Leadjoy Z1 Lite Switch Controller

Hardware Type: Controller

.

Review:

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

This will be my second time reviewing a product from Leadjoy, and my first did not give me a good impression of the company. The Leadjoy VX2 Aimbox Keyboard and Mouse Adapter only managed to do half of what it promised, making it functionally useless. But everyone has their off-days, so I hoped that perhaps their mid-range Pro-style controller, the Z1 Lite Switch Controller, would show them with their best foot forward.

I will admit, this controller and I got off to a bit of a rocky start. I had it plugged into my Nintendo Switch dock to charge, and this would cause it to turn on at random times. While this is not uncommon among controllers I’ve tested, the Z1 Lite’s lighting around its right analog stick (oddly only its right analog stick) is glaringly bright, filling my dark room with light. Thankfully, there is a way to decrease this brightness level, but this was still an annoyance I had to put up with even before reviewing this controller.

As with many of the Pro-style controllers released for Nintendo Switch, the Z1 Lite is pretty comparable in size and shape to Nintendo’s own Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, with a comparable button layout, and asymmetrical analog stick placement. It feels fairly comfortable in the hands, and has nicely-textured grips. Where most controllers feature either convex or concave tops to their analog sticks, Leadjoy’s hall effect analog sticks (which means they shouldn’t suffer from “drift”) actually have a flat top with ribbed edges. I wasn’t thrilled with this, but it worked well enough, and I expect this is more a personal preference thing in any case.

The D-Pad and standard face buttons on the Z1 Lite are one of its biggest flaws. They’re a mix of squishy and clicky, but you kinda’ get the worst of both worlds here – on the “clicky” side of things, these buttons are pretty loud, and on the “squishy” side of things, these buttons stick. This isn’t a huge detriment to play, but it definitely made button presses feel less responsive and more awkward.

The L and R shoulder buttons seem to have much the same issue that the face buttons do. As for the ZL and ZR trigger buttons, Leadjoy has opted here to go for analog triggers, which mean that this should be better-suited for play when using the controller on non-Nintendo Switch platforms (more on this later), but will make these buttons a bit less comfortable and responsive on the Nintendo Switch, which doesn’t recognize analog input on the trigger buttons.

The secondary face buttons are all in the standard positions Nintendo uses in their controller, though on the Z1 Lite the screenshot button pulls double-duty as a settings button as well, used in conjunction with other buttons to alter settings, to enable turbo functionality, and to set up the macro buttons. This works better than you might expect, and I never once accidentally took a screenshot while using the button in this manner, though you’ll definitely want to refer to the instruction manual rather than trying to remember all the button combinations.

The Z1 Lite has a pretty typical suite of additional features for third-party Nintendo Switch controllers, which is to say that in addition to the turbo functionality (which this time doesn’t include auto-turbo), this controller also has adjustable rumble instead of HD rumble, and has good gyroscopic motion control. As with most third-party Nintendo Switch controllers, there is no Amiibo scanning functionality here.

On the back of the controller, we have two paddle-style pairs of buttons that act as four macro buttons. These buttons allow you to store a sequence of commands, such as a Street Fighter-style “hadouken”, and feel pretty comfortable. I actually think these macro buttons felt and worked better than most.

Finally, as mentioned before, the Z1 Lite also supports play on PC, Android, and iOS, and I was able to test this controller on PC and Android. On Android, connecting via Bluetooth worked fine, but on PC I had difficulty getting games to recognize the controller when connecting both wired via USB-C as well as via wireless Bluetooth. My PC recognized the controller, but games I played didn’t register it being there. Thankfully, the included USB dongle immediately solved that problem – once syncing, it was instantly recognized and the controller worked like a charm on games I tested it with.

Overall, I didn’t dislike the Leadjoy Z1 Lite Switch Controller, and I definitely think it does some things right. In particular, the macro buttons work like a charm, and the USB dongle makes PC connectivity exceedingly simple and easy. However, a midrange controller like this has a lot of competition on the market, and the buttons sticking like this is an issue I do not think is okay at this price. If you’re looking for a great mid-range controller, I suggest you instead check out the NYXI Master P1 2.4G Wireless PC Controller, which costs a little bit more, but still gives you the PC dongle, and it doesn’t have the major issues of the Z1 Lite, and it also adds analog/digital trigger switches and easy hot-swapping between multiple platforms. With this and other good options on the market, I don’t think I can wholeheartedly recommend the Z1 Lite, though I will say this is a much better effort from Leadjoy than the VX2 Aimbox.

tl;dr – The Leadjoy Z1 Lite Switch Controller is a mid-range Pro-style controller for Nintendo Switch that has some decent features, including a dongle that makes connecting to PC a breeze. However, the buttons on the controller stick, and at this price point you have better options. The result is a controller that, while certainly not bad, isn’t one I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Grade: B-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are MB, Andy Miller, Johannes, u/RamboFox, Exlene, Eli Goodman, Ilya Zverev, and Stov. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}