Mobapad HuBen2 – Wireless Switch & PC Controller

After using maybe a hundred controllers the past few years, I think this one is among the best if not the best option out there today.

Update: On Silksong, the HD rumble of the Huban 2 is as good or better than the switch 2s own HD rumble 2.

Positives
- It can wake the Switch 2. Huge plus.
- Flawlessly centered sticks with pinpoint response.
- Hair-trigger face buttons without play that require average pressure.
- All four shoulder buttons have hair-triggers with minor to minimal play.
- D-pad is sharp, nimble, tactile, and minimal play.
- Gyro response is almost perfect; only a very small dead zone.
- HD rumble Gen 1: Rare feature, few controllers still have it.
- Rubberized grips
- Grip shape is very close to Xbox Series S, which feels fantastic.

Negatives
- Triggers (L2/R2) with hair trigger mode off have minor to moderate dead zones at the start.
- Not cheap, but worth it.
- AB and XY are flipped for Nintendo (same as all 3rd-party controllers).
- Face button resistance is not heavy at all, but I prefer them slightly lighter.
- L3/R3 require average click pressure; I’d personally like a little lighter activation.
- Wish it had the insanelt smooth sticks from the switch 2 pro controller but not a big deal and pie in the sky request.

Switch 2 wake up
Nintendo seems to be using a rolling code system (similar to garage door openers), and the Huben 2 somehow reads a sequence from a Joy-Con. However it’s done, it’s brilliant and a major quality-of-life feature. It does require you to connect the controller to a phone and update the firmware which takes just a minute.

Comparison to Other Controllers
Flydigi Vader 4 Pro: My previous go-to. Its flaws: slippery grips, awkwardly square grip shape, and a good D-pad but way too much play, good face buttons but again too much play. The Huben 2 solves all of those while improving trigger and button dead zones not to mention much better rumble. The Vader 4 Pro is still very good, but the Huben 2 is excellent. Both feel like surgical instruments, but the Huben 2’s D-pad is unmatched.

Switch 2 Pro Controller: Smoothest sticks ever, but ruined by squishy and inaccurate buttons, stiff L3/R3 clicks, and a ridiculously small grip size (like it was built for a 3-year-old). HD Rumble 2 is nice, but losing it is negligible since Huben 2 still has Gen 1 HD rumble.

Razer Wolverine V2 has similar feel and features but looser D-pad, wobbly face buttons, no HD rumble, doesn't work on Nintendo and is over $200! The Wolverine V3 is really more comparable to cheaper controllers (Flydigi Vader 3 non-pro, Vader 4, easy SMX D10, etc.).

Price vs value: After testing as many controllers as I have, the value feels absurdly good considering how close to ideal this one is. It's cheaper than the switch 2 pro.

This controller is by far one of the best I've tried in ages. I already have the M6 HD which, in my opinion, are the best joycons available for the switch.
-Nearly every button on this has a soft mechanical switch that can be pressed very quickly with no loss of feedback. They feel very similar to the M6 HD, which is what I hoped for before buying it. Even the triggers in microswitch mode are very similar as well. Speaking of that, there is some amount of travel in microswitch mode, but I feel that's necessary to avoid accidental presses, so I actually prefer it this way.
-The wireless latency (with the dongle) is nearly inexistent, I have a Dualsense and it honestly feels as responsive if not more.
-The analog sticks are quite accurate even at a lower deadzone than default and being able to easily switch the range of the stick (perfectly circular or ellipse) helps a lot with games like Expedition 33 where they take into account some margin of error and perfect circularity is actually undesirable.
-I've only tested "normal" rumble and so far so good, although I feel even the lowest setting on each motor is a bit stronger than how I would describe it.
-Software wise, I love that the android app has access to all of the settings the PC app has, and that I'm able to update the firmware from it, wirelessly. Being able to bind keyboard shortcuts is a godsend and if might suggest it, it'd be amazing if in a future update, F13-F24 could be bound to these buttons as well, as these are very underutilized keys that can be really useful to bind to new functions.
-Build quality feels more solid than a good number of gamepads I had that cost more than this one. Even first party ones.

The only "cons" I found about this gamepad:
-The LB and RB buttons are loud when pressed. I believe they might be a bit hollow which makes them louder.
-Linux support for the dongle, it won't recognize the gamepad the same way and while all buttons, analogs and triggers work, vibration doesn't. It's not detected the same way as an xbox gamepad, but as "gamepad-dongle". Hoping for an update for this.

All in all this controller is fantastic, even when I'm more used to the playstation stick layout I prefer using this. I'm eagerly waiting for a charging dock for this.