Regular old Joy-Con 2 controllers are using sticks that will inevitably break. That’s because century-old potentiometer joysticks, like Nintendo’s consoles, are designed with two physical components that use electrical currents to determine stick orientation. That friction will inevitably degrade the components. Tunneling magnetoresistance or TMR instead measures subtle differences in magnetic fields. This is potentially very accurate and more power-efficient than the methods used by traditional sticks. Even better, the TMR is built with fewer moving parts that can cause breakage.
Gulkit, which makes controllers and other handheld accessories, now sells a $20 TMR Joy-Con 2 stick replacement. These are similar to flow-resistant The company offered a Hall-effect replacement for the original Switch in 2023, which eventually transitioned to TMR as well.. You are unlikely to understand the difference between original and replacement nubs. The new products are very accurate recreations, and they work without any problems on the Switch 2; They prove that Nintendo could have provided a TMR joystick on its latest handheld from the beginning.
Whether the Switch 2 could also support magnetic field-dependent sticks was previously an open question. The Joy-Con 2 controllers are attached to the main body with magnets, which, in theory, are strong enough to disrupt the TMR. But Gulkit’s sticks are the latest evidence that Nintendo had non-hardware reasons for going with the traditional stick design. This may reduce economics of scale. After all, PlayStation and Xbox also stuck with this old thumbstick technology. Valve’s Steam Controller currently remains the only first-party controller with a TMR joystick, and that’s for a console that isn’t available yet.
So this new development may sound pretty exciting, and it is – but the actual process of bypassing Nintendo’s locked-down hardware is another matter. And it’s so complex that only those dedicated to the longevity of their controller should attempt it.
Nintendo didn’t make this controller easy to open
Anyone who wants to switch to TMR will need to disassemble their controller. They may not be able to enjoy the end result.
Nintendo promises to replace your Joy-Con 2 if something goes wrong. Which is good, because if you really want to make sure your current Joy-Con sticks survive the wear and tear, you’re going to have to tear them apart like a dog tore a bone. And the Joy-Con 2 are not designed to be opened by beginners. Replacing the thumbstick requires disassembling the mainboard and practically every other component.
I plugged the replacement stick into my personal Switch 2, and it was not a beginner-friendly task. Gulikit wants users to do this Overall follow iFixit’s guidelines for both left and right controllers 55 steps. It took me a little over an hour and a half to replace one joystick, which took longer due to the difficulty of removing the controller’s backplate.
Additionally, you need a specific set of screwdriver heads to remove the joystick from its coffin – specifically, a tri-point Y00 bit and a JIS 00 bit. Although you can make do with any small, sharp Phillips head for the latter, you’ll need a special tri-point screwdriver if you want to avoid disassembling the screw.
iFixit sells a $30 electronics toolkit that includes a Y00 screw head, as well as some guitar picks for taking apart the plastic shell. You’ll also need thin tweezers to remove the battery and controls from the mainboard, and a narrow-tipped plastic rod, what iFixit calls a “spudger”, to disconnect the trigger board and joystick connection points.
Destroying the Joy-Con isn’t particularly difficult, but it does take time and constant nervousness. First-time DIYers will likely be concerned about completing their $95 Joy-Cons. Confidence counts for a lot when working with small electronics. Simply put all your screws in their separate piles and see the instructions for each step.
These TMR sticks feel different
I left my right-handed Joy-Con as stock and switched to the left stick to compare the two. While the Gulkit kit is aesthetically similar to the Nintendo one, the rubber feels different. It is more slippery than the original Joy-Con thumbstick. This caused a problem while trying to play super mario galaxy Or Metroid Prime 4: BeyondWhen my finger felt like it was on an ice rink. These sticks also offer less resistance than the Nintendo versions. Even the thumbstick clicks had a little more “oomph” than the base model.
Stick caps may alleviate one of these pain points, but they’re not enough to erase the feeling of regret, knowing that I prefer the experience of the original stick rather than its replacement.
Last week, Nintendo said it would raise the price of the Switch 2 to $500 starting September 1. These sticks cost $20, although without the right tools, you’ll spend more on special screwdrivers. This can be useful for people who like to dig into their electronics to learn how they work. The average gamer would be better off sending their controllers to Nintendo for repair.
Your other option, if you want a drift-resistant joystick on the Switch 2, is to forego the Joy-Cons altogether. Mobapad finally released its long-awaited $100 M12 HD “joycons” with a TMR joystick and ergonomic handle built for adult-sized hands. It seems to have everything you could want, from Joy-Cons to an NFC reader – to pardon your excessive amiibo collection. One problem is that it lacks the Switch 2’s historic mouse mode. Games you planned to play may not play Use the special Joy-Con 2 optical sensor, but I would personally miss it for titles like pokemon pokedex. There’s no ideal Switch 2 control option for everyone, but there are more options available now than at launch at least a year ago.
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