The news that the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con don’t have Hall effect thumbsticks has left me wondering what the point was

LovabledanielsApril 8, 202561 Views

The Joy-Con 2 controllers will not feature Hall effect thumbsticks
This was confirmed by a Nintendo executive in a new interview
The technology could help prevent thumbstick drift

Almost every Nintendo Switch owner is aware of the dreaded Joy-Con drift, where the thumbsticks of the controllers can register false inputs after even just light use.

It was one of the biggest complaints with the original Nintendo Switch console and, while Nintendo did begin to offer free Joy-Con repairs in both the US and UK, many were hoping that the Joy-Con 2 controllers of the Nintendo Switch 2 would feature a revised design intended to address these issues.

One possible solution that has been posed by many would be the implementation of Hall effect technology, which removes the need for physical contact between components to increase durability in the long term.

Unfortunately, we now know that the Joy-Con 2 will not feature Hall effect technology. This was confirmed by Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of product development and publishing Nate Bihldorff in a new interview with Nintendolife.

“The Joy-Con 2 controllers have been designed from the ground up,” he said. “They’re not Hall effect sticks, but they feel really good.”

Bihldorff was also evasive when asked whether the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller will use Hall effect parts, which would indicate that it doesn’t.

This is definitely bad news for those concerned about the durability of the Nintendo Switch 2 and, in my eyes, seems like a massive missed opportunity. What’s the point of redesigning the entire console if you’re just going to make the same mistakes as the first time around all over again?

Still, it might not be the end of the world as there are other technologies available that can help prevent drift.

TMR (Tunneling Magnetoresistance) thumbsticks, for example, rely on magnets that, like Hall effect components, remove the need for physical contact between parts. Hopefully we will learn a little more about the Joy-Con 2 controllers in the coming weeks.