I have replaced the joy cons on my 2-year-old OLED Switch twice because of issues with them becoming too loose and popping off. I realize this is in part because I have smaller hands and hold the game in a position where I put the heels of my hands below the joy cons to hold it in place. Doing this, I also push up on the joy cons, apparently applying enough pressure to eventually break the latch holding them in place. I play entirely in hand-held mode, so it was worth finding an alternative to constantly buying new joy cons. In addition, I had to send in a prior Switch for repairs because the power cord port became loose and stopped charging, in part again because of how I hold the Switch from below, but also just the fact that the cords are plugged in flush with the bottom, they are prone to being wiggled around as the machine is set down or picked up. For these two issues, this deck has solved the problem. The power input is flat and up higher on the back of the device, and can be used to charge while being used in handheld mode. The console slides in like in a docking device, so any pushing is now distributed across the entire bottom and nothing is pushing on the actual console itself. The action of the buttons and sticks is different from the original switch – more like our Xbox controllers. I love the zero-drift sticks. I had no idea that would make a difference, but the sensitivity of movement is amazing and I can finally be more precise in keeping my character still. Here is the thing – I am NOT a gamer. I am one of those silly people who spends hours playing Animal Crossing and that is 90% of my gaming time. So I cannot speak to how well this would work in other games, I am just walking and running around, interacting with objects, fishing, and designing stuff. No high-pressure stakes here. It has the rumble function – that was the primary reason I picked this over other options. And it is a serious rumble. Not noisy, just a big and rough vibration. And it vibrates for everything. It cannot be modified. This has made playing a little more difficult, as it makes it harder to detect when a fish nibbles vs bites, so I have to rely less on feel and more on sight when doing that task. The only other issue I have had is the connection at setup and again when picking it up after a night without play. It came with a nice little reminder to change a setting on the game system to allow the controller to connect, but it missed one important step. I spent a good half hour getting it to work on the main screen, but as soon as I went into my game it was dead. Not sure exactly why, but after running through the entire menu I realized I needed to disconnect the original joy cons and then it was able to function. Second, on day two it would not connect at all, even after detaching and resetting the console (which is quite easy to do). With some experimenting, I figured out you cannot have the power cable connected at the time of waking/connecting the deck to the console. If I want to play with the power cable attached, that works just fine. I just have to wait until the device is already on and connected. I am guessing this thing makes it impossible to connect to a dead/no battery console and I would need to power the console itself if that happened.

One last note – if is huge and heavy! Probably doubles the weight of the console. It has a nice little kickstand on the back, but this is not meant to be a stand for playing not handheld, since they are not removable joycons.

I mean built like a brick in a good way. This thing is massive and rock solid. It weighs about as much as the Switch itself.

It has a nice feel to the buttons and the sticks. The triggers have a nice pull to them as well. When you slide your Switch into it, it satisfyingly clicks into place and is secure. It has a built-in kickstand for tabletop mode, and a fast charger pass-through to the Switch. Its D-PAD rocks! I have no trouble with accidental activation of diagonal controls when pressing one of the four directions. It has 4 re-map-able buttons on the back, that can also take macros. It also has turbofire support. And, if you’re short for a controller, there’s an output port on the back that when you connect a USB cable to it, it can act like a wired controller when plugged into a switch dock.

Features aside, there are a few drawbacks for this unit. Removal can be a bit of a chore as you have to hold down the lock and slide the Switch out putting a little force on the face of the Switch. It can be a bit heavy for some users, especially for extended play. The CRKD logo doubles as the home button, lights up when in use, but you can change its light level or turn it off completely.

All in, this is my daily driver as it’s solid, has been handled a little roughly and so far shows no signs of wear.

As the title says, I am on my second Nitro Deck because my first one was busted out of the box. Neither sticks registered, half the face buttons registered incorrect inputs and it would randomly just disconnect, which is the first time I have ever seen a wired connection do that. In fact, this is the only wire connected controller to brick out the box. Even the cheapo $10 360 clones I have purchased in the past worked when I first used it. Further insulting that I went through the exercise of registered on the app and the song and dance of this “premium” product played out. When I reached out to CRKD about the issue, to their credit, they responded quickly and politely acknowledged that it was indeed a defect unit. The replacement was processed quickly by Amazon, not CRKD, because that was the way I could most quickly get a new unit.

Once I got a a working unit, it has been pretty good. Build is solid and it does feel nice to use with the exception of the right analog stick placement. The right stick is directly below the face buttons making it awkward to quickly switch between both. Even when playing a game that only uses the face buttons and not the right stick, part of your thumb or palm rests on the stick which I find annoying and slightly uncomfortable. The Joycons also have that right stick, face buttons set up, but since the sticks sit much higher on the Nitro Deck, it’s far more uncomfortable. It would have been better if the stick and button were either offset slightly, like on a conventional pro controller, or swapped so that the buttons sit below the stick. CRKD is releasing a + version that has the latter set up.

Still an upgrade to your standard Joycon handheld experience with good fit and finish, but not a perfect solution either. Given the first unit I received, be sure to get it from a seller that will work with you if the unit doesn’t work out the box.

I love the feel, the durable grip and use of the device. I don’t play a lot of fps so I won’t notice the issue with thr right stick like some. But I love it.