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Compatible with Switch (version 3.0.0 or above), Windows, Raspberry Pi devices.
Features & Specifications
- Wired Controller, USB cable: 1.8M.
- Compatible with Switch (version 3.0.0 or above), Windows, Raspberry Pi devices.
- Rumble vibration.
- Support turbo function.
- Dimensions: 6.34 x 1.97 x 3.98 inches; 5.12 Ounces
- Weight: 5.1 ounces
Pros & Cons
Pros
Well built, definitive wired USB SNES style controller. It has been a long time coming to have a controller of this quality to exist on the market after years of searching, testing, and using alternatives. My long time preferred USB SNES style controller was the iBuffalo controller that everyone seems to have and has raved over, but I believe that reign is finally over with the release of the 8BitDo SN30 Pro wired USB controller. I have the Bluetooth version of the SN30 Pro as well and that was my first experience with this controller. This wired version features the same great build quality as the Bluetooth version and it appears to be completely identical, except the presence of the USB cable coming out of the top. Batteries do not last forever and this is the reason why I still prefer to keep a stock of wired controllers for the future in case something should happen to my Bluetooth version. The overall controller has solid build quality and parts from what I can tell. The buttons offer a satisfying click and the D-pad feels good, almost like a stock SNES controller did back in the day and is also very comparable to a fresh SNES classic controller from Nintendo. After doing some testing in Street Fighter 2 Turbo, I had no issues pulling off moves. The L and R shoulder buttons are a bit small and will take some getting used to for players that are accustomed to resting their index fingers where L and R would originally exist on a regular SNES controller. The L2 and R2 trigger buttons are towards the back and offer up a bit more real estate for your fingers to press. All feel fine to the touch. The analog sticks work fine and feel good, but be aware that the right analog stick is very closely placed to the two face buttons on the front, so if you tend to have your fingers jump around during play, you might accidentally hit the stick. I'm currently using this controller exclusively on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ and although the feel of it is great, I had some issues getting it properly recognized by the device. When first plugged into an existing setup, it currently detects as an Xbox 360 gamepad and during the mapping of buttons, the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons constantly either were unresponsive or skipped over as if it did not exist. After doing some research online, I installed the Xbox driver within RetroArch but that did not seem to fix the issue. I ultimately ended up updating the Xpad driver within RetroArch and that seemed to solve the issue as all buttons are properly mapped now. I recommend backing up your RetroPie setup and image before making any system changes as if something happens during the update process or if you get unintentional results, you can revert back, so definitely heed that warning! Overall, this is a solid controller and is perfect for an emulation build and is the definitive controller to have in my opinion. Yes, there are minor issues here and there mentioned above but it is a good controller to have. This definitely replaces my older set of USB controllers and I believe that 8BitDo has a winner here!
Great controller for any user. To start off, I want to state that I have cerebral palsy, which limits the use of my right hand. I have been obsessed with super Mario maker 2 lately but I have found that the switch pro controller really cramps my hand. After watching some streamers, I decided to give the 8bitdo controller a go. I am in love with this controller. I can use it easily with my left hand without cramps, and I can still beat levels with the same quality I had with the pro controller. One thing to know is that if you are using it on the switch, you have to enable a setting for it to work, but that is on the instructions page that comes with the controller, so just follow that!
Wired isn’t a compromise, it’s a feature! I own several 8Bitdo products already so I was confident when purchasing this controller that it would be of the highest quality. My expectations were absolutely met. While some may see the USB cord sticking out of this controller as a relic of the past, I see it as an example of the “right tool for the right job” axiom. I’m using my Wired SN30 Pro to play a modern 2D platformer made in a classic-style. The directional pad is, in my opinion, better than any first party console controller available now. I am a bit of a classic gaming purist, and the latency is discernible between my typical wireless go-to controller for playing games on windows (Xbox One controller) and the Wired SN30 Pro. Playing with this wired controller FEELS more responsive, and that’s important to me. I had to ding it for one star in the “Comfort” category because the analog sticks are so close to the buttons and I tend to accidentally move them periodically. That could just be because I have larger than normal hands, so your mileage may vary. Overall this is another top-tier product from an exceptional company. Definitely recommended!
Super Gamepad! I always wanted to buy a SNES style 8BitDo controller since I grew up playing the SNES they look great but i don't like wireless controllers thankfully 8BitDo released this awesome USB gamepad version I tested on steam retroarch and standalone emulators and it works fantastic they reconigzed the gamepad quickly and feels comfortable to me I am so satisfied with this controller definitely recommend it.
A perfect companion for new and retro games. This is exactly what I was looking for in a new gamepad. I play a lot of retro and reto-inspired games on my Switch. Lately, I've also been playing emulated retro games on a newly configured Raspberry Pi. This gamepad is excellent. It has all of the controls I need to play modern games on my Switch but also the fit and layout of a classic controller when playing retro games. I haven't done any scientific testing but I did not experience any lag using this controller. Be sure to enable Pro Controller Wired Communication in the 'Controllers and Sensors' menu of the Switch settings for this gamepad to work.
Yep... retropie best friend. I’m a big wired controller enthusiast. Bluetooth always adds some lag and extra variables that can go wrong. This control is hands down the best value and best choice for retropie, emulation of all systems. LOVE this controller!!!!! I bought two for my setup and I’m good. Support this controller! I love using the analog stick for some arcade games like pac man. It’s super accurate and feels great. Some games like Pocky and Rocky on Snes I prefer the d-pad. Works amazing once set up how you want it. I bought one of the first Bluetooth sn30 pro’s and it fell victim to an early production batch faulty Bluetooth after little use. Also... this thing looks so beautiful... seriously glorious. And pairs great with a Snes style pi case. Can’t recommend this enough. 8bitdo hit this controller out of the park!!!!! The price is on point! Thanks 8bitdo.
Cons
A good first impression, but... I've been interested in 8Bitdo's controllers for a couple years, but too skeptical to buy one until now. Negative experiences with other 3rd party controllers and rumors of bad d-pads and input latency put me off from buying 8Bitdo's products. However, the $25 price point and wired connection convinced me to take a chance on the SN30 Pro. In short, this gamepad is a mixed bag. It's not bad for the price, and depending on your use case it could be a great purchase or a terrible one. The good: + Plug and play on both Switch and PC. + Vibration in a traditional gamepad! + Very comfortable design. I was worried that the bumpers and triggers could get confusing but the feel and action of the buttons are clearly defined. The analog sticks are surprisingly comfortable to use, too. + Surprisingly good build quality and feel, especially for the price. The plastic of the shell and d-pad feel very sturdy in comparison to most plastics used on modern consumer products. The rigidity and texture reminds me of the plastic used on the original Gameboy. + The d-pad does indeed have a central pivot. That said, I wish the pivot was just a tad bit higher and the d-pad slightly more stiff. The possibly bad: - The hard plastic and sharp contours of the d-pad may bother some players. It's a very accurate to the SNES controller in that regard. Personally, I don't mind it. - The d-pad is surprisingly fluid when hitting diagonals. I was hoping for a more stiff feel, but this d-pad is very much in the same vein as the one on Nintendo's official Pro controller; you can input diagonals easily while holding only a single direction on the pad and shifting pressure up or down. And yes, this results in accidental diagonals far too often. I wouldn't say it's poorly designed though, just very twitchy. The bad: - Input latency. This is the real killer for me. Surely a wired controller shouldn't suffer from input latency, right? Well, this one does. It's negligible for most 3d games, but it's very noticeable in just about every 2d game. I haven't tested for an exact measurement, but the problem is severe enough that it can be visually demonstrated to others in the room without having them pick up the controller to feel for themselves. Just to make sure it wasn't all in my head I tried out a game that I'm very familiar with on both PC and Switch: Cuphead. This confirmed my suspicion that something was very wrong with the response time of this controller. The issue presented itself on both platforms and the game was all but unplayable for it. - I haven't taken the time to confirm this, but the SN30 Pro appears to draw enough power from the Switch dock to cause slight performance drops in games that usually run without an issue. Cuphead routinely dropped small groups of frames (usually not an issue at all) and Ys VIII suffered from more frequent and impactful dips in framerate than I'd seen in the previous 25 hours on my savefile. So in summary, this is a very nice controller with a crippling amount of input latency. A reasonable price and small design would make it a decent second controller for young players, but outside of that context I can't recommend it to anyone. Update: This controller is very weird. Shortly after posting this review I attempted to further compare the latency on both platforms and found that the issue had seemingly resolved itself on PC somehow. After playing with it a bit more however, it became obvious that the problem was intermittent and input would be delayed or even dropped at random. No new drivers have been installed or updated, insufficient power supply or CPU strain are not an issue and no other nearby USB ports are in use so interference shouldn't be the culprit (unless the cable itself is not properly shielded). I believe this problem is specific to the device itself. Expect inconsistent response times with this controller. Additionally, yet another oddity has presented itself: the controller will send button and analog input at random while plugged in and not in use. If I had to guess why this is, it might be a firmware quirk stemming from the wireless 8bitdo controllers, sending input after a certain amount of time to ensure the connection isn't closed. Whatever the case, it's annoying if you have Steam's desktop controller bindings enabled. Something of note is that this controller operates at a 500hz polling rate on PC, which is impressive. I have a hunch that some of the input issues could be related to this, with the controller itself unable to operate properly at that rate. Might try underclocking it at some point but honestly it's hardly worth the effort considering the d-pad isn't ideal for me anyway.
You might brick your SN30 usb controller if updated using 8bitDo instructions. Here a solution. If you like me, bricked your SN30 controller by following exactly the 8BitDo instructions then here is the solution: The problem is that the firmware is looking for a name without a dot. Here the steps I followed to recover my bricked controllers: 1. Download the zip file from the official site . For me was "8BitDo_SN30_Pro_USB_gamepad_Firmware_V1.03" 2. Then extract the zip file. Forget about the readme files. Are trash 3. Connect the USB controller to your PC while pressing L1+R1 (if bricked shows V0_00 as the drive name) 4. Open the new USB drive (V0_00) with the windows file explorer 5. Before copy the firmware .dat file. In my case, I renamed 8BitDo_SN30_Pro_USB_gamepad_Fw_V1.03 with 8BitDo_SN30_Pro_USB_gamepad_Fw_V1_03 The key is to replace dot with the underscore char '_' 6. Copy the renamed file to the new USB drive, wait a couple of minutes (just because) 7. Unplug the USB and plug it back 8. That's it! I lost 3 hours trying different things until this one worked! @8bitDO PLEASE UPDATE YOUR FIRMWARE FILES at your official site with the right naming convention. I saw other forums with angry customers, sending their controller back to you or discarding them
D Pad sucks. cant hold any cardinal direction without going hitting a diagonal. controller is cheap and feels good, thats about the only upside.
Bad Joysticks. After using this controller for about a day on the Switch I've noticed that the joy sticks have a tendency to get "stuck" in whatever direction your moving them in. This behavior makes games like Mario Kart and Smash Bros very hard to play because you get stuck moving left or right for about a second while your playing. Very disappointing. I should also mention that the controller came with the latest firmware. firmware 1.04
Flawed masterpiece. This *should* have been the easiest 5 star rating ever. It's a nice recreation of the old SNES pad and has a good weight to it. Analog sticks are great and I have no complaints with the face buttons. It's compact and sturdy and overall feels like a much higher quality item than the $25 price tag would suggest. The fantastic d-pad stands out as the pad's strongest feature. It's one of the best I've ever come across, perfect for retro and modern platformers. BUT... it's just too small. I don't have huge hands (I'm pretty sure they're actually undersized), but I couldn't find a way to use this without my hands cramping after a few minutes. Closest I could get was not holding it in the palms, but further forward, to where my thumbs and fingers would naturally rest on the face and shoulder. The obvious problem with that is it contradicts literally decades of gaming muscle memory. It feels alien. Also, that doesn't make trying to use the triggers with its shoulder button at the same time feel any less gross. How close this pad gets to perfection before falling on its face right before the finish line is heartbreaking. I really should have bought the SN30 Pro + instead of this. Live and learn. Ultimately, if all you intend to use this for is emulating old games up until around the Dreamcast era, you won't find anything better. If it's for more complicated modern games, avoid unless you have extraordinarily tiny baby hands.
Bad D-Pad Design, Does NOT work with Raspberry Pi (Retropie),. The reason I bought this was to use with Retropie. The device registers as an XBOX 360 controller and the Trigger buttons (L2 and R2) don't work at all. Shows up in Windows as "Axis" controllers when they are, in fact, switch triggered buttons. Retropie would not map them at all. This torpedoed any chance of using this with N64, Game Cube, PS1, and XBOX games. So I might as well just use a regular controller. I tried to remedy this in several ways. t I went through the process of updating the firmware and changing the state of the device from PC to android mode. It made no difference. The buttons are erroneously registering as analog axis controllers and not buttons. This flaw takes out so many uses for the controller, I returned it. Also, the D-pad is poorly designed and, during game play, you are very likely to actuate accidental diagonals when you press left or right. It happens every so often and is incredibly frustrating. The design is really cool and I love that there is a rumble pack in it, but the controller flat out doesn't work. I've tried both the SN30, SN30 Pro. To no avail. They both had the same exact problems.
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