TLDR: Bought a Pro controller from eBay for RRP. It is the best Fake Pro controller I’ve seen and only realised it was fake after very very close inspection.
Recently bought a Limited Edition Smash Bros Switch Pro controller from eBay, for retail price £59.99. Seller had very good reviews and *all* feedback for *all* his Switch Pro controllers were positives.
I thought I got lucky and found some genuine stock of something that’s been sold out and OOS for so long.
[Side by side photos here](https://imgur.com/a/YDIJSE8)
**Why is it fake?**
* **Weight**
– Arguably the biggest giveaway: Genuine Pro controllers weighs roughly 250g
– This fake, weighs 222g. It was noticeably lighter
* **Look and feel**
– The paint looked almost perfect, with the only telltale sign of showing around some of the buttons, where it looked messy and unfinished.
– The analogue sticks did not feel smooth to move.
– The screenshot button almost felt loose and kept jamming
– The shoulder buttons (L & R) were almost rattly and not rigid like the original.
– The – and + buttons were higher placed
Other than that, it looked and felt exactly the same. The fake was able to wake the console from sleep when pressing the Home button. And also showed the correct icon in the controllers menu in the switch.
The box and packaging also looked genuine, including the correct wrapping, cardboard holder and Nintendo Branded USB cable. However, the printing looked blurry and not as clear as the original box. Another giveaway that it was a fake, was the box looked slightly misshapen and was smaller than the original.
I’ve had a few other fakes and this one is by far the most polished fake.
Edit: I missed out NFC and Rumble, thanks for reminding me @Fenn4.
**NFC**
Works perfectly fine
**HD Rumble**
Controller certainly vibrates. However, it feels and sounds much more different than the original.
Edit:
I’ve added images to **[the album](https://imgur.com/a/YDIJSE8)** showing the “THX2 ALL GAME FANS” message on both controllers and the difference in USB C sockets
It’s louder and inconsistent, you can almost hear and feel something spinning inside, unlike the original controller where the rumble is smooth and consistent.
by Mustimustdie
32 Comments
Why are you even buying switch controllers from eBay instead of a legitimate retailer?
What about HD Rumble or NFC? That seems more easy to notice missing?
That’s kind of annoying to know.
There some software i forgot the name of that you can use to let the controller sing mario theme through HD rumble, i doubt a fake would be able to do that.
Although that cant be a definent method as i saw some are using HD rumble from a broken/salaveged controllers
Does it have gyro/motion controls?
Yeah I got taken on eBay for a Splatoon 2 edition pro controller and just found out it is fake when one of my friends got his from Nintendo and woke his console with the home button. Had no clue you could do it on the official and long belong my fake one didn’t. Was not a happy camper. Then I looked closer at all my controllers and found I have 3 more for other consoles
Slightly off-topic so please forgive me:
I recently purchased the 8bitdo pro2 wireless and it is awesome!!! They have different models too if you are looking more for something like the original controller layout. Great quality, easy pairing, great battery life. Just in case someone is interested. ✌🏻
Does the home button wake up the console? The one I bough some years ago didn’t. That was the only difference I notice ( until the stick broke for no reason after 6 month lol).
What’s the secret message like? the “THX2ALLGAMEFANS” that is on the board.
How is the D-Pad? I can’t tell if it’s the lighting, but the fake seems to have a bigger D-Pad. Any noticeable difference?
I wonder whether it’d be easier to tell by inspecting the internals of the controller.
I’m sure there must be some more obvious differences on the PCB or battery. Did you happen to check?
Makes me wonder if you bought yours from the same seller I bought a Splatoon 2 one from. It’s exactly the same as described here. The sticks felt like they needed some “breaking in”, unlike the legit pro controller. Same thing with the packaging as yours as well. It was smaller and “faded” like it had been sitting in the sun.
Everything else is identical to the legit pro. NFC, Gyro, detection by the system, everything. The only way I’d be able to absolutely confirm it’s fake would be to take it apart and look at the components individually. But given he was selling it under retail price, there’s no way it’s legit. If it is, it has to be stolen.
But if it’s a fake it’s pretty damn solid (and still better than the PowerA crap).
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I’ve picked up some fantastic fake joycons. Look and feel just like the real thing, and the switch even recognizes the colors/think it’s the animal crossing edition. The main difference I always notice with third party controllers is the lack of hd rumble. Some rumble too much, some too little, and none replicate the effects properly. An okay trade off considering im saving 30-40 bucks.
They are selling these fakes on Walmarts website.
Oh and Amazon has some.
TIL pro controllers can wake the Switch from sleep mode.
Honest speaking if you’re reading.
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It’s not FAKE, it’s just chinese workshop replacing an outer shell with used/broken pro controllers. I’ve experienced too many of them.
those are genuine used or returned or replaced pro controllers, with a new shell
you’ll see tons of these in the chinese market now, they have splatoon 3 version of these on day1, it’s just a new shell + crappy pro controller, possibly from the japanese scraps.
How’s the battery life? The one on the actual pro controller is insane…like 40+ hours — is that one around 10ish?
What about ability to remap buttons? As far as I understand only genuine Nintendo controllers support that, though I’m not 100% certain there
As another person said its likely a chinese made shell with the real guts of a pro controller inside. They are either repaired parts or used parts.
I bought it from a local seller, after close inspection, the easier way to spot it is looking at the USB port, in the fake one is deeper, very noticeable and no need to weight it or connect it.
So what you’re saying is…. The fake is definitely _not_ “almost identical” to genuine versions
Honestly, these things are cheaper than the originals, and if you want a special design like the Xenoblade 2 one, they’re a nice option without spending a lot
Shit so now NFC can’t be an indicator of a real or fake
Fyi this and the Splatoon fake ones are everywhere. I’ve found them in pretty much every mom and pop game shop I’ve been to. I bought the same one OP has for like 15 bucks and it ain’t half bad. The problem of course is when they’re being passed off as originals. Besides the box looking off another way to tell if the controller is a clone is looking at the Nintendo Switch logo on it. The logo will be slightly off center. All in all they’re really convincing fakes.
Oh yeah man when I couldn’t afford it I bought these all the time, actually pretty damn good
I have that exact controller…
the HD rumble is god awful and nearly unplayable with some games (mario kart 8)
other then that, its fine- has everything, NFC,”thanx2fans” easter egg, controls and feel, etc. got it last christmas
Did the fake have a ‘THX2ALLGAMEFANS” easter egg?
This is actually a really good and informative post. Thanks mate! I feel like this should be stickied or something. Could help others avoid falling for fakes.
At this point, I think it’s too late and risky to buy any limited pro controller that are out of print. The amount of fake ones out there are surreal. Even the latest Splatoon 3 pro controller already has counterfeit by the time of its release date.
Nowadays, I’m even skeptical with Amazon directly so 3rd party sellers are even out of question and that applies to 3rd party sellers on Target, Walmart, etc. as well.
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So it sucked lol analog sticks feel bad so does the shoulder buttons that’s basically the main points of the controller