The Pro 3 takes cues from the flagship Ultimate 2, but it also has unique features like swappable ABXY buttons and arcade-style stick caps.
From the linked GameSpot article:
"8BitDo has revealed the successor to its popular Pro 2 Bluetooth Controller. Officially called the Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad, the upcoming controller retains the form factor of the Pro 2 while implementing some of the enhanced features found in the Ultimate 2 Bluetooth, such as TMR joysticks and trigger locks. It also has a few entirely new features not found on other 8BitDo controllers, including swappable magnetic face buttons and an extra pair of arcade-inspired ball-top stick caps.
The 8BitDo Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad is available to preorder now at Amazon for $70 ahead of its August 12 release. It comes in three retro-themed colors: G Classic, Gray, and a shade of purple that pays homage to the Nintendo GameCube. All three models come with matching charging docks and a set ball-top arcade stick toppers that can be swapped in for the traditional rubberized caps. Out of the box, the Pro 3 is compatible with Switch 2, Switch, PC, Android, Apple devices, and Steam Deck."
Unless you need the touchpad and resistance triggers I’ve come to prefer the Ultimate 2 wireless over the dualsense.
Has TMR sticks, extra bumper buttons, back buttons, and charging dock. Got firmware update to allow the extra buttons to be remappable through Steam Input too.
Don’t see myself considering a PlayStation controller on the PC unless future versions start coming with hall effect or TMR sticks, and even then with them charging double the price for paddle buttons it is a hard sell over third party controller options on the PC.
Very nice of them to add hall effect triggers for improved longevity so that you can trash it even sooner than the Pro 2 once the non-replaceable battery dies out.
Are you talking about the battery in the Pro 2? My understanding is they use TMR sticks that use less battery. And even if/when the battery dies I’ve been having no issues using it wired.
The Pro 2 was notable for having an easily replaceable battery pack which was also compatible with standard AA batteries, and now the Pro 3 will be removing this feature in favor of an internal battery. I was implying that although the Pro 3 includes a new hall effect sensor for the triggers which would marginally increase its lifespan, the Pro 3 will likely need to be thrown away sooner than a Pro 2 because of its new irreplaceable battery design.
I have 1 of their controller, the Pro 2, and I never had issues with the battery, and will never have issues with the battery, because it takes standard rechargeable AA batteries. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about the Pro 3.
I love everything about the ultimate pro 2 but the ergo. Sn30pro2 is my go to but miss the dock and back buttons. So this might be what I have been looking for
I’ll ask their support about what exactly they mean by steamos support (fully rebindable in steam, or just “the buttons work”) and edit my comment to show the answer.
Right now has to be the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 wireless. Not the bluetooth switch one. Need to update the dongle and controller to the latest beta firmware and launch it in dinput mode by turning it on while holding the B button. Then all the extra buttons can be mapped along with using gyro with analog triggers, which couldn’t be done before.
There is a bug that needs to be fixed where rumble can cause the controller to stop working in game, so for now need to use it with rumble off until that is fixed. But, everything else works when it comes to binding through Steam Input.
Thank you. It looks like this is sort of working in that I can get the additional buttons to show up in Steam now but I’m hitting what I think is a bug where the ‘Enable Extended Buttons’ toggle doesn’t stay enabled. After searching a bit it seems like I’m not the only one but maybe that will get worked out soon.
Ultimate 2 also does Gyro over the 2.4 dongle (At least in the Wireless version).
Update the firmware of the controller and the dongle and hold B when turning on.
Similar story here with my SN30 Pro+. It was great the first year then the Bluetooth stopped working consistently, then the wired mode also stopped working consistently a year later.
Not sure how I feel about this (aside from it being 8bitdo so even understanding what SKU is what is hell).
The swappable buttons remind me a lot of the framework usb c dongle “ports”. In theory it sounds awesome. In practice it sounds like a LOT of engineering work going into something people will touch once when they buy it and never again. Would much rather a bigger focus on repairability so that swapping the buttons isn’t a big deal WITHOUT a magnetic system and special keypuller and so forth.
I also don’t think ANYONE will ever use the “arcade thumbsticks”.
I’m Pretty sure the guillikit Kong 3 had magnetic buttons or mechanical ones similar to this where it was a small switch inside that you could swap out when worn out. That hasn’t seemed to be that big an issue considering its just rubber on circuit board action. I could be wrong but what about this seems less repairable?
It is that you get the same swappability AND drastically improved repairability by… making the controllers easier to disassemble to replace parts. Why build an elaborate magnetic swap system when you can just take off the face plate and swap a small piece of plastic?
I love my Pro 2, best pad I’ve ever had, but I love it enough that I have no real need to spend $70 on an upgrade. This sounds excellent for anyone who doesn’t already have one though.
Not sure I get the point of removing the face buttons though. You shouldn’t need to physically rearrange them in order to remap them. I just use the Pro 2’s profile switcher button to swap layouts, and I see that button is still present, so I don’t see why I would want to do it the hard way.
As someone who switches between PC using an Xbox layout and a Switch, I like the idea of swappable buttons, assuming it doesn’t cause any issues physically with the controller in the long run.
Personally I would find this incredibly helpful when I’m playing games with someone who’s might need to look at the buttons. Especially if they aren’t much of a gamer.
I’ve tried rearranging the buttons on my pro 2 but They’re all unique shapes and can’t be swapped 😔
It’s more for people who look at the controller buttons while playing. I’ve had people use my controllers and get really confused when B is actually A and so on.
What don’t you like about it? The SNES controller was one of my favorites but maybe it’s just because that was my favorite generation of gaming. Is it too small and cramped? Not ergonomic enough? I personally find the Xbox controller too large, but maybe I just didn’t play with one enough.
I thought the same about the 8bitdo pro 2, until i bought one and actually held it. Its my favorite controller i have ever had. It fits so perfect in my hands and feels high quality.
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But bluetooth though, why not 2.4ghz? My 8bitdo has 2.4ghz
It does do 2.4GHz. There’s a dongle stored in the charging base.
I love that word, dongle
You’ll have to wait for the 8BitDo Pro 3 Plus, I guess.
Finally my Switch can match my xBox.
How do their gamepads compare to the DualSense? They‘re in the same price range after all.
Unless you need the touchpad and resistance triggers I’ve come to prefer the Ultimate 2 wireless over the dualsense.
Has TMR sticks, extra bumper buttons, back buttons, and charging dock. Got firmware update to allow the extra buttons to be remappable through Steam Input too.
Don’t see myself considering a PlayStation controller on the PC unless future versions start coming with hall effect or TMR sticks, and even then with them charging double the price for paddle buttons it is a hard sell over third party controller options on the PC.
Ooooh that swappable face buttons is a nice touch.
Very nice of them to add hall effect triggers for improved longevity so that you can trash it even sooner than the Pro 2 once the non-replaceable battery dies out.
Are you talking about the battery in the Pro 2? My understanding is they use TMR sticks that use less battery. And even if/when the battery dies I’ve been having no issues using it wired.
The Pro 2 was notable for having an easily replaceable battery pack which was also compatible with standard AA batteries, and now the Pro 3 will be removing this feature in favor of an internal battery. I was implying that although the Pro 3 includes a new hall effect sensor for the triggers which would marginally increase its lifespan, the Pro 3 will likely need to be thrown away sooner than a Pro 2 because of its new irreplaceable battery design.
I was thinking about my Ultimate 2 anyway, so my comment didn’t matter. Maybe I’ll get a Pro one, some day.
You should still be able to disassemble it and solder on a new battery if you have the tools, the time and the knowledge
I have 3 of their controllers and never had issues with the battery
I have 1 of their controller, the Pro 2, and I never had issues with the battery, and will never have issues with the battery, because it takes standard rechargeable AA batteries. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about the Pro 3.
It’s not replaceable? That’s disappointing. I expected better of controller manufacturers since they’re not space constrained.
I can’t speak for this controller specifically, but all of the 8bitdo controllers I’ve had seem to been fairly easy to get into and repair.
Although it’s not as convient as the Pro 2, I wouldn’t say it’s not replaceable.
I love everything about the ultimate pro 2 but the ergo. Sn30pro2 is my go to but miss the dock and back buttons. So this might be what I have been looking for
I’ll ask their support about what exactly they mean by steamos support (fully rebindable in steam, or just “the buttons work”) and edit my comment to show the answer.
Ultimate 2 is fully bindable in Steam (even gyro if you do directinput over bluetooth).
Valve gonna Valve but there isn’t a reason to assume a regression on that. But, like everything, don’t preorder things.
I have an Ultimate 2 and I haven’t been able to figure out how to do that so I can’t remap the back buttons with Steam input.
What’s the trick?
Right now has to be the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 wireless. Not the bluetooth switch one. Need to update the dongle and controller to the latest beta firmware and launch it in dinput mode by turning it on while holding the B button. Then all the extra buttons can be mapped along with using gyro with analog triggers, which couldn’t be done before.
There is a bug that needs to be fixed where rumble can cause the controller to stop working in game, so for now need to use it with rumble off until that is fixed. But, everything else works when it comes to binding through Steam Input.
Is Dinput mode limited to Bluetooth only or can it be used on the 2.4ghz as well?
Edit: nevermind, just saw the other comment below mine that mentions it working in both connection modes
Thank you. It looks like this is sort of working in that I can get the additional buttons to show up in Steam now but I’m hitting what I think is a bug where the ‘Enable Extended Buttons’ toggle doesn’t stay enabled. After searching a bit it seems like I’m not the only one but maybe that will get worked out soon.
Ultimate 2 also does Gyro over the 2.4 dongle (At least in the Wireless version).
Update the firmware of the controller and the dongle and hold B when turning on.
Their controllers are amazing but the naming convention is so bad.
Better than Sony. I still don’t know whether its XMF or WMF or WMH…5000
I already have four of the predecessors and only use one of them 99.9 % of the time. But …
As much as I like 8bitdo, I constantly had issues with my Pro 2. Hopefully this one is better.
Similar story here with my SN30 Pro+. It was great the first year then the Bluetooth stopped working consistently, then the wired mode also stopped working consistently a year later.
Not sure how I feel about this (aside from it being 8bitdo so even understanding what SKU is what is hell).
The swappable buttons remind me a lot of the framework usb c dongle “ports”. In theory it sounds awesome. In practice it sounds like a LOT of engineering work going into something people will touch once when they buy it and never again. Would much rather a bigger focus on repairability so that swapping the buttons isn’t a big deal WITHOUT a magnetic system and special keypuller and so forth.
I also don’t think ANYONE will ever use the “arcade thumbsticks”.
I’m Pretty sure the guillikit Kong 3 had magnetic buttons or mechanical ones similar to this where it was a small switch inside that you could swap out when worn out. That hasn’t seemed to be that big an issue considering its just rubber on circuit board action. I could be wrong but what about this seems less repairable?
It isn’t that the buttons are less repairable.
It is that you get the same swappability AND drastically improved repairability by… making the controllers easier to disassemble to replace parts. Why build an elaborate magnetic swap system when you can just take off the face plate and swap a small piece of plastic?
I love my Pro 2, best pad I’ve ever had, but I love it enough that I have no real need to spend $70 on an upgrade. This sounds excellent for anyone who doesn’t already have one though.
Not sure I get the point of removing the face buttons though. You shouldn’t need to physically rearrange them in order to remap them. I just use the Pro 2’s profile switcher button to swap layouts, and I see that button is still present, so I don’t see why I would want to do it the hard way.
As someone who switches between PC using an Xbox layout and a Switch, I like the idea of swappable buttons, assuming it doesn’t cause any issues physically with the controller in the long run.
But you can just do that in software already.
Personally I would find this incredibly helpful when I’m playing games with someone who’s might need to look at the buttons. Especially if they aren’t much of a gamer.
I’ve tried rearranging the buttons on my pro 2 but They’re all unique shapes and can’t be swapped 😔
It’s more for people who look at the controller buttons while playing. I’ve had people use my controllers and get really confused when B is actually A and so on.
8bitdo has the best specs hands down. But their controller shape is just… Awful.
What don’t you like about it? The SNES controller was one of my favorites but maybe it’s just because that was my favorite generation of gaming. Is it too small and cramped? Not ergonomic enough? I personally find the Xbox controller too large, but maybe I just didn’t play with one enough.
Too smoll
I thought the same about the 8bitdo pro 2, until i bought one and actually held it. Its my favorite controller i have ever had. It fits so perfect in my hands and feels high quality.
Complete different exper from myself.
I bought it and had to return it. The shape was too uncomfortable and the triggers had massive dead zones.
End up buying gamesir instead.
The quality is great but it is very small for my hands. And the hand grips have no angle to them to match my arm curve. They go almost straight down.
How about a generic board so we can build diy consoles like in the old times?
Or this one:
Or these:
Perfect timing as I needed an additional controller to play my gf 😁 preordered the non game cube looking Nintendo themed one