Nintendo of America has recently confirmed a significant detail about their upcoming Nintendo Switch 2: the analog sticks on its Joy-Cons and Pro Controllers won’t incorporate Hall effect sensors. This revelation came from Nate Bihldorff, Nintendo of America’s Senior VP of Product Development & Publishing, in a chat with Nintendo Life. He reassured fans that, despite the absence of Hall effect technology, these analog sticks are built with durability as a top priority.
“The controllers for the Joy-Con 2 have been redesigned completely from the ground up,” Bihldorff shared. “While they’re not using Hall Effect sticks, they offer a great feel. With every new piece of hardware, Nintendo ensures we create the best possible experience, focusing on the immediate gameplay impact of the Joy-Cons, how they interact with the game, and their lasting durability.”
The original Nintendo Switch had its fair share of trouble with stick drift, leading to random movements of the analog sticks without any input, an issue that attracted several class-action lawsuits over time. Both Nintendo and its American branch addressed the inconvenience by issuing apologies and launching free analog-stick replacement programs.
Now, about those “Hall effect” sticks: they’re a modern way to track joystick movement, standing apart from traditional potentiometers. Whereas standard analog sticks involve a wiper moving against contact pads to shift voltage and detect position, Hall effect switches rely on magnets. The downside of the classic method is wear-and-tear on contact pads, which often leads to stick drift. Many third-party controllers and even magnetic PC keyboards now favor the more robust Hall effect tech, making Nintendo’s choice to skip it a bit baffling.
Despite this, Bihldorff emphasized Nintendo’s focus on designing a durable replacement for the Switch’s controllers. This sentiment was echoed in a recent developer roundtable, with Kouichi Kawamoto, the producer for Switch 2, noting, “Though the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller might initially resemble its predecessor, it’s been completely reimagined.”
From a broader perspective, hardware lead Tetsuya Sasaki shared insight into Nintendo’s ambitious vision for controller innovation. “Nintendo has been on a quest to create the ‘ultimate controller’. Even though Sasaki didn’t confirm if this goal was met with the Switch 2, the new ‘smooth-gliding switches’ are clearly something the team takes pride in.”
It remains to be seen whether Nintendo has truly conquered the stick drift issue with the new Switch 2. If past trends are anything to go by, early reports of drift could surface as early as 2026 if the issue isn’t resolved, especially without embracing the Hall effect approach. Stay tuned for more insights into Nintendo’s latest hardware, including details on its DLSS and ray tracing features, in our continuing Switch 2 coverage.
