Gadgetory

- A few videos back, we talked about these fake Joy-Cons which, while it's really cool to have a cheap alternative that plays like Joy-Cons on the Switch, they were not great, less than impressive, but now we have our hands on some new fake Joy-Cons, and these ones might be better? Now, when it comes to fake Joy-Cons, there's a couple of different things we need to consider, what functions it actually still supports versus a regular Joy-Con, the build quality, how the buttons and sticks feel compared to normal Joy-Cons, and of course, even the other fake options. Now for these ones, one of the first things you'll immediately notice is the change in shape. Regular Joy-Cons have very rigid, flat sides, and even the fake ones we did followed that same design but were just larger overall, these on the other hand, have a little more curvature going on. You'll see there's kind of a concave curve right here on the side, and on the back it actually has a little bit of fitting as well that's a little more designed like a traditional grip on a controller, instead of the normal just flat shape Joy-Cons have, which honestly, just right out of the gate, holding it does feel like an improvement. Now, aside from this curvature, there are couple of things about this design that when you hold it up side by side are just, well, not quite right. The shoulder buttons are actually one of the more accurate aspects which is pretty cool, but the front-facing is where a lot of weirdness starts to happen. You'll notice the sticks have a much flatter overall surface, it still has that same kind of little circular design around it, but it's not quite as pronounced so it doesn't really latch onto your finger as much, and the A, B, X, Y buttons, instead of regular circles are now these ovular shapes. Also, like a Joy-Con and unlike the other fake Joy-Cons we checked out, this does not use a D-pad, but instead sticks with the same four button setup, which does make a little more sense when you want to be able to use it sideways, but for those of you who like having the full handheld experience, it is kind of a sad loss. Now, what's really interesting about these Joy-Cons however, isn't just the change in shape and how they're just a little bit different and cheaper, but the fact that they actually operate a little more like real Joy-Cons. See, with the other fake ones we talked about before, they were always wireless Bluetooth connection, even if you connected them to the sides of your Switch it didn't actually connect to the Switch, you had connect them wirelessly still and just kind of pretend you were doing a normal handheld experience. With these on the other hand, if you attach them to the sides of the Switch, it will not only charge the Joy-Cons, but connect and register like Joy-Cons are attached to the side and you can swap to wireless as well. That being said, there is a little bit of weirdness with them when you set them up. These are actually the only Joy-Cons I've seen that when you connect them to the Switch, they actually have a different logo than normal. Usually the Joy-Cons appear like whatever color Joy-Con you have, and even in the case of the other fake Joy-Cons, it looked like the regular gray ones, in this case though, it's just a pure black silhouette, kind of like what you would normally see in just the small logos in the corner when you're actually in the syncing page, that's how they register. By the way, if you guys want a closer look at these Joy-Cons and see them side-by-side with regular Joy-Cons and the fake ones, make sure to check out my Instagram, we're gonna have multiple pictures of these posted up. As for features, there's three main things we're looking for in comparison to regular Joy-Cons, rumble motors, motion controls, and amiibo support, and like what is true with so many other third-party options out there, these do not have amiibo support, but it does boast the other two features which I would argue are the more important two. So, that's everything on paper, but let's actually hook them up and try 'em out. So, we're gonna start with a little bit of Smash Bros., and one of the things that I'm noticing right away is that I do like the curvature that these Joy-Cons have. They're still the same kind of smaller size as the official ones, so your whole hand can wrap around it, but with that kind of curved side going on, it's easier to rest your palm inside of it which I really like. Now, while I do like the grip on these Joy-Cons, there are a couple other aspects of it that I'm not as big of a fan of, which is sort of the natural result of it being a cheaper third-party alternative. To begin with, the front-facing buttons are okay, they're worse than regular Joy-Cons but I would say they're a little better than what we had on the other fake Joy-Cons. The shoulder buttons are pretty good. The weakest thing by far though is definitely the sticks. There's this kind of little extra resistance to them that doesn't feel quite as comfortable, and the shape of the stick head is a lot more slippery, it doesn't grip to your thumb nearly as comfortably. Something else that's really stood out to me about the Joy-Cons versus the other fake ones that we used before is, if you saw the video on the other fake ones, one of my big complaints is that the rumble motor was just always on at full blast, it rattled the whole shell casing and just didn't feel good, these ones actually feel a little more varied though, it's getting the highs and lows, it doesn't feel quite as detailed as the HD rumble in Joy-Cons, but it's a lot closer. Something I gotta say too is that, while these are definitely not officially licensed products and they don't completely work the same way normal Joy-Cons should, the syncing process for them is still really simple, the only kinda extra weird step is that when you go to the pair controller screen, you have to mash down all the front-facing buttons and that's how knows to search for a Switch to sync to. You can't just do the normal shoulder button taps, you have to mash these down. So, that's kind of a little extra step you have to remember, but it's really not anymore of a hassle. I gotta say, these Joy-Cons actually surprised me! I think after the experience I had with the other fake Joy-Cons, I had a bit of a bad taste in my mouth and just didn't really expect anything to be, well, good, but for being, what are honestly just knock-off versions of regular Nintendo Joy-Cons, these get the job done pretty well. I do think regular Joy-Cons are still the better way to go if you're willing to spend the money, but at 30 bucks these things do a great job! Again, you're able to use them connected directly to the Switch or wirelessly, and the experience overall feels a lot more like you're using an officially licensed product and not something that was just designed to kind of awkwardly work. While certain aspects of them can certainly use some improvement, like the sticks, the front-facing buttons, and they're just a little too light in the hand for me personally, all the other benefits they have at their price point is really great. I like the curved design, I think it actually works out better than the actual official Joy-Con shape, it's just a bit more comfortable, especially when you're using them independently. Add on to this that they have working motion controls and a rumble feature that isn't all out insane, if you just want a cheap alternative to Joy-Cons to save a little money or maybe even give to a kid or something, these are actually pretty worth it.