shape, the NBCP Switch Joycons Detachable Grip is nearly identical to Nintendo’s own Joy-Con grip. This means that the same criticism of that Grip holds true here, or namely the criticism of the Joy-Cons themselves – the layout of the Joy-Cons just isn’t ideal for play in a Pro-style setup, as much as these Grips may try to bridge that gap. The angle of the buttons, the location of the analog sticks, and the lack of a proper D-Pad all make this not quite as good as an actual Pro-style controller.

When connected, the NBCP Switch Joycons Detachable Grip’s two halves also rattle slightly against each other. It’s not enough to interfere with gameplay or cause any sort of problem, but it is another little reminder that you’re not playing with one solid controller.

However, once you depress a plastic latch in the back of the NBCP Switch Joycons Detachable Grip, the two halves part and can slide directly onto the Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch OLED model as if you were sliding on the Joy-Cons themselves. This all works pretty seamlessly, with the grips sliding smoothly but firmly onto the console, adding about an inch of space on each side of the Nintendo Switch between the console and the Joy-Cons. This too rattles a bit, but still feels pretty firmly connected.

While the Joy-Cons connected together as an imitation of a Pro-style controller is a bit lacking, as a grip for the Nintendo Switch itself they are quite effective, doing a great job of making Nintendo’s hybrid console far more ergonomic and comfortable to hold. These grips don’t add any extra features or anything like that, they just improve the feel of the Nintendo Switch.

This has some nice benefits, but unfortunately this Grip also has some unfortunate kinks to work out. The added space this grip adds to your Nintendo Switch pretty much guarantees it won’t fit inside many standard Nintendo Switch carrying cases. What’s more, connecting the Joy-Cons to the Nintendo Switch itself using this Grip doesn’t allow the Joy-Cons to recharge batteries from the Nintendo Switch or sync to the console – as far as the Nintendo Switch knows, those Joy-Cons still aren’t connected. And finally, in what seems like a major oversight in a device that’s not only about comfort but also convenience, if the NBCP Switch Joycons Detachable Grips are connected to your Nintendo Switch, your Nintendo Switch cannot dock using a first-party Dock – the latch in the back capable of connecting the two halves gets in the way of Nintendo’s Dock.

These are some pretty major omissions for the NBCP Switch Joycons Detachable Grip to have, especially when its price brings it fairly close to some decent Pro-style controllers you may want to get instead. However, as a replacement for Nintendo’s Joy-Con Dock controller adapter, this device absolutely blows Nintendo’s device away. It falls well short of its potential, but for what it’s trying to accomplish, it’s still better than the standard the platform has presented players with. If that’s something that appeals to you, this device may be worth a try.

tl;dr – The NBCP Switch Joycons Detachable Grip is a Grip-style accessory for your Joy-Cons that joins them to be used as a Pro-style controller, or can be split in half to attach directly to the sides of your Nintendo Switch. It’s a marked improvement on Nintendo’s own device like this, though it lacks some major features, such as charging or syncing your Joy-Cons while using it, or docking your Nintendo Switch while they’re connected. If you want a Joy-Con grip, this is a good one that offers some nice extra options, but many players may want to spend just a little extra to get a decent Pro-style controller instead.

Grade: B-

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