A few years ago, with the release of Tears of the Kingdom on Nintendo Switch, I made the decision to finally stop using Joy-Cons. Because if I wasn't in handheld mode, Nintendo's half-palm-sized controllers just weren't performing well enough to get stuff done.
Rather than buying an official Pro controller, or some other licensed gamepad, I opted for something a little different. 8BitDo's USB Wireless Adapter 2 lets Switch owners use just about any Bluetooth controller they like —including ones built for Xbox or PlayStation consoles.
I'm happy to confirm that the adapter also works with the Nintendo Switch 2 — but you will need to do a little bit of tinkering to get it working. Thankfully, it takes less than 5 minutes to sort out.
How 8BitDo's Wireless Adapter works
I've made no secret that I struggle with Joy-Cons. They hurt my hands over extended periods of time, and even the Switch 2's larger controllers haven't really fixed that problem. In fact, they seem to have made the whole thing worse.
The 8BitDo adapter meant that I was able to avoid this problem on the first Switch, at least when it was in TV mode. All you needed to do was plug it into the dock, pair it with a new console, and make sure one particular toggle was switched on in the settings.
In my case, I had an Xbox controller paired to the adapter and was able to use it to play all my favorite Switch games. All with the comfort of a controller that was designed for actual human hands, and didn't feel like it was built with complete disregard for ergonomics.
The only downside was that Nintendo and Microsoft reversed their lettered buttons. So hitting A on the Xbox button is actually telling the Switch you hit B — which can cause issues. I've been primarily playing with Xbox controllers for the better part of 24 years, and believe me that muscle memory is rather hard to override.
Oh, and there's no home or capture buttons, because those are unique to Switch controllers. Unless you're using something like the Xbox Elite Controller or Dualsense Edge, there just aren't enough buttons to account for them.
Still, I'll take the occasional mis-pressed button over cramping hands any day. So imagine my disappointment when I plugged the adapter into my Switch 2, and found that it didn't work.
I wasn't keen on having to buy a new Switch 2-friendly adapter, or a different controller. But thankfully, the solution was much easier on my wallet.
How to get your old 8BitDo USB Wireless Adapter running on Switch 2
While there are plenty of Switch 1 accessories that work with Switch 2, it should be no surprise that not everything does. Fortunately, 8BitDo seems to have anticipated this, and released a new firmware update for the USB Wireless Adapter that upgraded the dongle with Switch 2 support.
All it requires is 8BitDo's own upgrade tool (available on Windows and macOS). Download the tool, plug in the adapter and the software should automatically recognize it and check for updates.
In my case the Windows tool picked up that my adapter was on version 1.04, and that v1.09 was available. Installing that update took about a minute, at which point the adapter was ready to go.
The only thing you need to do on your Switch is head into the Controllers menu in Settings and activate Pro Controller Wired Communication. This means the Switch 2 recognizes the 8BitDo adapter as a wired controller, regardless of the fact it's connecting to a wireless controller.
Plug the adapter into one of the Switch 2 dock's USB ports, and if your system is like mine it should recognize the new controller right away. Though checking the Change Grip/Order menu is worth doing to make sure it's set as the primary controller.
What's it compatible with?
8BitDo has a huge list of controllers that are compatible with the 8BitDo USB Wireless Adapter 2. That includes all of 8BitDo's Bluetooth controllers, PlayStations 3 through 5, the Switch Pro Controllers, Wiimotes, the Wii U Pro, Xbox Series X|S and Bluetooth Xbox One controllers.
The latter distinction is particularly important, because Xbox didn't add Bluetooth to any controller until the launch of the Xbox One S. So your launch-era Xbox One controller won't work here.
The adapter also isn't exclusive to Switch consoles, and you can plug it into other devices as well, including Windows, Mac, the Steam Deck and Raspberry Pi devices. That way you can use whatever controller you like, not just the ones that are officially supported by the platform you're gaming on.
So long Joy-Cons! We'll only be back if we need mouse controls or want to play in handheld mode.
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