The NYXI Hyperion 2 Might Be the Best Switch Joy-Con Alternative

With the Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon and presumably launching sometime in the Summer, perhaps it’s a little too late for even one of the best Switch controllers and Joy-Con alternatives to hit the market. But I suppose it’s better late than never. The NYXI Hyperion 2 is a vast improvement over the original Switch's stock Joy-Con with smooth Hall Effect analog sticks, clicky buttons, and ergonomic grips. And since the Hyperion 2 can be used while detached from the Switch, it’s even good enough to recommend in place of a Pro controller (although it does not come with a snap-grip). So, if you’re looking to stay with the original Switch for the foreseeable future and are still looking for a Joy-Con upgrade to improve the handheld experience, this is what you want.

NYXI Hyperion 2 – Design and Features

Coming for the first Hyperion, the Hyperion 2 sports a much more sensible design – while it’s a bit wider than the normal Joy-Con, it doesn’t have a weird grip style that juts out horizontally. The Hyperion 2 retains a symmetrical shape and looks like it belongs on a Switch. A major perk is the ergonomic grip that fills my hands akin to a Steam Deck, riding the line between being substantial and not being too bulky. There’s a textured surface on each handle that also helps your grip stay secure. This feels like a proper controller to hold and remains relatively lightweight at just 80g each (normal Joy-Cons weigh in around 50g each).

The buttons might take a moment to get used to since they work quite differently from the standard Joy-Con. Both the directional pad and face buttons have a clicky mouse-like actuation. What you get in return is a softer and more responsive button-press that’s lighter on the thumbs – they’re also bigger to make them even easier to use. My only gripe is that they have a little too much wiggle room since they’re not tightly locked in place and don’t feel as stable as they should 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 able to have hair triggers without losing functionality. They sport a very short travel distance and are quick to hit while being light to the touch. The bumpers are easy to hit as well and all it takes is a tap to actuation, and it’s responsive enough to press on the side of the bumper as well.

The biggest improvement, however, is in the analog sticks. Not only does the magnetic Hall Effect design solve the issue of stick drift (which has plagued many Switch owners), these are full-fledged analog sticks that rival that of other consoles. You get a full range of motion and a consistent resistance throughout that range – while it’s just a tad stiff to get off the deadzone, they remain smooth to the touch for precise movements.

Most aftermarket controllers nowadays have back buttons, including the Hyperion 2 – you get two programmable buttons (one on each grip) that sits along your middle finger. NYXI struck a good balance between being easy enough to press without too much effort and not being so light that you'd accidentally hit them (unless you’re gripping your Switch like your life depends on it.) However, a knock against them here is that you need to download a mobile app called KeyLinker to program opposite-side inputs to a back button. It’s a woefully unintuitive app that also requires you to unlink the controls from the Switch in order to connect to the app. Every aftermarket controller I’ve used in the past has the ability to program its extra buttons on the fly, and perhaps this particular aspect is a limitation of the Joy-Con design being split, but it’s baffling that NYXI doesn’t make this easier.

The RGB lighting along the ends of the face buttons and d-pad, and around each analog stick, is a nice aesthetic touch. A tiny lighting button on the back of the grips lets you cycle through four different settings: off, rainbow effect, solid color, and breathing solid color. For both solid color settings, you can choose seven different colors by holding the lighting button and using the analog stick to cycle through them. Both grips can have their RGB set independently so you can have your own color combo.

You still get rumble functionality (although not HD rumble) and gyroscope motion controls when using the Hyperion 2 wirelessly. The last standout feature, however, is the Turbo setting. There are rare cases in which it’ll be beneficial, but thankfully it’s very easy to set for the moments it’s useful. Simply hold the Turbo button, press the button you want to set, and let go – doing this once will set the button to repeat while holding it, doing it a second time will make the button repeat without touching it, and a third time will reset the button to normal.

NYXI Hyperion 2 - Gaming Performance

When it comes to evaluating gaming performance, I put about five hours into using the NYXI Hyperion 2. The first game I played was Metroid Prime Remastered, and with it being a first-person adventure/shooter, the Hyperion 2 really shined. Looking around and aiming at targets to lock on was so much easier thanks to the smooth analog sticks, so while you don’t necessarily need super-precise aiming in this game, the more robust sticks made it more enjoyable. Jumping is already set to one of the bumpers, but that also freed up both back buttons to be used for inputs like weapon switching or going into Morph Ball mode, which was convenient for me. Here, the Turbo function came in clutch – I set it to ZR so I could rapid-fire by holding ZR instead of having it do a charge shot, and I set the MR back button to shoot normally so I could still do charged shots when I needed.

Doing some cleanup in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was a ton of fun since I love exploring Hyrule for unfinished business, but again, it’s a great game for showcasing the Hyperion 2’s capabilities. I still prefer gyro aiming for making those minute adjustments, but the sticks are so precise that sometimes you don’t need motion controls, especially since the sticks recognize small movements off the deadzone. And having a back button for the sprint action is a godsend for me as well since I can keep controlling the camera at the same time.

I tend to avoid first-person shooters on Switch primarily for performance reasons, but also because playing handheld with the standard Joy-Con is straight-up bad. Like other great Joy-Con alternatives, the Hyperion 2 remedies the problem with its fantastic analog sticks that are on par with that of the Xbox Series X|S gamepad to make aiming much better – I’d even go as far to say that the nimble micro-switch triggers make firing and aiming-down-sights quicker and lighting on my fingers.

NYXI rates the Hyperion 2 to have a 10-meter wireless connection distance, which is a little over 30 feet, and that’s accurate. I never had any issues with connectivity when using it detached from the Switch. But since the Hyperion 2 does not come with a center grip to hold the two parts together, I can’t fully recommend it as a Pro controller replacement until one becomes available – that’s a bummer because every other aspect of it works as a full gamepad alternative as well.

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