Hardware Right Joycons now weaker wireless than left?

[pelago]

I have tested four pairs of Joycons with two Switches, and in all cases the right Joycons have considerably weaker wireless than the left.

Is anyone else seeing this?

Specifically, the test I did was to use the built-in controller button test in Settings, with the Switch volume turned up, then walked slowly backwards holding one controller at a time, repeatedly pressing a button, listening for the click from the Switch speaker, until it started not registering some button presses. I tried to do this semi-blind, picking up a controller to test from a pile without looking at it until I found its limit, to try not to bias myself. I made sure all Joycons and Switches were fully charged.

Consistently, the left Joycons would get over 10 metres before starting to drop registering button presses, while the right Joycons started dropping out at about 6.5 metres. That makes the left Joycons about 50% stronger wireless than the rights!

6.5 metres sounds like it wouldn't be a problem, but that's in clear air. In practice, when sat within 3 metres of the Switch, I've found that a leg in-between the right Joycon and the Switch will cause it to drop button presses, but not with the left Joycon. This can and does happen in practice, when using split Joycons in a relaxed manner!

This doesn't happen with all other wireless controllers I've tried for other consoles. E.g. with the Classic Controller that plugs into the bottom of a Wiimote, when used on a Wii or Wii U, I often have the Wiimote itself (which contains the wireless hardware) jammed down the side of the chair or even behind my body and it's worked fully.

Obviously I know about the reported problems with weak wireless on the left Joycons on launch. Is it possible that they've now improved the left so much that it's now considerably stronger than the right?

All four pairs of Joycons were bought at different times within the last couple of months, so aren't from the same batch.

Anyone else seeing the same, if doing the test I describe above?

 

[tastymeatball]

Yes I can report the same problem. The day 1 right Joycons seems not to have this problem but right Joycons you buy now seem to have problems with a stable connection even if you are only 3 meters away from the switch. The problem seems to be the interfering signals. I tested it in a flat and a detachted house. In the detached house where are much less interfering signals I had no problems with the connection but in the flat the connection was unstable even when I was only 3 meters aways from the console.

 

[pelago]

Thanks. Not really enough data yet to confirm a definite trend, so I would be interested to hear what other people find. Thanks to people who have voted so far.

I wonder if the firmware on the Joycons matters too? You can do an "update controllers" from the Switch settings, although I'm not sure you can check before and after firmware revisions.

 

[Jayro]

I never use my joy-cons, I bought a pro controller. I'll never go back, either.

My joy-cons pretty-much only exist as a last resort to keep playing if my pro controller dies on me.

 

[Swooky]

I am experiencing the exact same thing as you. My right JoyCon also feels a lot less "nicer" then my left, the clicking is more muted and it clicks when using less pressure, was accidentally drifting a few times in mk8d without noticing that I clicked the R button. It almost feels like my right JoyCon is used whilst my left one is brand new.

I noticed this about 1-2 weeks after I got my Switch in October, kinda contemplating wether I should send it in for repair. :/

 

[sarkwalvein]

My testing methods are more practical and of relevance during gaming.

1. I use the joycons as intended, until one gets disconnected, a banner in the Switch screen appears showing the disconnected joycon greyed out and asking to reconnect and press L+R.

In this test the left joycon consistently performs like a piece of garbage.
​

2. I use the joycon calibration menu, where you can move the analog and look how it is read on screen.

In this test the left joycon consistently moves around jumping from place to place instead of following the smooth circular movement I perform IRL.
​

According to my tests, the left joycon can go fuck itself.

Sincerely yours,
Sark W. Alvein

 

[pelago]

2. I use the joycon calibration menu, where you can move the analog and look how it is read on screen.

In this test the left joycon consistently moves around jumping from place to place instead of following the smooth circular movement I perform IRL.​

​

Yes, this is also a good test, although again, in my case it's the right Joycon which shows that problem!

Maybe it's just something that happens with some Joycons and not others, but I did think it odd that four out of my four right Joycons show this problem and none of my left Joycons did.

I'm wondering whether it is worth sending one or two of my right Joycons to Nintendo and seeing what they say. I'm worried though that because they do work to an extent, they will say they are working OK and charge me for their time or something.

Or does anyone know any DIY fixes for the right Joycon wireless, like people were coming up with for the left Joycon just after launch?

 

[sarkwalvein]

​

Yes, this is also a good test, although again, in my case it's the right Joycon which shows that problem!

Maybe it's just something that happens with some Joycons and not others, but I did think it odd that four out of my four right Joycons show this problem and none of my left Joycons did.

I'm wondering whether it is worth sending one or two of my right Joycons to Nintendo and seeing what they say. I'm worried though that because they do work to an extent, they will say they are working OK and charge me for their time or something.

Or does anyone know any DIY fixes for the right Joycon wireless, like people were coming up with for the left Joycon just after launch?

I must say that my Joycons are day one joycons (or month one), probably all day one left joycons had this problem.

That said, the right joycon isn't flawless, it also has connectivity problems, but the left joycon is way worse for me.

I sent my original joycons to Nintendo Germany little after getting my Switch back in March, and they changed them for a new set (that performs equally badly).

They didn't charge anything for this, but I had to pay the shipping (from me to them, not the shipping back), and I had to wait a whole week for them to send them back.