The new 8bitdo Pro 2 gamepads have hall effect stick, a symmetrical layout and are available in Europe. Made in China, though. I have … some of them. Love especially the translucent purple one.
I have the predecessor the sn30pro+ and I’ll definitely replace it with the pro 2 when the time comes.
Pretty decent looking gamepad. Do you have experience with the 8bitdo Pro 2? How are the ergonomics? How does it feel?
If you like the DS4, you will most possibly like the Pro 2. They have a nearly identical form factor. I like the feel of the Pro 2 with it's textured back more.
Buttons, d-pad and sticks are great, also on par with the DS4. The back buttons are nice to use, while I never triggered them accidentally. Only the Start and Select buttons are just okayish, but do the job.
Thank you! This will certainly be a strong contender. They also have very cheap shipping to Denmark, so that's a plus.
8bitdo 2c Ultimate I got off Amazon for 30$. Its 2.4ghz and bluetooth, and its hall effect.
I've had good experiences with 8bitdo. There's this one that looks more reminiscent of a SNES controller, but has the layout you're looking for.
Is there a company outside of China making controllers with Hall effect sticks yet? I'm not aware of any, which means what you are asking for will severely limit your options.
FWIW, my six-year-old DualShock 4 has almost no stick drift; so little that I never notice it in practice and haven't bothered to calibrate it. Perhaps that's because I keep it in a drawer, where dust can't settle on it and then work its way into the potentiometers inside.
You know you can calibrate these things in Linux, right?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Gamepad#Setting_up_deadzones_and_calibration
I've also traveled across Europe with it a few times. I bought my DS4 for use with my laptop (years before I built my own PC) shortly after the PS4 came out. I've had that controller for a very long time.
I considered perhaps replacing the sticks with hall effect ones myself, but I don't have a soldering kit, and I can't justify buying a whole soldering kit when I don't have place for one and intend to only use it once.
Do you know where to get drop-in replacement Hall effect sticks for a DualShock 4 or DualSense? (Maybe they're easy to find now; I haven't looked in a while.) I have a soldering iron and would probably buy a set.
Edit:
I just learned that TMR (tunneling magnetoresistance) sticks now exist, and are easier to retrofit in Sony controllers, apparently because they use less power and therefore don't need an additional circuit board. Thanks for renewing my interest.
Well, the Playstation layout is severely limiting. I recently bought a GameSir Tarantula and it's really awesome, but it only has Xbox/Switch physical layout.
It can present itself as a Playstation controller to the system, though, so it will be detected as such, but the physical buttons won't match. But if you don't need that and are more interested in games recognising you have a PS controller, it could work for you.
I use it with my Steam Deck, so it works well for Linux.
Which one did you buy? I have the tarantula pro and it has the playstation layout
Tarantula Pro as well. It doesn't have PS layout, though. How did you achieve that?
When looking for the Tarantula Pro, this is what shows up:
https://gamesir.com/collections/all-products-1/products/gamesir-tarantula-pro
Yes, that's the one I have, it has Xbox/Switch layout. Or are you seeing something different?
I have the Retrofighters BattlerGC Pro, this is the Playstation layout equivalent:
https://retrofighters.com/our-collection/defender-pro-wireless-gamepad/
Hall effect sticks, Bluetooth support, 2.4ghz dongle, excellent buttons. The BattlerGC Pro is the best controller I've ever owned. If this Playstation style controller is even close to as good you won't be disappointed.
Edit: they also have this mini controller, and this one is currently available, whereas that more deluxe one is a pre-order shipping in January.
Shipping in 2026... oof. ^^;
I'm not sure about the mini controller. Looks like it might get very irritating to use after a short time.
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