A few months ago I replaced my trusty Xbox One BT gamepad with a new one, made by 8BitDo. I’ve had no prior experience with this company, but from what I gather they specialize in reasonably priced retro-styled gaming controllers and are quite highly regarded in some communities.

For the record, I was replacing my previous gamepad for the following reasons:

• It was slowly but steadily developing drift; it was easy to mitigate in software (a custom deadzone in Steam Input), but it was tedious to work around it all the time.
• On GNU/Linux the Xbox controller was reliable only when used wired, the wireless connection suffering from all kinds of weirdness (dropped connection, stuck inputs…).
• One more microUSB device I could replace with a USB-C one!

I have decided to buy 8BitDo Pro 2, though I initially got their higher tier model which I ended up returning. The Hall effect analog sticks were tempting, but the unit I got had its right stick visibly tilted, and the driver support on GNU/Linux was still wonky for this newer model (manual patching of the xpad kernel module was required). If it was just one of these issues, I’d probably try to work around them, but at this point I just returned it and went with their supposedly more reliable older model.

Design

It’s quite obvious 8BitDo Pro 2 was inspired by the classic SNES controller. Unlike the older 8BitDo products, it no longer strictly adheres to the retro aesthetic, instead being a modern spin on it. I find it pleasant to look at, and more than decent in terms of ergonomics.

One interesting thing I noticed, is how I tend to hold it in two very different ways depending on the game: I hold it by the handles when I use the analogs more, or I hold it by the body—presumably how I’d hold a SNES controller—when I need better access to the buttons. I have no clear conclusion about it, just something I’ve found interesting.

Hardware

The build quality is very good, especially at this price point, though there are a few things they could improve.

D-pad

The first thing I noticed is the excellent d-pad. I believe it’s the first d-pad I am comfortable to use for more than weapon switching. It’s not too clicky like the Xbox One d-pad, but not nearly as mushy as the one in my previous Xbox 360 gamepad. It feels just right, it’s hard to describe in detail.

Buttons

The face buttons (ABXY) and the L1/R1 bumpers have a very pronounced satisfying click. I actually needed to tinker a bit with my microphone for them to not be a nuisance for my friends, but otherwise they feel excellent.

The labels imply the Nintendo-style button layout, but it hardly matters: the buttons behave as expected (i.e. like the Xbox-style ones) when the controller is connected to a PC. On the black model I own, the labels themselves are barely visible either way, and I like it this way.

Triggers

The L2/R2 triggers are very similar to the Dual Shock 4 ones. Personally I’m more used to the Xbox-style triggers, but I don’t mind them one way or another.

Analogs

The analog sticks are the worst part of 8BitDo Pro 2 by far, though it’s mostly because all the other components are so good, so they stick out.

First of all, they are rubbing slightly against the case. It’s not noticeable for most of the time, but it becomes apparent during more subtle movement. Just to be clear, it’s not a problem in terms of gaming, it’s just slightly unpleasant.

Secondly, the sticks are more slippery than I expected. The shape is very similar to the Dual Shock 4 sticks, but the texture is very different. If they replaced it with a more grippy material, it would improve the sticks immensely.

The bottom line: the analogs are okay, just okay.

Start/Select

The Start/Select buttons have a very retro feel about them. They are made out of rubber, not hard plastic, like a TV remote. I don’t find them particularly nice to use, but I don’t hate them either. What I find surprising and kind of uncomfortable, is the Start button which doubles as a power button when held for a few seconds. I get anxious whenever a game expects me to hold this button, because I might end up turning the controller off instead. It never happened so far, but this thought still lingers.

Extra buttons

Back paddles

The back paddles are very easy to reach, sometimes even too easy. They are noticeably softer than the Steam Deck ones. A slight squeeze is enough to press them, though it’s mostly a matter of being mindful of them, and by default they don’t do anything anyway. Once I got used to them, I find the back paddles very comfortable and quite indispensable.

Autofire

Below the d-pad, there is a button used to toggle the autofire mode of the other buttons. I’ve never felt the need for such autofire, but now that I have easy access to it, I find myself using it from time to time. The button is easy to access, and it’s worth mentioning the newer models (such as the one I returned) have it in a very different place.

System button

The button below the face buttons works like the Xbox logo button would on the Xbox gamepads. It’s useful as a modifier one can use for volume control etc. in Steam Input. I don’t feel one way or another about this button, it just works.

Battery

I believe currently Pro 2 is the latest 8BitDo model to have a removable battery, all the newer ones no longer offering this option. The stock rechargeable battery pack can be replaced with regular AA batteries, rechargeable or not.

It’s worth noting that when the stock battery pack is used, it can be charged via USB-C as there are pins dedicated for this purpose in the battery compartment. The regular AA batteries would obviously not use these pins at all.

The battery life is very reasonable (two weeks or so of light gaming), though there is no easy way to check the current charge level.

Connectivity

The switch on the bottom of the controller can be used to make it compatible with various devices. It has 4 modes: Xinput, DirectInput, some Apple-specific mode and Nintendo Switch mode. Each mode is paired separately, so it can be used to pair the gamepad with multiple devices and easily switch between them. Personally I use Xinput with my PC 99% of the time, but I have the DirectInput mode paired with my smartphone (mostly just because I can, the smartphone gaming is rarely worth it to me) and the Nintendo Switch mode paired with my Steam Deck. I used the Switch mode for the Deck only to have it paired separately from the Xinput mode, both would work. Note that the gyroscope works only in the Nintendo Switch mode, though I don’t really use it in my Pro 2.

Since I used their newer model briefly, I feel the need to mention the switch works differently in it. It’s no longer possible to freely select the mode for both wired and wireless connections. Instead the Bluetooth connection is always in the Nintendo mode while the 2.4 GHz connection is always in the Xinput mode. I no longer remember which mode was used when wired (probably Xinput), but in general the flexibility was no longer there. 8BitDo Pro 2 has no such limitations, the switch can be used to select the compatibility mode at all times.

The dongle

By default 8BitDo Pro 2 uses either Bluetooth or USB-C to connect to the other devices. Unfortunately I’ve found out the way GNU/Linux handles Bluetooth LE causes slight input delays. Not terribly big, but noticeable to me. While it’s supposedly possible to mitigate these delays with proper configuration, after some struggle I decided to try out the USB dongle 8BitDo sells separately. The dongle takes care of all the heavy lifting with Bluetooth, and the PC ends up seeing a regular “wired” controller. This way all the wireless stuff is handled by dedicated hardware and the operating system has no way to interfere in any way. I noticed no delays when using Pro 2 this way. The dongle is relatively huge, it might not fit some tight spaces.

Software

The 8BitDo software offers features usually reserved for controllers easily twice as expensive.

While the software isn’t available for the desktop GNU/Linux systems, it is available for Android and it can be used without explicitly pairing the gamepad with the smartphone, even in the middle of a gaming session. Arguably, it’s more comfortable to use this way, than switching between the game and the gamepad software on a single device, so I don’t mind it not being available for GNU/Linux.

The software allows to rebind almost all the keys, prepare key macros, change deadzones, and more. It’s possible to store 3 separate custom profiles toggled with the button between the analog sticks, the 4th/0th profile (indicated by all the LEDs being off) always being the default settings.

The 8BitDo Ultimate Software (yes, that’s the actual name!) not nearly as powerful as Steam Input, but it has the benefit of working in the controller itself, before any input even reaches the PC.

A note for the Steam Deck and Steam Controller users: unlike the back paddles on these devices, the paddles on Pro 2 are not separate inputs, instead they can only be used as easier to reach doubles of the other keys. It’s not a huge deal for me, but some might consider it a big flaw.

Conclusion

I’m very happy with my 8BitDo Pro 2. The only thing I would truly want to improve, are analog sticks. It’s a really solid product I can recommend, especially at this price range.

What I like:

• the retro aesthetic
• the d-pad
• most of the buttons (very nice and clicky)
• connectivity (4 modes, each paired separately)
• button remapping in the controller itself
• extra features (the back paddles, autofire, multiple profiles, etc.)

What could be better:

• the analog sticks build quality

Most of the pictures were taken directly from the 8BitDo Pro 2 product page.