Pedroshaw Wireless Switch Controller

Hardware Type: Controller

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Review:

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

If there’s one thing I’ve seen time and again in third-party Pro-style Nintendo Switch controllers, it’s this “cracked” design that pairs with the internal LED lights for something that I suppose will look really cool and edgy to eight year-olds. I’ve seen this design used in countless controllers across countless brands and styles, but while I’ve reviewed at least a few “grip”-style controllers that use this style, I don’t believe I’ve ever reviewed a standard Pro-style controller that does this. Congratulations, Pedroshaw – your controller gets to be the sacrificial lamb on this altar.

I say this sardonically, because I don’t generally have a high opinion of this “look”. I don’t tend to focus much on a controller’s lighting, as it’s one of the least important elements to how a controller functions, but if I’m honest with myself I do tend to think that controllers that use this sort of “cracked” style tend not to be of very high quality. However, in the name of fairness, I must admit that’s not true in all cases, and the Gammeefy JC200 Switch Controller which uses this design in one of its versions actually has some fine qualities (though it has its fair share of flaws too). So, let’s give the Pedroshaw Wireless Switch Controller a fair look and see if this controller can break my preconceptions, shall we?

As with many of the Pro-style controllers released for Nintendo Switch, Pedroshaw’s controller 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. However, Lyvix’s controller weighs less, and has textured grips, which would be nice but it’s undone by the otherwise cheap way the controller feels overall.

The analog sticks use a concave top and are unfortunately not hall effect sticks, which means this controller may eventually suffer from “drift”. The primary face buttons work well enough here, being vaguely in the middle of the “squishy-clicky” spectrum, and generally I find them pretty responsive. The D-Pad, on the other hand, doesn’t give much tactile feedback at all, and while using it I found it had some difficulty detecting diagonal inputs – things like jumping forward and back in Fighting games.

Conversely, the L and R shoulder buttons are pretty clicky, which works fine for these buttons, and while the ZL and ZR trigger buttons are digital triggers, they have far too much give and as a result they’re just not as responsive as you’d want in digital triggers..

The plus, minus, and screenshot buttons are in the standard positions, but the home button has been enlarged and moved to the center-bottom (which mostly works fine), to make room for a turbo button, which works in the usual way that this sort of button does, though I note that it seems to be a slower turbo function than usual (it’s adjustable, but even its fastest speed seems slow).

When it comes to the other standard features of Nintendo Switch controllers, this controller includes the ability to wirelessly wake the Nintendo Switch from sleep mode. The gyroscopic motion control works fine, too. It has adjustable rumble in place of HD rumble, which I tend to find a decent trade-off. And while it has no Amiibo functionality, this is rare in third-party Nintendo Switch controllers so I don’t hold that against it.

Flipping the controller over to look at its underside, we see a pair of macro buttons at the base of the grips on either side, which are used to memorize customized command sequences, like a Street Fighter-style “hadouken”. These are joined in the center by a macro toggle switch, if you want to shut off this function so you don’t accidentally activate it, and the macro programming button, which doubles as a lighting change button. Unfortunately, this last button is tiny and awkwardly-placed, making it inconvenient to set up the macros in the first place.

Finally, let’s talk about cross-compatibility. The Pedroshaw Wireless Switch Controller’s sales page claims that in addition to Nintendo Switch, it works with PC, Android, and iOS. I wasn’t able to test this with iOS, and with my Android device it worked fine, but I was not able to get this controller to work at all with my PC, regardless of whether I was trying a Bluetooth connection or a wired connection via USB-C. To this controller’s credit, it does work with the Keylinker smartphone app, a feature I wish more controllers would make use of. However, this doesn’t fix all of the problems it has.

In the time it took me to review the Pedroshaw Wireless Switch Controller, its sales page has changed to unlisted, so I’m not sure what price this controller sells at, but honestly any price seems too much for this. I’ve used numerous budget controllers that play better, feel better, have more features, and, quite frankly, that look better than this controller. I appreciate the Keylinker app support, but other than that, this controller feels like it’s behind the curve in every way.

tl;dr – The Pedroshaw Wireless Switch Controller is a Pro-style controller that looks and feels cheap, has a terrible D-Pad, trigger buttons that aren’t very responsive, an oddly slow turbo function, a macro settings button that’s tiny and awkwardly-placed, and doesn’t even work with all the platforms it advertises. I appreciate that it has support for the Keylinker smartphone app, but otherwise this controller can’t compete with even some of the better budget controllers on the market right now.

Grade: D

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