You’ve heard this one before, I am sure; a lot of people have declared their love for one or the other third-party controller for the Switch, and I’m no exception. And yet today’s hero of our review, the BINBOK Ultra Pro Controller, just might be my favorite. Here’s why.
Let’s start with the most important — the price. The BINBOK Ultra Pro Controller will set you back $56.99, which is, let’s be honest, an excellent price. There are no compromises here: you get a product one might even call premium.
The box includes the controller itself (and detachable battery), a USB adapter, four interchangeable thumbstick caps, a USB-C charging cable, and a user manual.
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This is where I might have some criticism: as a lover of minimalism, I did not initially dig the utilitarian, gamery aesthetic the BINBOK Ultra Pro Controller has. It’s made of black plastic and features 180-color RGB lines across its body. RGB is more of a PC thing and, this being primarily a Switch controller, feels a little out of place. But it’s hardly a con since you can easily turn it off and forget it ever existed.
Other than that, there’s nothing to describe, really. It reminds me a lot of the Switch Pro controller, but BINBOK is bigger and has a nice rubbery surface. Now, I don’t know anything about the “laser-textured finish, whose surface is highly durable and resistant to scratches,” but what I do know is that it’s comfortable to hold in hands, and ergonomically, it’s as good as any other gamepad I’ve tried. As you can see, the button layout repeats Nintendo, so don’t expect Xbox’s layout.
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So, yes, it’s incredibly comfortable, which is impressive considering the amount of added buttons and triggers that it has. In addition to the usual control elements you get two additional triggers as well as two hidden buttons on the bottom. These all are 100% programmable, no matter which system you’re using.
There are a few areas where the BINBOK Ultra Pro Controller is objectively superior to the Switch controller. First of all, it just feels better. The Hall Effect triggers are buttery smooth and promise to be extra reliable. One thing disappointed me though: I fully expected there to be Hall Effect analog sticks as well, but no, we get plain old ALPS sticks. In 2023, the gaming world is all about that Hall Effect, so the ALPS sticks are is a letdown, especially since BINBOK already makes Hall Effect sticks.
Other than that, I loved these sticks. They are very sensible and very smooth. You can see the pattern here, right? I wish I had more to say but BINBOK did very well this time. Some issues can be found with the XYAB buttons which are entirely mechanical, which is good (although, does it really matter?), but they aren’t as fast to react as some of the others I tried. But I had no issues with them. And I like that they have the Nintendo layout.
The buttons on the back are also quite interesting: you can use them instead of L3 and R3 (speaking in PlayStation terms here) but they can be reprogrammed for any other command or macro.
The one thing I felt unsure about was the RPG feature. The controller has a strip of RPG lights going all around it, as well as around the analog sticks. And sure, it has that “gamer” aesthetic many of us dislike, but the thing is, you can turn it off and forget about it forever. And if you do want to use it, it’s actually quite nice. The “breathing effect” by default smoothly changes colors when you’re using it, but you can also touch the dedicated button to change colors manually.
Be prepared: the RGB here will eat up the charge in a few days. When playing for about 3 hours per day, I had to recharge the controller on the fourth day. Not bad at all, but also not excellent. Without RGB, the battery life improves considerably. You can also change the rumble force — by default, it’s set to the highest level.
I’ve spent about two weeks with the BINBOK Ultra Pro Controller, and I still can’t believe just how good it is, even compared with the official controllers from Xbox or Nintendo. It has every feature you might want, costs very little, and feels premium. Sadly, you can’t use it with Xbox Series S/X, but it’s a recommended purchase for the Switch, especially if you enjoy competitive games like Splatoon.
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