How do you play the Nintendo Switch? Perpetually docked and connected to a TV like a home console, or more frequently in handheld mode as you roam the house or take potty breaks (don’t pretend you don’t)? If you’re in that latter group, the new Hori Split Pad Fit should make your handheld experience feel a little more comfy and a little more secure.
Nintendo obviously had to make a few compromises to create the multi-purpose Switch, and if you asked most owners what they dislike most about the console, the first thing they’ll probably mention is the Joy-Cons. They’re fine in a pinch, but are really too small to be used as standalone gamepads (which Nintendo acknowledged when it released the Switch Pro Controller) and they don’t feel like an especially secure way to keep a firm grip on the Switch when using it as a handheld.
Other portable consoles, like Valve’s Steam Deck, feature more pronounced grips on either side, giving players’ hands more to hold on to. It was a design shortcoming that third-party alternatives like the Hori Switch Split Pad Pro solved, putting beefier controllers on either side of the Switch that sacrificed some portability for much improved grip.
Hori went back to the drawing board with this accessory, and the new Split Pad Fit, which will release first in Japan next month and then get a wider rollout afterwards, features a slimmer design that looks more like the official Joy-Cons. Even so, they still retain a thicker body that’s easier to hold.
One of the reasons the original Hori Split Pad Pro sold for $US50 ($69) (a pair of Joy-Cons will set you back $US80 ($111)) is that they skipped the rumbling force feedback, the NFC capabilities, and they aren’t even wireless — they only work when attached to the Switch itself. The new Split Pad Fit comes with the same limitations, but does carry over the original’s extra programmable buttons on the back, which can replicate the functionality of any of the face or shoulder buttons, as well as the Turbo buttons, which can automate multiple button presses.