A few days ago, wasn’t the Pro Controller experiencing drifting issues? However, it miraculously fixed itself this week. Even though the problem hasn’t resurfaced, I thought it would be wise to have a spare controller just in case. Lately, many content creators on Bilibili have been praising the Mobapad Chitu controller, so out of curiosity, I decided to try it out.
They claimed in their promotion that it offers high-fidelity HD vibration, six-axis motion sensing, and hall-effect joysticks that never drift, all closely emulating the Pro Controller.
After using it for two days, I found that for its price of just over $30, it achieves around 90% of the Pro Controller’s effectiveness. It’s indeed a decent alternative. The microswitch buttons and shoulder buttons were a bit awkward to get used to initially, but after a while, I didn’t feel any discomfort. The default D-pad is a large circle, and the package includes a cross-shaped replacement. Personally, I’m used to the cross-shaped design, so I put away the circular one that’s similar to the one on the Xbox Series X controller.
The HD vibration isn’t as refined as the official Pro Controller, but it’s still impressive, surpassing the sensation provided by all the domestic controllers I’ve tried.
The six-axis motion sensing isn’t quite like the Pro Controller’s; it’s more akin to the PS5 controller’s effect. The Pro Controller’s responsiveness can sometimes be overly sensitive, reacting too actively to the natural wrist movements, resulting in a slightly shaky aim when targeting. In contrast, the Chitu controller and the PS5 controller allow for more extensive, accurate movements during aiming, but it filters out subtle shifts. At first, I misunderstood this Mobapad controller’s behavior when using it with Yuzu on PC. It felt awkward, drifting at first when opening a game, and only normalizing after moving the joysticks a couple of times. Shooting arrows felt clunky, and changing directions felt stiff. I thought this was the controller’s innate behavior and almost returned it. However, when I tried it on an actual Nintendo Switch, it worked perfectly without a hitch. It turned out that it was the emulator’s issue. The Mobapad controller now sells for around $30 on second-hand markets without any return policy, while platforms like Taobao, Pinduoduo, and JD have it for around $40. It’s a good alternative as a stand-in for the Pro Controller if you can tolerate the noisy microswitch buttons. The ZL and ZR buttons are positioned slightly higher than on the Pro Controller. If you can live with these two points, it’s a reasonable investment. Here’s a family portrait of the three main controllers.
A few shortcomings: This controller isn’t suitable for PC use, as it lacks linear triggers, making it unsuitable for racing games and such.
Moreover, for proper recognition on Steam (although Yuzu emulator compatibility is direct), you’ll need to buy the official receiver for $6, or you’ll be stuck with a wired connection.
Overall, it’s most fitting as a backup controller for the Nintendo Switch. It comes with two customizable buttons on the back, allowing for macro operations that can execute complex actions with ease, particularly in games like “The Legend of Zelda.”