8BitDo is one of those companies where I had purchased a lot of their products already before they ever began sending them to me for review. Even now, such as with their All-Button Arcade Controller, I buy and review their products on my own dime all the time simply because I love to tinker and enjoy all of the extra features they pack into their products. 8BitDo’s new Pro 3 gamepad is one that they sent to me, but I also purchased one for my wife because any purple controller in the house must go to her first, so this was entirely necessary.
Aesthetically, the 8BitDo Pro 3 looks phenomenal. The purple finish with gray, green, and red face buttons evokes early 2000s GameCube nostalgia, precisely as it should. The light gray of the face buttons matches the same shade as the d-pad, thumbsticks, and shoulder buttons, which makes for a very visually pleasing controller. Everything about the Pro 3 looks superb, so 8BitDo really nailed the look of this gamepad.
Not to mention, the shape and feel of the Pro 3 is probably among the most comfortable symmetrical analog stick layout controllers on the market, given its textured, rounded handles, and pleasant curves. The bottom of the controller has a small switch to change connection modes, and three contacts so the included dock can charge the controller when not in use, which makes for an extremely convenient experience. As far as build quality goes, shaking the controller does produce a small rattling sound, most likely due to the face buttons on the controller.
There was no need to update the Pro 3’s firmware to work on a Nintendo Switch 2, so it was nice to use a 3rd party controller right out of the box for a change. It’s also important to note that if you’re wanting to use the 2.4GHz dongle that’s included in the dock, you have to enable “Pro Controller Wired Communication” in Switch or Switch 2 settings in order to use it. Another item to note is that the Pro 3 isn’t able to wake a Nintendo Switch 2, though there are third party controllers on the market that are able to do this now, so hopefully we’ll begin to see more that can do so soon.
The 8BitDo Pro 3 has a symmetrical analog stick layout, very much like PlayStation controllers. The Pro 3 uses TMR analog sticks, which utilize magnets and quantum tunneling to determine the position of the analog stick. This differs from potentiometer thumb sticks that use wipers and resistive pads to determine the stick’s tilt, and it hopefully means that mechanical wear, the most common reason for analog stick drift, shouldn’t be an issue for a Pro 3. The analog stick caps have a metal ring around them and can pop off to swap them out in the event they get damaged. The controller comes with some extra ball top stick caps that, I’m assuming, are to evoke arcade cabinet nostalgia, but I couldn’t actually find a good reason to use them at all.
Much like 8BitDo’s Ultimate 2 controllers, the Pro 3 has Hall effect analog triggers and trigger stops that turn the triggers into a mouse click-like switch. While in analog mode, the triggers have a smooth travel until fully actuated, feeling just as good as on 8BitDo’s Pro 2 and previous controllers. Using the trigger lock mechanism, the triggers become digital buttons that fully actuate after a very short travel, complete with a satisfying mouse click sound that gives you both touch and audible feedback of pressing the trigger. Since the Pro 3 is usable on both Nintendo Switch and PC, having both options for triggers is extremely helpful when playing racing games and Rocket League through Steam, or when playing first person shooters or practically any game on your Nintendo Switch.
The d-pad on the Pro 3 is a little bit on the stiffer side, taking a tiny bit more effort to pull off diagonal inputs than 8BitDo’s previous Ultimate 2 controllers. Every direction you press triggers an audible tactile bump, meaning that you’ll always have feedback for the directions you press. This directional pad is ideal for Tetris and 2D platformers, and simple inputs like quarter-circle-forwards and dragon punches can still be done pretty easily. As far as fighting games go, I was struggling to perform 360 and 720 motion inputs in older fighting titles because I’d miss a diagonal here and there without pushing what I consider to be pretty hard on the pad.
Newer fighting games have a certain amount of leniency for doing rolling d-pad inputs like the aforementioned, but Street Fighter 3rd Strike and the like are a bit too strict for me to want to regularly play it with 8BitDo’s Pro3. For literally everyone else who primarily uses their d-pads for platformers, Tetris, and similar titles, the tactility and prominent positioning of the d-pad on the Pro 3 will likely make this your favorite directional pad out there. The size, shape, and feel of it is just perfect for everyday use.
The face buttons on the Pro 3 default to the Nintendo Switch layout with the A button on the right side, but a new useful feature of the controller makes layout troubles a thing of the past. Included in the bottom of the Pro 3’s dock are spare, glyph-less buttons and a tool that can pop the face buttons off the controller, allowing you to swap them around to an Xbox layout or something crazier if that’s what you want. The buttons themselves are satisfying to press, though they have an obvious clacking sound that make them seem louder than the face buttons of most other controllers, even 8BitDo’s Pro 2. This could be due to the magnets that hold the buttons in their place.
In terms of software integration, the Pro 3 uses 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software v2, which allows you to change button mappings, record macros, adjust analog stick dead zone, or invert the axes of the sticks, adjust trigger dead zone, and change rumble strength. These settings are very similar to what 8BitDo offers for their other products, and you can apply these settings on up to three profiles in each of the Switch and Windows modes that you can switch among at the push of a button. The only thing missing from the Ultimate Software integration is that you can’t adjust the analog stick curve at all, only the dead zone and whether or not you want to swap the analog sticks. The stick curve seems fine to me, but some who play extremely precise games would probably appreciate such a feature in the future.
It’s also worth mentioning that button mapping for the extra shoulder and back buttons can be performed on the fly when not on a given profile, and when the controller isn’t in Nintendo Switch mode, what would be the capture button becomes a turbo enabler button. The included manual says that you can’t map the L3/R3 buttons to the back buttons, but my Pro 3 allowed me to do this without any issue, so I’m unsure what that line is for in the controller’s manual.
The Pro 3 has extra L4/R4 buttons next to its shoulder buttons, and the two PL/PR back buttons underneath the controller match those as what were on the 8BitDo Pro 2 controller. The L4/R4 buttons use what sounds like a mouse click switch, and they are far enough out of the way that you should never hit them accidentally. People with smaller hands will likely have difficulty hitting the top extra buttons during fast and frenetic gameplay, which makes them more ideal for macros or buttons you don’t need to use too terribly often. The back buttons, on the other hand, fit comfortably, exactly where your fingers rest for easy access whenever you need them.
The 2.4GHz dongle for the controller is inside the dock, just underneath the extra face buttons, and you can connect your Pro 3 to a PC or Nintendo Switch to charge or play with the controller on your preferred system. You can remove the adapter from the dock and connect it directly to your system if you want to as well, but the dock functions as a passthrough for it so you have the flexibility of using it either way. The 8BitDo Pro 3 can connect via a USB-C cable, Bluetooth, or its included 2.4GHz adapter, depending on platform, though there are some caveats because not all connection modes work on all platforms.
The connection modes of the Pro 3 are interesting and a bit of a mixed bag, effectively being my only real complaint with this controller. The 2.4GHz dongle in bottom of the controller dock can be used to connect the Pro 3 in Switch mode with a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 system, or X-input mode when connected to a PC. It seems as if it’s impossible to be able to use the adapter for a more stable connection to play wirelessly in Switch mode on PC, in spite of the fact that the adapter can be used just fine to connect to a Nintendo system. Switch mode only works through a cable or Bluetooth for PC, for some reason.
On top of this, D-input mode can’t be used over the 2.4GHz adapter either, connecting solely through Bluetooth or a cable. X-input mode can’t connect through Bluetooth, and it can only be used wired or with the adapter. This choice is strange because if you connect the 2.4GHz adapter to your PC, it only connects via X-input, which means no gyro support, but if you connect the adapter to your Nintendo Switch system, it connects in Switch mode and can use the gyroscope. Maybe a firmware update will release in the future to add more flexibility, similar to what the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless received, but only time will tell.
Thankfully, 8BitDo’s Pro 3 works fine on a Nintendo Switch system in any connection mode, so these limitations primarily only affect PC gamers. When connected via its included adapter, the Pro 3 feels great and is as responsive as Nintendo’s own Pro controllers. The polling rate is basically the maximum that the Nintendo Switch can allow and after some input delay testing, the Pro 3 does match within a frame of official Nintendo Switch controllers when connected via 2.4GHz. Latency on the Pro 3 can get pretty wacky outside of its included wireless dongle, however.
Effectively every single other mode of the 8BitDo Pro 3 has great to reasonable latency except D-input mode over Bluetooth, which reaches 45ms of input delay on analog sticks from my latency tests (with other reviewers getting results at high at 72ms!). Using the 2.4GHz connection on both a Nintendo Switch and PC feel perfect, and exactly what a controller should be, but for some reason D-input mode’s Bluetooth latency just has considerably higher latency than every other mode of the controller. The Pro 3 over 2.4GHz responds quite quickly at 14ms, it’s unfortunate that D-input mode can’t benefit from the more stable, faster connection for use with Steam Input support on PC.
The strange connection limitations with the Pro 3 may be a minor issue for most, as Switch gamers won’t have any issues at all, but this could be a bit confusing for those who want to game on PC using this controller. When used on a Nintendo Switch system, the Pro 3 performs commendably, giving fine-tuned control in Splatoon 3, Monster Hunter Rise, or Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, for example. On PC, you can make full use of the gyro in either Switch or D-input modes, and even with the latency issues with Bluetooth D-input, the gyro’s accuracy is still solid no matter whether you’re using an emulator or Steam to make use of it. When wired, the gyro feels wonderful: accurate, responsive, and precisely what you want it to be.
As per usual, the Pro 3 has no compensation for its rumble motors when using the gyroscope in the controller, so if you’re playing Donkey Kong Bananza or a similar title where you can use the gyro to help you aim at airborne enemies, the vibration motors will actively be working against you by shaking your reticle. Thankfully, you can lower the rumble strength when playing gyro heavy games and set that as one of your profiles when playing these sorts of titles.
The 8bitdo Pro 3 features full Steam compatibility support, just like the Ultimate 2 Wireless and several other of 8bitdo’s other controllers. This means that, like their other gamepads, you can use Steam to assign the extra buttons on a per-game basis, and can use the gyroscope of the controller in tandem with the Pro 3’s analog triggers. To do this, you need to switch the controller to D-input mode over Bluetooth or using a cable, and you’ll be able to enjoy the extras of Steam integration.
In conclusion, the 8BitDo Pro 3 is one of the best controllers out there for platformers, retro titles, or for just playing anything on a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2. Swappable face buttons is a great idea for those of us who play on more than one platform, and the extra shoulder and back buttons are perfect for shortcuts, macros, or even using with an emulator to quickly save and load progress. While a Pro 3 is not my preferred d-pad for fighting games, the tactile feedback makes this a match made in heaven for 2D titles.
For those who appreciate the PlayStation-style symmetrical analog stick layout, a Pro 3 is the among the best you can get for your Nintendo Switch. The only real downsides to 8BitDo’s Pro 3 are with its strangely demarcated connection methods and a laggy D-input mode over Bluetooth compared to how it performs in other modes.