Dobe Fomis Electronics Joy-Con Comfort Grips

Hardware Type: Grip

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Review:

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

We are now eight years into the Nintendo Switch’s lifespan, with the Nintendo Switch 2 entering the market this year, and I think that we can now all agree that while Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons were a great idea in theory, in practice they leave a lot to be desired.

Of course the problems with analog stick drift are well-known, and plenty have complained about frustrations sliding the controllers onto the rails to either side of the Nintendo Switch, but even beyond these design flaws, there is one core issue plaguing these controllers – they are not at all comfortable to play with.

Nintendo has been trying to sell players on the idea that not only can these controllers be paired to form a 2-stick controller, but each can be turned onto their side to use as their own individual controller. And unless you’re a small child with tiny hands, odds are good that you’ve found this to be the absolute worst way to play Nintendo Switch. It’s cramped, it’s far too tiny in your hands, it’s not at all ergonomic, the analog stick or button placements are all wrong, and the SL and SR buttons, intended to be used in place of L and R buttons during solo Joy-Con play, are insultingly tiny.

Many gamers quickly changed to Pro-style controllers for play in everything other than portable mode. But for players on a budget, or those still hoping to use solo Joy-Cons in roughly the way they’re intended, might hope that a grip could help these things function more in the way you’d want an actual controller to work. Among such devices we have the Dobe Fomis Electronics Joy-Con Comfort Grips.

Selling at $10 for a pair, the Dobe Fomis Electronics Joy-Con Comfort Grips have a much larger profile than the Joy-Con controllers on their own, though still a bit smaller than both the Joy-Cons in a standard Joy-Con Grip, as well as a standard Pro controller. They’re also a bit cuter in their design, with big, rounded edges. The entire thing is made of plastic, and feels a tad cheap in its construction. And in addition to the housing for the Joy-Cons, there are also button covers for the SL and SR buttons, as well as a button to push the controller back out of the casing.

Slotting in the Joy-Cons, they fit pretty snugly in the grips, with either left or right Joy-Con fitting in either of the grips. While there’s a bit of space to one side of each Joy-Con (where the ZL or ZR button is), it’s held in place around where the rail slide at the top is, and doesn’t shift left or right at all. And holding the grip in your hands feels pretty comfortable… mostly.

Okay, time to tackle the first problem, and it’s one that this device couldn’t really address – the left Joy-Con has face buttons that are far too much to the left, and the right Joy-Con has an analog stick that’s far too much to the right. While I suppose there might be some way to design a grip around this fact, the Dobe Fomis Electronics grip does nothing to address this issue, possibly in favor of symmetry that can allow either grip to function within its housing.

However, once you get used to this issue, the Dobe Fomis Electronics grip has a lot going for it. It’s far more comfortable in the hands than the Joy-Con alone, and what’s more the L and R buttons work wonderfully. Testing this out on Nintendo Switch Online’s Super Nintendo app made playing these games feel almost natural. It’s not quite on par with the Super Nintendo controller (Super Metroid is still an absolute pain to play with your right thumb juggling the dash, fire, and jump buttons all at the same time), but it’s far superior to the Joy-Con on its own.

However, here we run into another issue – due to the grip casing covering it, the ZL or ZR button is now inaccessible, which is a bit of a problem playing retro apps like the Super Nintendo app, as this button is needed to access the app’s menus. It’s simple enough to use the grip’s central button to pop out the Joy-Con to use it, but it’s a bit annoying to have to do so, especially if you’re using it repeatedly. Plus, of course, you’re not going to fit this back on your Nintendo Switch without removing it from the grip again.

While many of these complaints may seem like common sense, and at least some of these are issues caused by the Joy-Cons and not the Dobe Fomis Electronics grip itself, it still bears mention that this is just slapping a Band-Aid on the problem that is the Joy-Cons, and while it definitely improves the gameplay experience using these Joy-Cons, a grip like this can only do so much. If you’re okay with that, I think you may find these grips worth trying. Just don’t expect anything nearly as comfortable or natural as a Pro-style controller.

tl;dr – The Dobe Fomis Electronics Joy-Con Comfort Grips make playing with a single Joy-Con more comfortable, greatly improve on the Joy-Cons’ terrible SL and SR buttons, and are inexpensive enough that Nintendo Switch gamers on a tight budget might find this to be an acceptable way to improve their gaming experience. Just don’t expect anything nearly as comfortable or natural as a Pro-style controller.

Grade: B-

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