With the Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon and presumably launching someday within the Summer, maybe it’s a bit of too late for even the most effective Switch controllers and Joy-Con options to hit the market. But I suppose it’s higher late than by no means. The NYXI Hyperion 2 is an unlimited enchancment over the unique Switch’s inventory Joy-Con with clean Hall Effect analog sticks, clicky buttons, and ergonomic grips. And because the Hyperion 2 can be utilized whereas indifferent from the Switch, it’s even ok to suggest instead of a Pro controller (though it doesn’t include a snap-grip). So, in the event you’re trying to stick with the unique Switch for the foreseeable future and are nonetheless in search of a Joy-Con improve to enhance the hand-held expertise, that is what you need.
NYXI Hyperion 2 – Design and Features
Coming for the primary Hyperion, the Hyperion 2 sports activities a way more smart design – whereas it’s a bit wider than the conventional Joy-Con, it doesn’t have a bizarre grip fashion that juts out horizontally. The Hyperion 2 retains a symmetrical form and appears prefer it belongs on a Switch. A serious perk is the ergonomic grip that fills my palms akin to a Steam Deck, using the road between being substantial and never being too cumbersome. There’s a textured floor on every deal with that additionally helps your grip keep safe. This seems like a correct controller to carry and stays comparatively light-weight at simply 80g every (regular Joy-Cons weigh in round 50g every).
The buttons may take a second to get used to since they work fairly in a different way from the usual Joy-Con. Both the directional pad and face buttons have a clicky mouse-like actuation. What you get in return is a softer and extra responsive button-press that’s lighter on the thumbs – they’re additionally larger to make them even simpler to make use of. My solely gripe is that they’ve a bit of an excessive amount of wiggle room since they’re not tightly locked in place and don’t really feel as secure as they need to be.
That mouse-click design extends to the shoulder bumpers (L and R) and triggers (ZL and ZR). Since the Switch doesn’t have analog triggers, the Hyperion 2 is ready to have hair triggers with out shedding performance. They sport a really quick journey distance and are fast to hit whereas being mild to the contact. The bumpers are simple to hit as properly and all it takes is a faucet to actuation, and it’s responsive sufficient to press on the facet of the bumper as properly.
The greatest enchancment, nevertheless, is within the analog sticks. Not solely does the magnetic Hall Effect design remedy the problem of stick drift (which has plagued many Switch homeowners), these are full-fledged analog sticks that rival that of different consoles. You get a full vary of movement and a constant resistance all through that vary – whereas it’s only a tad stiff to get off the deadzone, they continue to be clean to the contact for exact actions.
Most aftermarket controllers these days have again buttons, together with the Hyperion 2 – you get two programmable buttons (one on every grip) that sits alongside your center finger. NYXI struck a superb stability between being simple sufficient to press with out an excessive amount of effort and never being so mild that you just’d unintentionally hit them (except you’re gripping your Switch like your life is dependent upon it.) However, a knock towards them right here is that you should obtain a cell app known as KeyLinker to program opposite-side inputs to a again button. It’s a woefully unintuitive app that additionally requires you to unlink the controls from the Switch so as to connect with the app. Every aftermarket controller I’ve used prior to now has the power to program its additional buttons on the fly, and maybe this specific side is a limitation of the Joy-Con design being break up, but it surely’s baffling that NYXI doesn’t make this simpler.
The RGB lighting alongside the ends of the face buttons and d-pad, and round every analog stick, is a pleasant aesthetic contact. A tiny lighting button on the again of the grips enables you to cycle by means of 4 totally different settings: off, rainbow impact, stable shade, and respiration stable shade. For each stable shade settings, you possibly can select seven totally different colours by holding the lighting button and utilizing the analog stick with cycle by means of them. Both grips can have their RGB set independently so you possibly can have your personal shade combo.
You nonetheless get rumble performance (though not HD rumble) and gyroscope movement controls when utilizing the Hyperion 2 wirelessly. The final standout function, nevertheless, is the Turbo setting. There are uncommon instances during which it’ll be helpful, however fortunately it’s very simple to set for the moments it’s helpful. Simply maintain the Turbo button, press the button you need to set, and let go – doing this as soon as will set the button to repeat whereas holding it, doing it a second time will make the button repeat with out touching it, and a 3rd time will reset the button to regular.
NYXI Hyperion 2 – Gaming Performance
When it involves evaluating gaming efficiency, I put about 5 hours into utilizing the NYXI Hyperion 2. The first recreation I performed was Metroid Prime Remastered, and with it being a first-person journey/shooter, the Hyperion 2 actually shined. Looking round and aiming at targets to lock on was a lot simpler because of the sleek analog sticks, so when you don’t essentially want super-precise aiming on this recreation, the extra sturdy sticks made it extra pleasurable. Jumping is already set to one of many bumpers, however that additionally freed up each again buttons for use for inputs like weapon switching or going into Morph Ball mode, which was handy for me. Here, the Turbo perform got here in clutch – I set it to ZR so I may rapid-fire by holding ZR as a substitute of getting it do a cost shot, and I set the MR again button to shoot usually so I may nonetheless do charged photographs once I wanted.
Doing some cleanup in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was a ton of enjoyable since I really like exploring Hyrule for unfinished enterprise, however once more, it’s a terrific recreation for showcasing the Hyperion 2’s capabilities. I nonetheless choose gyro aiming for making these minute changes, however the sticks are so exact that typically you don’t want movement controls, particularly because the sticks acknowledge small actions off the deadzone. And having a again button for the dash motion is a godsend for me as properly since I can hold controlling the digital camera on the identical time.
I are inclined to keep away from first-person shooters on Switch primarily for efficiency causes, but additionally as a result of enjoying handheld with the usual Joy-Con is straight-up unhealthy. Like different nice Joy-Con options, the Hyperion 2 cures the issue with its implausible analog sticks which are on par with that of the Xbox Series X|S gamepad to make aiming a lot better – I’d even go as far to say that the nimble micro-switch triggers make firing and aiming-down-sights faster and lighting on my fingers.
NYXI charges the Hyperion 2 to have a 10-meter wi-fi connection distance, which is a bit of over 30 toes, and that’s correct. I by no means had any points with connectivity when utilizing it indifferent from the Switch. But because the Hyperion 2 doesn’t include a middle grip to carry the 2 components collectively, I can’t totally suggest it as a Pro controller alternative till one turns into obtainable – that’s a bummer as a result of each different side of it really works as a full gamepad various as properly.
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While battery life is nice, it’s not fairly so long as the conventional Joy-Con (on account of its extra refined options). The Hyperion 2 lasts round 10 hours with out RGB lighting and about 5 hours with RGB lighting on. That’s loads of juice to make use of wirelessly, however these are meant for use within the Switch’s handheld type in order that wasn’t a significant component for me. Charging is completed by being hooked up to the Switch itself, and the design doesn’t intervene with the console being docked. However, the Hyperion 2 does eat a bit extra battery out of your system. It wasn’t a noticeable distinction, though it’s price noting – I’m not precisely a stickler for squeezing each minute of battery life from my Switch, so it didn’t concern me all that a lot.
