8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Controller for Switch, Windows, Steam Deck & Raspberry Pi (Gray Edition)

I got a shiny, new, unheard of at the time to me, NES for my birthday back in 1984 and have been a Nintendo fan ever since. I got out of consoles and gaming in general as I grew up but the pull of nostalgia is strong, and with emulation, retro consoles and stuff now readily available, I love being able to play those games I grew up with again and share them with my Son. I have tried probably 6-8 different USB controllers, some SNES-styled ones and others, and for a long time settled with an Xbox Pro wireless controller even though I didn't really love it. This 8BitDo Pro 2 blows all of them out of the water including the XBox controller. -Initial unboxing: it was well packaged, and immediately noticed the weight and quality feel of materials, the plastic texturing is great, fits in my hand nicely, buttons and dpad and analog sticks feel really nice. A very long cable too which is appreciated when many USB controllers have short cables. -Setup: easy peasy, plugged in to my Windows 11 box, installed the app, updated firmware, and I was off and running. Having profiles stored directly on the device is a nice feature and being switchable with a dedicated button is really nice, although I have not used it yet. Have not tried it on a Switch yet, but I got my Son a Switch for Christmas this year so we will be trying it shortly. I have not used the macro or turbo functions yet but having that available in the app is just icing on an already awesome cake. -Play: I have a couple hours on this now, playing a variety of console titles and a few PC games, and it has worked perfectly. The D-pad is perfect, it very much brings back muscle-memory of the original SNES controller, which myself and many others claim as the "gold standard" with D-pads. The YXBA buttons feel maybe slightly stiffer than I would like, but perhaps they will break in a little over time but took me very little time to get used to. The analog sticks are some of the nicest I have ever used, and I am normally not a fan of analog sticks in general. Same goes for the shoulder paddles, they have a great feel and spring resistance and a good bit of travel. Better than the Xbox paddles for sure. The vibration function also works as intended. -Negatives? Sometimes I accidentally click the P1 and P2 buttons (on the backside of the controller) depending on how I am holding it. Generally not a big deal if they are not mapped. Has not been an issue yet. I am not sure I can think of any other complaints, other than my very minor note of the YXBA buttons being a little stiff, and even then, I have not put hands on an OEM Nintendo SNES controller for a very long time so maybe they are similar. My only recent comparison is with an Xbox controller. -Overall: This is the first USB controller that I have used, that if I didn't know wasn't made by Nintendo, I would assume that it was. The quality is that good. I really, really appreciate having a "do it all" gamepad that can seamlessly switch between console, retro gaming, and PC games. 8BitDo has a great product here and the price is reasonable for how good it is. I would recommend this pad to anyone looking for a good USB controller.

I recently got the 8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Controller for Windows and Steam, and I couldn't be happier! This controller is perfect for playing Hades and retro games on my PC. Here are some reasons why I love it: Comfortable Design: The 8BitDo Pro 2 feels great in my hands. The buttons are responsive, and the analog sticks are smooth. It's comfortable to hold, even during long gaming sessions. Easy Setup: Setting it up was a breeze. I plugged it into my PC, and it worked right away with Steam. No need to install any extra software. Customizable Buttons: One of the coolest features is the ability to customize. I can map the buttons to my liking, which makes playing different games more enjoyable. Retro Look: The controller has a nostalgic design. It's a nice touch for playing retro games. Affordable Price: For the quality and features it offers, its well priced. It's a great value for anyone looking for a reliable wired controller. I recommend the 8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Controller. It's a fantastic choice for anyone who loves playing Hades and retro games on their PC. Five stars!

The controller appears to be reasonably well built. It feels a little hollow and there isn't a ton of weight to it but the buttons feel reasonably good. The D-pad and face buttons in particular are very pleasing to use. The triggers feel a bit too light in my opinion and the thumbsticks feel ever so slightly smaller than an Xbox or PS controller but are not bad. The main issue I had with this controller was the fact that the app would not recognize the controller. The PC would recognize the controller and I could play games with it perfectly fine but none of the profiles worked, nor could I program the rear buttons to do anything since all that functionality is tied to the app. I even tried updating the firmware with the separate firmware updater tool from 8BitDo but that retuned a message along the lines of "No further information available" when I tried to update it. The firmware updater tool was at least able to detect the controller but couldn't do anything but that. Sadly, the main stand out features, namely the re-programmability, the multiple profiles, and the back buttons do not work for me.

Its a very good controller, its a high quality build, and feels great. The triggers are very sensitive. This can be a pro or a con but I like it in certain games but not others. You just have to figure it out for yourself. I would recommend this controller if you are nostalgic for this style of controller and you have extra money to burn on something that is good for some of your game library. This is just my opinion. Thank you.

I'm doing an honest review about this controller, starting with the packaging (I don't know who to blame regarding this). The box containing the 8BitDo arrived fully impregnated with edible oil and looked and smelt like if it was stored like that since months (the controller still smells like aged oil), despite this the controller appeared to be new and intact (just some fluff at the stick maybe from the box itself). Well, after the not so happy unboxing I happily connect the controller to my PC to start playing some games and see how it behaves. After some minutes of use I noticed some weird disconnections/hangs in the controller, lights remained on, but the controller just stopped working for some seconds. I keep trying some games thinking it was some sort of weird unexplainable things that happens from time to time but I figured it wasn't the case this time. First game I tested and noticed this behavior happening was Assetto Corsa, the gamepad just disconnected/hanged retaining the last key pressed combination for about 4 or 6 seconds and then it got back to normal. Same behavior happened with some emulators and other games as well. After testing for a while, I noticed it happens only when I use any profile. So, in order to use it without issues, I have to deactivate any profile. I just configured one profile to rise the dead zone of the triggers and sticks which I found they were too sensitive (I barely touched the triggers, and they instantly react). I contacted 8BitDo support explaining my case and they sent me both beta firmware and ultimate software to see if it could be fixed with some updates but your guess, it wasn't fixed. I tried resetting profiles, using all firmware versions and nothing helped. It's annoying that I cannot enjoy using the controller as I wish because it fails and I'm even wondering if I received a used or defective product at this point. I discarded the original box because it wasn't in good conditions and had that oily smell but I conserved its manual so I don't know if I can get a replacement now. Regarding to its characteristics: - D-pad is very nice, feels like an SNES pad but a bit stronger and better. - Buttons feels ok, works ok, nothing surprising here. - L and R buttons feels plasticky and not so resistant but they work with no problems. - Sticks doesn't offer too much resistance but they are good enough to play, so it's a matter of getting used to them. - The triggers are way TOO sensitive and don't offer a good resistance (like an Xbox controller for example) which make them a risk of being accidentally pressed in some games if you just barely put your index finger on them (that's why I needed to set my profile with a higher dead zone). Like with the stickers, you can get used to them, but it would be nice if they offer more resistance and a bit more of dead zone. - Vibration is ok, a bit different from other controllers but its ok, nothing to complain here. Now, being unable to configure and use any profile ruins the whole experience for me due to getting random disconnections/hangings in games. Do I recommend it? If it worked fine, yes (for fighting games mostly due to its D-pad). Would I buy another one? Well, if I manage to get my issue fixed, otherwise no and I doubt I would recommend it. I see many users reporting disconnections issues from the wireless models and even with this wired model. I had very high expectations after reading many good reviews about it over the net, but I see people just do emotional subjective reviews. I will update my review if I get this problem fixed. ---- UPDATE: After being in touch with their support (very good and almost instantly responses) I wasn't unable to get my problem fixed. I received a replacement and still had the same issue, I tried any kind of things with my PC (Aorus B550m pro-p, Ryzen 5600g) and none fixed my problem. I have to stay with the 1.02 factory firmware in order to my controller works and doesn't disconnect. It works okay in Android and other devices using the latest firmware but not in my PC which is my main case of use. I don't know if it is a compatibility issue, but it doesn't work as intended. I also discovered that my monitor won't go in sleep state when the controller is connected, this is not a normal behavior for a controller as far as I know, so that makes me think they won't comply with some energy standards is their firmware or something like that. I decided to buy the wired version of this Pro 2 because I read many people had disconnection issues with the wireless one, but as you may see I'm getting them as well with the wired version. Rised from 2 to 3 stars just because of their tech support.

I chose the wired version to reduce input lag. This is the best 3rd party controller I've ever used, it feels almost exactly like an OEM Super Nintendo controller with tons of extra buttons added to support modern games. Build quality is impressive, the controller is super comfortable, thumbsticks are the right size where they are out of the way when you don't need them but don't feel cheap or overly sensitive when you do. I only have two extremely minor nitpicks, one being that they don't make a model anymore that has two concave buttons like on the SNES, and the D pad has enough wiggle room that it can be easy to accidentally press two directions at once despite trying to only hold one, but this has never significantly impacted any games and often actually is useful for minor adjustments. This controller costs less than most pro controllers and is better than pretty much all of them, very happy with this purchase.

I am very picky about my controllers. I mostly play games on PC these days and have been looking for a reliable main controller for a few years. My main requirement is that it needs to be wired so that I do not drop inputs in dire moments. My dualshock 4 would frequently disconnect while plugged in or not show up for several of my Steam games, and my Xbox1 controller has similar connection issues since it to just had a charging cable, not a dedicated wire. The 8BitDo Pro 2 Wired controller solved the disconnection issues immediately. It worked for all of my Steam games, showing up as a 'Xbox Controller'. The quality of the plastic is fine, but the D-Pad is a bit stiff and has a harder time with diagonal inputs. Besides the D-Pad, the rest of the buttons feel great. I am using this on Linux Mint after updating the firmware on a spare Windows machine. No detection issues whatsoever.

At first my Pi just said "no gamepad detected" no matter what I tried. The single sheet of "instructions" mentions only Switch and Windows. However at the suggestion of another customer, I tried the 8BitDo website where I found the solution in the FAQ for this product. The key is to have RetropPie and Emulation Station running, then HOLD the "B" button on the controller while plugging it in. Then go into "Configure Inputs" and the Pi will see the controller. Once that is done this controller works very well with the Pi. Input lag is extremely minimal and the controller seems to be of good quality, although only time will reveal if it truly is. In the event it fails rapidly, I will update this review.