My new everyday controller, despite its flaws.
8BitDo has a knack for gear I’d broadly describe as ‘neat’. From pleasant aesthetics, to solid ease of use, to the recent addition of tidy charging docks, my desk is currently covered in tech from the company. And that’s for good reason.
My 8BitDo Retro R8 isn’t as competitively viable as the Logitech I swapped it out for, but it is more convenient. The Retro mechanical keyboard doesn’t have rapid trigger, but it does have a few programmable keys and a solid feel. The 8BitDo Pro 3 carries on this tradition, but makes a few more compromises than its desk buddies.
The controller I’ve been testing comes in a purple variant, with red and green face buttons, and is very clearly inspired by the Nintendo GameCube. Looking like tech from a few decades ago is sort of 8BitDo’s shtick, and 8BitDo does it better than pretty much anyone else.
The Pro 3 looks delightful, both on and off its charging stand, and that charging stand adds more than just an ornament to a room. It comes with a compartment underneath to plug in a 2.4 GHz dongle, which means, if you plug the dock into your PC, it will both charge your controller and work as your connector. Should you not want to use the dock for any reason, you can simply unplug the dongle from the bottom and pop it into your PC instead.
It’s all easy to set up, with the (aesthetically matching) USB Type-C cable being the only cable you need to plug into your PC. The controller also slots into the stand with ease, thanks to curves on the base and a satisfying click to let you know it’s in place. To top that all off, a light pops up at the bottom when the controller starts charging. It’s all, well, neat.
Once off the stand, the controller is both comfortable and firm in the hands. It sits around the middle of the controller pile with its 242 g weight, and that weight is balanced well. I’ve played for long sessions without any discomfort, and it connects to my PC in around a second or so most of the time I take it off charge.
Doom: The Dark Ages, a shooter that feels designed with controllers in mind, is easy to play, with buttons feeling smooth and the Pro 3 feeling comfortable in the hand. As a person who uses ‘the claw’ more than I probably should, I’ve grown accustomed to the extra buttons next to the bumpers and on the back of the controller to move away from this habit.
