ECHTPower Wireless Switch Controller (ES03)

Hardware Type: Controller

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Review:

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

Earlier this year, I declared the ECHTPower Wireless Switch Controller to be, in my opinion, the absolute best “bang for your buck” Pro-style controller on Nintendo Switch, combining a great form factor and features you would expect in a mid-range controller into a controller with a budget price. So you can imagine that once I had the opportunity to review another controller from ECHTPower, I leaped at the opportunity to do so. The only problem is… well, this is also the ECHTPower Wireless Switch Controller.

To be clear, this is not the same controller, not a re-skin or a revision. This is clearly a completely different controller (ASIN # B0D9Y38BFV, Model ES03 as opposed to the other controller, which has the ASIN # B0D9LD25M9, Model ES01), with different features and a different form factor, yet it is going by the same name. So thanks for that unnecessary bit of confusion, ECHTPower.

Having said that, the two controllers do have a fair amount of similarities, with a mostly-comparable list of features, as well as a similar price point (this one is $4 more, inching toward more mid-range pricing, but still a fairly inexpensive controller). However, looking at the two controllers side-by-side there’s zero chance you will confuse one for the other. This controller, which I will refer to as the ES03 for clarity’s sake, has a much slimmer form factor, different layout for its secondary face buttons, and different placement of the rear Macro buttons, just to name a few.

The ES03, released in 2024, not only looks slighter than its predecessor, but feels slighter too, weighing noticeably less and quite honestly feeling cheaper and flimsier too, and looking a tad anemic next to Nintendo’s own Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. This isn’t all bad news though – when you’re playing a game for potentially hours, a heavier controller may stop feeling quite so comfortable. In the end, I think this is a matter of personal preference – personally I prefer the larger of the two ECHTPower controllers, and find it to be far more comfortable, but I can definitely see how someone with smaller hands or someone looking for a lighter controller would prefer this one.

When speaking of personal preferences, I do have to point to the concave analog sticks on the ES03, something I tend to prefer, and is unlike the convex sticks on the ES01. In both cases, these sticks are hall effect analog sticks, ensuring that this controller won’t be suffering from “drift”, something I very much appreciate.

In terms of standard features, this controller does have some excellent gyroscopic motion control, it can wake the Nintendo Switch from sleep mode, and while it does not have HD Rumble, it does have adjustable rumble, which some may see as a good tradeoff. Apart from this, the only feature that’s truly missing here that Nintendo’s own controller has is Amiibo scanning.

Also, unlike the ES01, the ES03 actually has analog ZL and ZR trigger buttons. This won’t serve any purpose on the Nintendo Switch as Nintendo’s console only recognizes digital trigger inputs, and in fact, the lack of precision digital input on these triggers may make for less accurate detection. However, if you’re looking to use this controller cross-platform on PC and mobile devices, this will be a huge positive in the ES03’s favor, especially if you’re looking to play Racing games on those platforms (the genre that tends to benefit the most from analog triggers)

To make room for added functionality, the secondary face buttons have been shuffled around a bit here. The home button has now been moved to the center of the controller (the best spot for it if it’s being moved at all), the screenshot button moved to where the home button was, and a new Turbo button where the screenshot button was (which operates in the way you would expect a Turbo button to work).

Flipping the controller onto its back, you’ll see a pair of macro buttons on either side, not on the grips, but left and right of the center of the controller. It may not seem like it, but this placement has to be one of the most clever design choices this controller makes, as it means that your fingers won’t be resting on these buttons when you’re just holding the controller normally – you’re far less likely to accidentally press them. However, they are very easy to press with your pointer fingers while you’re playing, or if your pointer and middle fingers are resting on the L/R and ZL/ZR buttons, you can easily hit these buttons with your ring finger.

Using an “M” settings button on the back center of the controller, you can use these macro buttons to store sequences of multiple inputs (so you can have each remember a “hadouken” or similar move if you like). Unlike the ES01, there are no buttons for lighting and vibration on the back though – there’s no special lighting here to bother with, and as for the vibration, you adjust that by holding down the M button and tapping up or down on the D-Pad.

In addition to the Nintendo Switch, this controller also supports PC, Android, and iOS. I was able to test this with both PC and Android, and while it works fine on Android, it does not work well on PC when not connected via USB-C cable (an issue I’ve encountered on other third-party Nintendo Switch controllers). If you do want to use this on PC, keep it connected via USB cable.

Actually, this brings me to one of the most unusual problems I’ve had with the ES03. The top of the controller has the USB-C port for charging and connecting to the Nintendo Switch and other devices, the same as most Pro-style controllers. However, the USB-C port on the controller is curiously recessed within the controller itself, surrounded by what look to be a place for an attachment to latch on.

I have no idea what would be latching on here, but that’s not really my concern. My problem is with the recessed USB port. This design is incredibly snug with the included USB-C cable, and doesn’t work at all with most other USB-C cables I have. The result is that even though this controller uses a standard connection port, the included USB-C cable is in effect proprietary. So if you want to swap out one controller for another, you’ll need to use the cable included with this controller to do so, and if you want to charge this controller while you’re away from home, you’d better bring this exact cable with you (and not confuse it with any others).

So with all the ups and downs of the ES03, does it beat the ES01? Well, no. To be sure, it has multiple good features that it can boast above the ESO1 – it’s lighter, has convex analog sticks, has much better placement for its macro buttons, and the analog triggers are much better for cross-platform play. On the other hand, I personally find its form factor less comfortable than the ES01, the analog triggers are if anything less conducive to play on Nintendo Switch, and the bizarre recessed USB-C port really makes connecting and charging this controller far more of a hassle than it needs to be.

Still, despite its drawbacks, the ECHTPower Wireless Switch Controller (ES03) remains one of the better low-to-midrange pro-style controllers you can get for Nintendo Switch, with decent buttons, hall effect sticks, the wake function, excellent macro buttons, and an overall quality that well exceeds its relatively low price tag. And while I may prefer the ES01 over this, I can definitely see others who value this controller’s features disagreeing with me on that.

tl;dr – The ECHTPower Wireless Switch Controller (ES03) is a Pro-style controller that may have an unnecessarily confusing name, but it shares much of the great quality and excellent features of its similarly-named predecessor, albeit with a very different form factor and a few changes beyond that. On balance, I still prefer ECHTPower’s ES01, due to a few design choices here I dislike, including an odd recessed USB-C port. However, this is still a superb controller for a relatively low price.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2024 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Hardware

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