New controllers are releasing all the time with many seeking higher and higher price points, which can definitely be tough to budget at times. There are budget controllers out there, like the GuliKit King Kong 3 that we recently reviewed, but sometimes they struggle to compete with the features and performance of their more expensive brethren.
One of the best budget-minded controller makers, 8bitdo, just released a new model that’s priced at only $30 while having met or exceeded the performance of some of their previous controllers. The 8bitdo Ultimate 2C Bluetooth is a controller for Nintendo Switch. While its name is a bit of a mouthful, it’s quite easy on the wallet if you need a replacement controller.
To avoid confusion right off the bat: 8bitdo has used some extremely similar-sounding naming conventions as of late, which can make looking into their lineup of controllers very confusing. The controller being reviewed here is an 8bitdo Ultimate 2C Bluetooth controller provided by AKNES, and this device uses the Nintendo ABXY layout with the A button on the right. The easiest way to tell if the 8bitdo controller you’re looking to purchase is compatible with Switch is whether or not it has the Nintendo ABXY layout. 8bitdo’s other controllers with very similar names like the Ultimate 2C Wireless, Ultimate C, and Ultimate 2.4GHz controllers are not natively usable with the Switch, and the easiest way to tell the difference is if they have the Xbox button layout with the A button on the bottom. Many of those controllers using the Xbox layout are for a combination of PC, Android, or use on Xbox.
Now that we’re on the same page about what device is being reviewed, the sample controller provided by AKNES looks amazing. The clean dark blue and white aesthetic makes for a very attractive gamepad, though there is also a lighter blue and a deep pink color available for the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth, if those colors are more your style. The build quality of this controller is superb, though you will hear slight rattling sounds from the face buttons should you pick up the gamepad and vigorously shake it. The shape of this controller is extremely similar to the 8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth controllers that released in 2022, with a textured grip around the bottom and sides of the handles. Outside of the grips, the rest of the controller is smooth and feels a lot more premium than its price tag, and it even has a couple of additional buttons you can use should you need the extra inputs.
On the very top of the controller are two extra buttons, L4 and R4, and these are positioned just underneath the shoulder buttons which makes them easy to reach with the tips of your index fingers. Mapping inputs to these buttons is quite simple, and thankfully the box included both a manual, charging cable, and a quick start card that gives basic instructions on how to map L4 and R4 to the buttons of your choice. You can assign these inputs by holding the extra buttons, whatever inputs you want them to be, and the star button on the controller’s face. This controller also supports turbo functionality and is similarly enabled by pressing the button you’d like to rapid fire and the star button simultaneously. There is also a rapid auto fire mode for when you want to hit the same button repeatedly without pressing it yourself: perfect for hands free farming in an RPG or similarly menu-heavy game.
The triggers on the Ultimate 2C are digital with quick actuation thresholds, and the shoulder buttons are low travel and feel like mechanical switches. The shoulder buttons are considerably more comfortable than 8bitdo’s other controllers on the market, primarily because you can actuate the button more easily with different styles of grips on the controller. The face buttons are membrane, and have almost the exact same resistance as the 8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth controller from 2022. In fact, the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth for Switch shares shape and most surface design elements with the older Ultimate controller, but several elements have been improved like the shoulder buttons and d-pad.
The d-pad on the Ultimate 2C looks to be the same style as what’s on 8bitdo’s other Ultimate controllers, but the directional pad on the 2C is also tactile and stays perfectly in place while you execute motion commands. This is still a membrane-style d-pad like what you’d find on an SNES controller, but there’s a satisfying click you’ll feel when you hit a direction. On the provided model, the d-pad is actually perfect for performing motion inputs in fast-paced games since it registers no accidental diagonal inputs. If you press down on the d-pad, you’re not going to get a right or left input until you push hard enough to the right or left that you feel another click, so any extraneous diagonals are entirely on the player rather than being a fault of the d-pad.
Performing multiple quarter circles forward and even 360 and 720 inputs are a breeze with the directional pad on the 2C. It might take a few tries though when practicing your combos because whatever gives that tactile feedback adds a very slight amount of resistance on each press, so you need to be sure you’re pushing hard enough to trigger the diagonals while you quickly slide your thumb back and forth. Due to this, it’s an easy recommendation to use the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth for 2D games with anything from casual fighting titles to labyrinthine platformers (or Metroidvanias, if you prefer a more boring genre name).
The analog sticks of the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth have a textured ridge all around the surface of the stick cap, and there’s an anti-friction ring surrounding the base of the stick which should produce less dust from grinding plastic around the analog sticks. The tension on the sticks is tighter than a stock Nintendo Switch Pro controller, and it took very little time to get used to the difference in analog stick tension and go right back to slaying some monsters in Monster Hunter. The sticks on the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth are also higher resolution than some of 8bitdo’s other Nintendo Switch compatible controllers, so if you’ve tried an 8bitdo controller like the Pro 2 in the last few years and felt the analog sticks weren’t as accurate as they should be or were jittery, the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth has none of those problems and is solid right out of the box.
As a native Switch controller, the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth also features a gyroscope for play in things like Monster Hunter Rise and Splatoon, among other Switch games, though gyro controls can also be used on PC through Steam Input as well. The gyro is slightly more sensitive and isn’t quite as smooth as an official Nintendo Switch Pro controller, but the accuracy of the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth is commendable and among the best I’ve used in any budget controller. The 2C Bluetooth’s gyro re-centers almost exactly how an official Nintendo Switch Pro controller does, without erroneously drifting to the left or right while moving up and down, and vice versa.
The 8bitdo Ultimate 2C Bluetooth controller seems to have a better gyroscope than the Pro 2 or 2022 Ultimate. But it still has a very specific flaw where if you have rumble enabled, the vibration motors interfere with the gyroscope and can cause your cursor to shake while you aim. There also doesn’t seem to be a way to disable vibration directly on the controller- or at least if you can, it doesn’t tell you how in the included manual. This means that if you hate rumble, you need to turn it off in either Nintendo Switch’s Controllers and Sensors settings menu or disable it within Steam depending on your platform of choice.
Battery life on the 8bitdo Ultimate 2C Bluetooth controller is a very reasonable 15 hours, with me personally getting a little more than 14 hours out of it while playing titles that excessively used the gyroscope for testing purposes both on PC and Nintendo Switch. Being natively Switch compatible, the 8bitdo Ultimate 2C Bluetooth controller can wake the Nintendo Switch when it’s sleeping, though there doesn’t seem to be any mention of how to do this in the included manual. Shaking the controller while it’s on and paired with a Switch will wake the sleeping console, something I knew about due to owning other 8bitdo products in the past. What the Ultimate 2C Bluetooth can’t do is use Amiibo since there’s no NFC capability built into the controller.
The 8bitdo Ultimate 2C Bluetooth controller outperforms the older Ultimate Bluetooth controller by having higher accuracy analog sticks for 3D titles, an even better d-pad for 2D games, and improved gyro controls for those of us that can’t aim without it. For its price point, it’s quite challenging to find a competing budget controller that has at least two mappable extra buttons, an excellent d-pad, and usable gyro controls. If you’re looking for an additional controller for your Nintendo Switch, and you enjoy retro titles that require a great d-pad or maybe if you like using gyro controls on Steam, the 8bitdo Ultimate 2C Bluetooth controller is an option that punches significantly above its $30 weight class.