Playnex 2.4Ghz Wireless Controller

Hardware Type: Grip

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Review:

I’ve noticed there’s this trend with third-party controller manufacturers to have multiple brand names they shuffle between, resulting in the same controller, or similar, coming from multiple game companies. That seems to be the case here with the Playnex 2.4Ghz Wireless Controller, which is extremely similar to the EasySMX D10 Wireless Game Controller that I reviewed late last year, but with just enough differences to make it unique… but only just barely.

As such, I’ll be copying over my review of the D10 and changing it here to adjust to the differences with the Playnex controller.

Like many of the Pro-style controllers released for Nintendo Switch, Playnex’s controller replicates the general size, shape, and layout of Nintendo’s own Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, with asymmetrical analog sticks with a concave top, along with standard face buttons and D-Pad in the usual places. The backside of the grips are very lightly textured. Overall I felt this controller was fairly comfortable to hold, much like holding Nintendo’s own Pro controller.

The D-Pad is more on the “clicky” side of the “squishy/clicky” spectrum, while the face buttons are a bit too much on the “squishy” side for my tastes. What’s more, this controller’s D-Pad has a rounded shape I find to be too imprecise. Not great. As for the analog sticks, Playnex’s controller is equipped with TMR sticks, which are considered to be the current high-end standard, and which work in a way that won’t suffer from drift.

We do run into a bit of trouble when looking at the secondary face buttons, though. The minus, home, and plus buttons are now all arranged in a horizontal bar, which is a bit odd but I suppose it works. However, the screenshot button is now nowhere to be seen, removed from the controller entirely. The only other button on the face is a turbo/macro button down beneath and between the D-Pad and right analog stick, which works in conjunction with the face buttons in the typical way turbo buttons tend to, and works in conjunction with the macro buttons on the back of the controller in the usual way these buttons tend to operate.

Moving on to the top of the controller, we have a pair of L and R bumper buttons that are clicky, which I tend to find ideal for these buttons. We also have a pair of ZL and ZR triggers that can be changed from digital to analog via switches on the back of the controller, allowing these to be used in digital mode when playing on Nintendo Switch (which doesn’t recognize analog trigger input), and easily swapping to analog mode when playing on other platforms that can use this sort of input for things like Racing games. This is pretty much ideal, in my opinion.

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 find to be an acceptable replacement in third-party controllers. Unfortunately, it does not have Amiibo functionality, though this is a rarity in third-party Nintendo Switch controllers, so I don’t hold it against this controller.

Flipping the controller over to look at its underside, we have a pair of macro buttons that can be assigned to a button or a sequence of commands, like a Street Fighter-style “hadouken”. This is done using the aforementioned macro settings button on the front of the controller. And above these buttons are the aforementioned switches to change the trigger buttons from digital to analog. Finally, dead-center in the back there is a slider to change the controller for Nintendo Switch mode to Bluetooth mode or USB dongle wireless mode.

In addition to Nintendo Switch, Playnex’s controller is designed to work with PC, Android, and iOS platforms. I wasn’t able to test this with iOS, but the controller worked fine on Android, and I was surprised to find it also worked fine on PC via Bluetooth connection even without the USB dongle, something that usually makes for a poor connection in controllers. Of course, if you want an instant connection without having to go into settings menu, the USB dongle works fine as well.

There is one other nice extra that this controller offers, in the form of an included charging cradle for the controller. I personally tend to find these sorts of things superfluous, but players who find them convenient will undoubtedly be happy to have it, and those who don’t will find the controller connects and charges just fine when directly connected using a USB-C cable.

When it comes to downsides, apart from the D-Pad and face button issues I mention, the main negatives of Playnex’s controller are things it lacks rather than things it does wrong. The major one here is the loss of the screenshot button, but there’s also no app support and no Amiibo scanning.

However, overall this is a decent controller that does most of what it attempts pretty well. The TMR analog sticks are a big plus, as are the swappable analog-digital triggers, and while I think this controller’s charging cradle and USB dongle aren’t necessary, I’m still glad that both are here. Overall, if you’re looking for a good mid-range Nintendo Switch controller, Playnex’s controller is a good choice.

tl;dr – The Playnex 2.4Ghz Wireless Controller is a Pro-style controller for Nintendo Switch that has a good list of features. It’s inexplicably missing the screenshot button, and it lacks app support, but otherwise it has good multiplatform compatibility, TMR analog sticks, swappable digital-analog triggers, and a convenient charging cradle, as well as the standard list of features we’ve come to expect from modern third-party Nintendo Switch controllers. That said, this controller is nearly identical to the EasySMX D10 Controller, which has a better D-Pad and face buttons. Even if you don’t care about the other flaws of this controller, you should still get the D10 instead of this.

Grade: B-

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