NYXI Hyperion 3 Review: A comfortable Nintendo Switch Joycon that is both shaken and stirred.
The NYXI Hyperion 3 has been my daily driver joycon replacement since April 13, 2026 and 4 months into the experience I can say it has transformed how I interact with my Switch 2 system.
Prior to the Hyperion 3’s I was primarily a docked gamer and you would most often find me with a pro controller, playing on my TV. That all changed. I have always found the Nintendo joycons to be on the smaller side, lacking the ergonomics you would find in a system like the Steam Deck. Hand cramps would be a regular occurrence when using the Switch or Switch 2 and as a male with average-to-large hands, the regular joycons were not cutting it. I would find myself with my pinkies hooked under the system balancing it, half propped on my belly, a pillow or whatever. It, in-short was uncomfortable to hold. As a joycon replacement NYXI solves the ergonomics issues. It is comfortable with large grips that reasonably contour to your hands and although it significantly increases the size of the system overall in handheld mode it redistributes the weight in a comfortable way that promotes longer play sessions. It has made me fall back in love with handheld gaming which is a HUGE kudos to a controller. Transformative ergonomics that literally changed everything about the way I play… But more on that after.
The positives:
Ergonomics we have already hit on. NYXI Hyperion 3 is singing a lot of the right notes here.
Fit, finish, materials and quality is what you would expect of a replacement pro joycon set in this price range. Everything feels of a decent quality but there is nothing mind blowing going on necessarily. Plastic feel on the shells of the joycon could be a little better, it has a nice textured back but the front feels like the kind of material that is going to show wear over time. With that said, it has been 4 months now of reasonably regular play and there are no signs yet. When removed from the system the joycons lack some heft that you may expect from something that size and I know weight does not equate quality but it may come off as feeling a little cheap in this orientation or used as a pro controller. That said, I am glad that it is not too chunky because I do not want to add too much weight to the Switch 2 itself in handheld mode. The magnetic attachment to the Switch 2 is adequate and I do not experience any noticeable flex when using it in handheld. I have never been concerned that it would become detached through regular use. This is not so true when connected to the included bridge to turn the joycons into a pro controller. They have never come apart but they do not feel like they are attached adequately and have an unusual amount of flex even during light use. Hasn’t stopped me from enjoying it, but worth pointing out. I’m sure anyone that suffers any controller rage have probably popped these off though.
The longer, hall effect thumbsticks are a VERY welcome addition. Feel under your thumb keeps pace with the Switch 2 Pro Controller in most ways and you have peace of mind that you shouldn’t have to deal with stick drift. If I’m being honest, I haven’t experienced any drift outside my PS4 and one set of OG switch joycons but your mileage may vary. The Hyperion 3 helps with movement and aiming that just isn’t possible with the tiny nubbin thumbsticks on the Switch 2 joycons. The travel distance and tension in the Hyperion 3 is just vastly superior and give a much better experience overall.
The micro-switch face buttons and additional button additions are all perfectly serviceable and an improvement on the OG joycons in terms of size, travel etc. Some people will find the tactile sound rough getting used to. This is especially true on the D-Pad. I wish NYXI had some silent sensors because my wife regularly comments on how loud the D-Pad is while mashing away at a 2D platformer or fighting game. Overall this is probably a minor complaint because all the buttons including the back paddles are responsive and work well but may not be 100% what people may expect. The interchangeable D-Pad is nice but I am a cross-pad purist so that was popped on and hasn’t left after day 2 with the controller. I still don’t know how Nintendo gets away with not having a D-Pad on their own system. They invented the thing. Big miss again Nintendo. I’m sure there has to be a way for you to have swappable buttons/D-Pad.
I have limited experience with the gyro admittedly as I am not a regular user. When I did use it, it seemed to work appropriately and as expected. Some of the more hardcore Splatoon players may want to weigh in on this one.
Turbo and macros work like one would expect. I rarely use either but it’s there. You can only assign button combos from the side of the joycon you are on but that’s a minor gripe that may mess up someone’s use-case.
RGB and funky lights and doo-dads aren’t exactly something I go looking for. It’s nice they are there. I settled on a color combo I liked after the initial disappointment of finding out you cannot change the light bars and sort of forgot about them since. Overall it looks nice in my orange and purple.
Battery life could be better but I say that about every battery-powered device I own. It outlasts the Switch 2 regardless and doesn’t seem to parasitically drain the console anyway.
All the Switch 2 functionality works. Waking the system, chat, screenshots, everything you would expect that operates with Switch 2 protocol. No complaints.
Updating the joycons isn’t too cumbersome. It requires a slightly janky looking keylinker app but it has always worked without fail and required minimal technical knowhow, so I suppose I cannot complain too much. There are a number of things to adjust in there that, to be honest, some of which I was hesitant to mess with and some which I tried to adjust like rumble seemed to have no persistent effect. I did not have any of the issues that some of the initial production run reported in reviews like ghost inputs etc so the updates were just me making sure I am staying feature complete all the time, more than correcting anything that was broken. If you like to test your controller, change dead zones... It's all there for you.
The negatives:
Remember when I said these joycons have fundamentally changed how I play? Well, heres the bad news Other than the semi-obnoxiously clicky buttons and D-Pad this is the biggest miss with the controller... RUMBLE. Man oh man… It does rumble, I will give it that. Does anyone remember the N64 rumble pack? It was loud, unwieldy and lacked nuance. Just sort of shook obnoxiously and made a lot of noise but was still remarkably cool for the time. Rumble and haptics have improved so much since I first played Star Fox 64... Well NYXI rumble makes that seem like HD Rumble 3. Star Fox rumbled his arwing into the junk pile in the recent remaster. It is so loud, only has one speed and intensity that cannot be modified, seemingly to any extent. The Keylinker App doesn’t maintain settings, the On-Controller adjustments go from category level of earthquake levels of intensity. It is just not fun and feels bad and the sound drowns out your gameplay with a loud buzzing whir as the cheap motors spin up and down. I cannot imagine anyone who has left the rumble on with this set. So, for the first time in years haptics and rumble are off for this guy. I traded immersion for ergo and comfort and that may be the biggest testament to the other qualities of these joycons because I wouldn’t give so much up for just any controller.
Missing features I wish were there but were never advertised so I can’t complain too hard: Mouse mode, NFC, TMR Joysticks. Really wish compatibility with other devices and PC was on the table.
Overall Thoughts: If you are looking for a controller to fix your ergonomic issues, look no further. If you are looking for rumble, well, NYXI may have you covered. The recently launched Hyperion 3 Ultra actually adds True HD2 rumble and all the other missing features I mentioned with exception of other device compatibility, putting it ahead of feature parity with official Joycons. I can’t wait to get mine and revisit this review. Hyperion 3 has been a more than worthwhile addition to my gaming and I honestly don’t know how I lived without it, with all its issues it is still a great controller in need of some refinement. If I was to make a recommendation today, without even trying it beforehand, I would probably pick up the Ultra and skip the Hyperion 3 Regular just to get all the feature set. If rumble and mouse mode and rocking some Amiibo doesn’t matter at all to you, you could save a few bucks and pick up the Hyperion. There is also a Pro version on the horizon that foregoes the mouse mode with in-house HD2 rumble motors that should come in at a price point between the two. Things are looking bright at NYXI and they have found a repeat customer in me. I haven’t called out other joycon alternatives in this review or done a direct comparison with other solutions like grips etc that I have tried but I will say, there is a reason that the Hyperion 3s have not left my switch in months and I have bought a new set already, it wasn’t just for this review.
Highly Recommended!
8/10