Gioteck JC-20 (Pastel) Switch Controllers Review

The Nintendo Switch first graced our presence back in 2017 and from there has taken the world by storm with how successful the console truly is. Upon launch, you only had a hand full of accessories and peripherals that enhanced or made your gaming experience more enjoyable and comfortable, one of these being the Pro Controller. I eventually got round to buying one which I have to say has made playing games in docked mode more comfortable and enjoyable. I know it might sound weird but it made it feel more natural for me when playing, however, when undocked or playing locally with family and friends the Joy-Cons worked perfectly fine. That brings me onto the Gioteck JC-20 Switch Controller, along the way we have had plenty of third-party accessories come out and some of them are better than others. The Gioteck JC-20, however, is one of the ones that sit in the middle of something really awesome and something that I didn’t really need and could do without.

First impressions

Everything came neatly packed inside the packaging and was easy to take out. I really liked the colour of the controllers and the location of the analog sticks. The ergonomic design made it feel so comfortable in my hands but at the same time wasn’t very nice to hold when you turned the Joy-Con on its side as if you were going to play a spilt screened game where you only used one Joy-Con. That being said when I attached the JC-20 to my device it made it feel bigger and a lot more comfortable to hold. The JC-20 themselves, however, felt really tacky and as if they were made out of cheap plastic same goes for the gamepad adapter, they didn’t have any weight to them which isn’t an issue but did make me feel like they weren’t the best in terms of quality.

When the JC-20 was fully together it was awkward to hold for long periods of time due to it being a circle and the feel of the controller being too compacted together. This wasn’t the case though when playing the switch in handheld mode as the design was very comforting and because the JC-20 feel bigger than the official Joy-Cons from Nintendo my big hands could grip and sit on the controllers with ease and make for a more enjoyable gaming experience with little to no breaks due to the uncomfortable feeling I get sometimes in my hands when using Joy-Cons from Nintendo. The charging cable was surprising, it’s USB on one end and has a split end on the other, you charge the JC-20 controllers individual by plugging them into the split end of the cable which is pretty cool.

Are these the controllers for you?

You can pick these controllers up for around £34.99 which is a hell of a lot cheaper than official Joy-Cons. Having big hands the added size to the controller really helped when playing in handheld mode but that was about it. I personally didn’t enjoy using the controller when I was using the gamepad mode or when playing tabletop. So for me, there wasn’t really a big selling point with the JC-20. Yeah, I liked the colour and the comfort of playing it in handheld mode but the overall quality of the controller felt poor and cheap. It took me a while to connect the controllers to my Switch but I put that down to me not reading the instructions properly.

When I first went to put the switch into my carry case it wouldn’t fit, the added size of the controllers made it so that I couldn’t place it safely inside my carry case which was a bit gutting however this was quickly fixed as my other half had another carrying case that was bigger, so I just ended up using that one for the time being. The battery life on the controllers are awesome as they allow for long hours of gameplay which is perfect for commuting and when I go visit my family back home (which is about a three-hour trip without traffic) so I never had to worry about my controllers running out of battery.  For people that might not want to fork out £69.99 for official Joy-Cons then this cheaper option might be the next best thing as you still get a decent product.

Product Description

• Wireless Bluetooth
• Motion & vibration support
• 12-Hour battery life
• Includes Game-Pad Adapter
• Includes USB-C Charging Cable
• Comes in Different Designs (Red & Blue, Pastel or Cubes)

Conclusion

The JC-20 wasn’t a game-changer when it comes to third party Nintendo Switch accessories, yeah it improved my handheld experience and has decent battery life but that was about it. The Pastel colour design was good because you can’t get official Joy-Cons with that colour combination and it can also be used on Switch Lite consoles too but with the lack of finesse when it comes to the quality of the product and the fact that I personally didn’t enjoy using the gamepad adapter or the table-top mode, makes me feel as though I wouldn’t really use these as my main controllers. At least I can say I have a spare pair around the house for when necessary or for when I’m doing long trips because they have better battery life but for now I will just stick with my Pro controller and Joy-Cons. For these reasons, I’m going to have to give the JC-20 Switch Controller a score of 6/10.

You can purchase these from your local Argos store for £34.99

Remember the score is just a score and might not be the score you would give them, the score is based on our writer’s own opinion.

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