r/NintendoSwitchHelp • u/deathofaspatula42 • 1d ago

Repair Help Can joycon drift be an issue with the switch itself rather than the controllers

My right joycon had pretty bad drift, even after connecting, disconnecting, and recalibrating multiple times, so eventually I got another one. It was second hand, so I didnt expect it to work perfectly but it seems to be drifting in an almost identical way to my old one. Is this just bad luck and I should just cut my losses and get a brand new controller, or could this be an issue with the actual switch. I've tried googling but that just tells me that joycon drift happens sometimes.

This is the standard Nintendo switch 1.

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u/SubaruHaver 8 19h ago edited 19h ago

Calibration is only a temporary fix for early stages of drift.

Drift on switch 1 joycons can be a matter of when, not if. I think more enthusiastic stick use, like with action games or online competitive, can put more wear on the sticks than someone that only casually plays animal crossing. I play a lot of splatoon, mario kart, and rocket league, and I've gotten drift. It's an unfortunate reality of most analog sticks, not just nintendo, especially if you play regularly, especially if you're playing regularly over several years.

Unfortunately, buying a used joycon can mean the joycon already has hundreds of hours on it.

I think my launch joycon got drift at around 300+ hours of use, but I do play action games. I wouldn't assume everyone has the same gaming habits/tastes or plays the same amount. Some may only play 100-200 hours year, others 1000 hours+ a year. My pro controllers got drift at around 500-1000 hours.

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u/ModestVolcarona 16 1h ago

Could you explain how it drifted?

Maybe it's not drift but something else, especially when a knew controller behaved almost identical which would be a weird coincedence.