Everyone hates it when the analog sticks on their new, expensive controllers get analog stick drift. Nintendo has been particularly notorious for it this generation with their joycons, but drift comes for us all, no matter if you’re on Xbox, PlayStation, or PC. After it happens a few times, it doesn’t take much to get frustrated by the fact that controllers cost anywhere from $50 to $70, sometimes even $200, and they all seem to suffer from the same issue eventually. It’s due to this reason that lots of third party accessory companies are testing out other technologies for analog sticks, such as analog sticks that use magnets instead of physical components rubbing up against each other.
One of these controllers, provided by Aknes, was sent to me to test and review: The GuliKit KingKong 3. GuliKit has multiple iterations of their KingKong3, each with different amounts of bells and whistles depending on the version. The KK3 is the cheapest variant, eschewing a lot of the extra features to deliver a basic controller without a lot of extra frills you may not even specifically need. What actually separates the KK3 from the other models is that this version uses a different type of analog stick as the KK3 comes with TMR joysticks, which use magnetism instead of physical components that brush up against one another.
The official controllers for Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox have potentiometers that work by using a wiper that slides along two resistive elements, the position of which is then translated to whatever game you’re playing at the relative position of the analog stick. These kinds of potentiometers have been used in myriad controllers throughout the years, but they all suffer one major flaw: these components rubbing against one another eventually introduce variance into the equation, which is one of the more common reasons for analog stick drift. While that’s not the only cause, as recentering springs also wear out over time, the breakdown of the resistive pads and wiper tends to happen much more quickly and is commonly why a brand new Dualsense may drift after just a couple months.
TMR analog sticks use tunneling magnetoresistance instead of pads and wipers, which means they generally should avoid one of the more common reasons for analog stick drift. On top of this, many newer controllers that pack TMR technology tend to have higher joystick resolution, which in turn can mean greater accuracy and have a lower power consumption than most other analog sticks. Which, the analog sticks on the KK3 feel great, though the travel distance, the amount of movement necessary to move the stick to 100%, feels a little bit small compared to other controllers.
For technical details, the GuliKit KK3 is impressive. The plastic shell feels solid and firm, with no flexing or creaking. There isn’t even any rattle to the buttons while you shake the controller. The whole of the controller feels very premium in comparison to its $40 price point on Amazon. The analog stick caps have these nice ridges on them that make it very easy to maintain grip while doing anything from backwards long jumps while speed running Super Mario 64, to teleport cancels on platform ledges in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
The GuliKit KK3’s buttons and triggers all feel quite nice, and I found that they’re just large enough to be comfortable while having just the right amount of distance between buttons that pressing two or more while playing Mario Party or Monster Hunter was an easy and pleasant experience. The shoulder buttons are easy to press, with a satisfying click to indicate actuation, and the triggers have a similar travel length to them as a standard Xbox One controller. In terms of size and comfortability, this controller has very similar size and shape to an Xbox One controller, nearly identical in feel, so if you were looking for a controller for your Switch with Xbox controller ergonomics, this may be a solid fit for you.
The positioning of buttons on the face of the controller are worth mentioning, as ABXY are large and prominent, as they should be, and you’ll also notice that it has home, capture, as well as plus and minus buttons for operation on the Nintendo Switch. Likely due to the fact that this controller is primarily meant for use on Switch and PC, there’s no headphone jack on the bottom of the controller, which some may see as a negative but it’s fairly rare to see $40 controllers with such features nowadays.
On the top of the controller you’ll see your mode switch and pairing buttons, which can show you at a glance if the KK3 is in Switch, X-input, Android, or D-input modes. This controller can pair with four different devices, and you can switch among them by pressing the mode button twice. In my case, once I finished playing games on my Nintendo Switch, I could double press the aforementioned button and the KK3 would automatically connect to my PC, where I could use it to play on Steam.
The d-pad on the GuliKit KK3 is very serviceable, as the four cardinal directions are easy to press without hitting erroneous diagonals. This means that doing quick motions like down, up inputs to perform super jumps, double tapping to dash, and things of that nature to all work swimmingly with the KK3’s d-pad. Diagonal inputs, on the other hand, are considerably more stiff and gave trouble when performing half circle inputs in fighting titles as a down-left or down-right motion would get missed unless you press on the d-pad with considerable force. Due to the stiffness of the d-pad and how much force is necessary to perform the correct directional inputs, the d-pad on the KK3 would be uncomfortable during long play sessions for traditional fighting games when compared to something like an 8bitdo M30. For practically anything else, however, the KK3’s d-pad will more than meet your needs.
The GuliKit KK3, being the most budget variation of the KK3 line, doesn’t come with many extras or frills in its packaging. Inside the box, you’ll find the controller, a USB-C to USB-A cable, and a manual in multiple languages that will tell you how to pair the controller or enable features like rapid fire buttons. While the thumbstick caps on the KK3 are removable, there are no replacement analog stick caps in the box, though there are longer stick caps available to buy separately. There are no back buttons on the KK3, so if you need programmable buttons, you’d be better off looking into GuliKit’s KK3 Pro or Max, or a different controller entirely.
The KK3 has very strong vibration motors with multiple settings, with two vibration levels being indicated in the manual. The vibration intensity can be changed by pressing the gear icon and up on the d-pad, with one vibration indicating its lowest setting, two shakes for its highest, and one long vibration for turning the rumble motors off. Strangely, while not mentioned in the manual, the controller has a third vibration setting, indicated by the motors activating three times. This third vibration setting most likely isn’t mentioned in the manual at all because the three-vibrate setting seems to be the same intensity as the two-vibrate setting.
Due to the fact that the KK3 has a Nintendo Switch mode, this controller also features a gyroscope. While it’s been some time since I’ve played anything like Splatoon, that and similar titles have turned me into a gyro faithful as it makes aiming significantly easier in my experience. More and more games are including gyro functionality, as well, including the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds, which had a beta with gyro settings built directly into its menus on PC! While playing Wilds’s beta, I spent a good amount of time testing out the gyro while using a bow and light bowgun, and I can safely say that it seems quite accurate with rumble turned off and is very comparable to Nintendo’s own Switch Pro controllers.
It’s worth noting, however, that the gyroscope in the KK3 has a similar issue with the rumble motors and gyroscope that other third party controllers for the Switch have: the controller’s own rumble motors can shake your aiming reticule. There are a lot of games that make your controller vibrate when you’re shooting a gun, for instance, and if the vibration on the KK3 is turned on, the rumble can dramatically reduce your accuracy. Interestingly, official Nintendo Switch Pro controllers do not suffer from this problem and compensate for the rumble in both Nintendo Switch titles and on PC through Steam Input. In this article is a video link that shows the KK3 on the left side, and an official Nintendo Switch Pro controller on the right- the game shown vibrates the controller each time the character glows, and you can clearly see the reticule going crazy every time the KK3 vibrates. So, if you enjoy using gyro on your controllers in first and third person action titles like I do, you will likely want to disable the KK3’s rumble while you play those.
The manual also has a page that shows which button combinations you can press to enable or disable the gamepad’s deadzone modes or turbo fire, but that same page mentions a replay function called Auto Pilot Gaming in small print at the bottom. This feature absolutely does not seem to be present in the final product of the GuliKit KK3 and is likely text that existed in the KK3 Max’s manual that was not removed from this iteration of the device. There is no information on how to enable Auto Pilot Gaming in the manual, should it even be possible, so it is most likely that it’s a mistake in the manual and not a secret function of the controller.
The joysticks for the GuliKit KK3 are interesting. Out of the box, the sticks will likely be set to a no dead zone mode, and in my case, snapped right back to their proper positions without issue. The performance of the sticks was both snappy and quick, playing very well with titles like Super Smash Bros Ultimate, where you’ll be jamming the sticks back and forth constantly to reposition and perform advanced tech. The sticks are great for things where you want to hit the end of the analog stick’s gate quickly, but there’s a very small gate surrounding the analog sticks, or the stick’s shafts are too thick, so there’s very little throw before you reach 100% input on these sticks. This is a change that likely means you’ll need to get used to the analog sticks for aiming, especially if you like to primarily play shooters, because precise movements are more difficult when you’re restricted to a smaller range of motion, which is generally why gamers get taller stick caps and joystick covers.
Finally, there was a bug that cropped up a few times while reviewing this controller. After leaving it sit for several minutes and returning to play, the left analog stick would get stuck in a position or wouldn’t respond until the right stick was touched. This happened multiple times specifically in X-input mode, but never occurred a single time in Switch mode. After calibrating the controller this issue seemed to have resolved itself, but it happened 5-6 times while testing it out in a wide variety of games, which I feel warrants a mention. After calibration, this issue didn’t pop up again at all after dozens of additional hours of testing, so it’s being mentioned for completeness’s sake.
So when it comes down to it, is the GuliKit KK3 a worthwhile controller? At $40, there are only a few good wireless competitors in this area, and they all have caveats in some way or another. For example, if you only need a controller to play on PC, the 8bitdo Ultimate 2C is $10 less, and it has even better latency as well as two additional buttons near the shoulders, which makes it a no-brainer if you don’t need Switch connectivity or gyro. Comparatively, many Switch controllers in the $30-40 price range either have worse gyro accuracy, poor analog stick resolution, bad latency, or all of the above.
The GuliKit KK3 is suitable if you’re after quick performance for a reasonable price, though it may take some time to get used to the small range of motion on the analog sticks. If you’re after a no frills controller that should be resistant to analog stick drift, you could likely do worse than the GuliKit KK3. Of course, there are some clear improvements that could be made, such as improving the gyroscope with vibration enabled, or eliminating the bug that causes issues with the left stick not responding until the right stick is touched after the controller has been idling for several minutes. If you need a cheap $40 wireless controller, the KK3 is a reasonable choice if you’re willing to overlook these issues, or if they don’t apply to you.