AKNES Gulikit Switch Joycon Replacement - No Drifting, Higher Sensitivity Hall Effect Joystick - Repair Tool Kit, Left/Right Thumbstick Cap (2 Pair)

Okay so, these things are new enough (as in literally came onto market less than 24 hours as of posting this) so, let's start with the basics in a super simplified TLDR version:Yes, hall effect joysticks are indeed confirmed as being far superior to the kind that we're used to.Normal joysticks-- whether they're in a Joy Con or in a "Pro-Style" (PS/Xbox/etc) controller will all drift. It comes from a design flaw in the way that they work. They have things inside of them that rubs against graphite that slowly wears away creating dust that eventually confuses the sensors. They are rated to last only so long and, back when controllers were cheap and almost disposable, that was fine with everyone.Needless to say that with controllers getting *very* expensive these days however... Yeah, folks was getting a little annoyed at their $70-$150 purchase wearing out in a couple of years (or less!)-- and yes, Nintendo Joy Con are both poster child and extreme example of this!Gulikit, however, have developed a new technology that uses magnets that don't even touch. So, *theoretically*, if nothing's touching, then nothing's wearing out! First they came out with sticks for the "Pro style" controllers which are bigger and now, as of last night, the "Joy Con style" sticks are officially on the market and these, are them.That's 100% confirmed btw as Gulikit came out with them on their own website sometime today. Others have already done a few teardowns as well to confirm and, I fully expect that all the various Tech Channels to come out with tear downs of their own just as soon as they can get them delivered.Again, this is about 24 hours of them hitting the market (early 2023) so... Bear that in mind concerning any and all reviews (including my own). I have *no* doubts that improvements will be made on any pet peeves in further production runs.Now. The sticks.Instructions aren't kidding, *calibrate* them when you first put them in!!!!!The right looked like the system thought it was a little off center before I did that but, they are not lying, it calibrated just fine and works perfectly normal after the calibration. I'm thinking it has to do with the tech. Maybe something to do with the magnets? I dunno but, whatever it is, it works fine once you do that calibration so, I'm not concerned.Feel really is comparable to OEM. Gulikit really has done it again. Those guys do indeed seem to be on an absolute tear working their way through the entire controller market. lol.That being said, will these do as advertised? Whelp. There's no doubt that they definitely *won't* be drifting due to dust created from contact wear. If there's no contact, then there's no wear from it and thus, no dust created to cause problems. So, yes, that part can indeed be said without a doubt without ever even having to touch them.That being said, this is a *very* new technology so, no one can honestly say that there isn't some *other* kind of weakness in the design-- and, to be 100% fair, the only way to know for absolute, 100% certain how any new tech is going to *really* behave is by a bunch of folks buying and using it and then comparing notes.So, at the moment, all I can say is what those of us that are following this technology can say: It's *definitely* an improvement over the original as it addresses a glaring design flaw that the entire *industry* has been suffering from for *decades*. Is it going to be as good as we hope? That we can't determine yet but it is still miles better than what we been working with before.Obviously, if there is anything bizarre, weird, unforeseen or whatever, I'll update this review but, for right now, my suggestion really is to just get them. Heck, given my experiences? If these things even last a *year* they're a *lot* better than the OEM!Also, R3 and L3 are absolute *killers* for causing drift so, I've already put a bunch of games that use them *a lot* in my list here and will be working my way through them over the next few months at which point, I will either come back to buy more or be back with a sad edit.But, if I haven't gotten back to this review by the time you read this, assume that they are still working normally.Thanks. :DUPDATE:2 months in and yep. Still working just fine. I have done at least 10-20 hours of every game I can think of that uses R3 and L3 heavily and... Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. No drift.Honestly, the only thing I can think of so far is that I think that any minute differences that I thought I felt when I first put them in was just from either my own imagination because I *knew* that I had put them in or, it was because they were just new sticks because I honestly cannot tell the difference between them and any of the old stick joycons that are still miraculously working anymore.)As for that tiny gap? So far it hasn't posed any problems for me.At the risk of making this review really way too long, I'll try to update again at the 6 month mark (or earlier if something actually does go wrong) because that's been my normal usage length on normal Joy Cons before issues develop but, until then, yep. They're still working.:DJuly (leetle past the 6 month mark)Alas, I had to give away my joycon because they went with the old Switch in May when the husband upgraded me to the pretty Zelda OLED so cannot report on this further.Since I *know* that those sticks are gonna start drifting sometime this fall/winter given how all the others did with the way I use them, I have every plan to get a new set of the gullikits and will do another review of those-- especially since those will no doubt be a later production run from these first ones.Here's to hoping that they continue to improve them. :D

I bought a 2-pack for my switch and my wife's. I installed mine once they arrived and have been using them since. There is a gap that you can see after you install the sticks but my dumb brain ignored the stickers that cover it. They are now installed and it looks much better. The sticks are a bit stiffer than the OEM ones but you get used to it. I did have to calibrate them on both mine and my wife's.I installed my wife's sticks a few weeks after I tested mine. She was happy with them but within a week, the left stick had failed. It kept drifting hard to the left. A calibration wouldn't fix it. If I applied pressure, it would fix itself for a brief moment. I ended up putting back the original stick and contacted Gulikit. They were quick to reply and sent a whole new pair even though I only needed one stick replaced. That was very nice. The new stick is working correctly but time will tell if it will cause issues.Based on other reviews, it looks like they may have a quality control issue or a bad batch. Some people have no had any issues, myself included, and some have experienced what happened to my wife's Joy-Con. If you have experience with this or you have a friend that is willing to help with replacing the sticks, I think it is worth spending $24 over getting a new pair of joycons or constantly replacing the sticks with another set that will drift eventually.Also don't be like me and many other reviewers, there are stickers under the sticks that you can use to cover the gap after installation. Just remove the stick cap and install it.

This kit eliminated stick drift on my Joy-Cons. Install wasn't too difficult, but beginners should definitely check YouTube for guidance.

The actual joysticks are great. Install was easy enough although I did have to watch a tutorial online as there are no instructions that come with it. Any write up out there will do, it’s a very simple swap.I got the set with the tools - the 2 screw drivers work great and feel good too. The one set of tweezers was very sub par. Difficult to grab anything with and they have so much flex that you can’t really get a good hold with them either. I used them and it only took me 30ish minutes to swap, but not the best qualityOverall would definitely recommend this kit and would buy it again if I had faulty ones in the future.

The Sticks are great! Very good quality and feel great to use Don’t forget to recalibrate when after they are installed.

This worked great for my Nintendo Switch joy-cons. Make sure to watch a video or read a couple of tutorials before attempting. The ribbon cables can be tricky to reconnect so you don’t want to disconnect them if it can be avoided.

These are great! Repair joycon drift in minutes with durable joysticks and the fun of repairing them yourselves! I really enjoy repairing joycons and shell swapping so these were very easy to install and calibrate. Don’t forget to calibrate your joycons after you install these bad boys.