Hori’s new Switch 2 controller lets you stop accidental pauses and screenshots
The $54 Horipad Turbo drops some premium perks but adds one feature even Nintendo’s controller forgot.
Nintendo’s Switch 2 Pro Controller is by most accounts the gold standard. It has a sturdy build, a comfortable grip, solid battery life, wireless wake, and Amiibo support. But at $90, it also feels like Nintendo knows you don’t have much of a choice. If you want the full experience, you’ll have to pay the tax.
Now, Hori, a longtime maker of third-party accessories, thinks it has a better deal. Its new Wireless Horipad Turbo launches at around $54, which undercuts Nintendo’s controller by about $35. It skips some of the premium extras but adds a feature that feels long overdue—a button lock.
This means that accidentally pausing mid-match or flooding your gallery with random screenshots could soon be a thing of the past. A small switch on the controller lets you disable the Home and Screenshot buttons completely. Flip it again and you can also lock the Plus and Minus buttons. It’s handy for anyone who has ever paused a heated Smash Bros. session in anger or fumbled into the menu mid-speedrun.
And of course, that discount comes with some trade-offs. The Horipad Turbo won’t wake your Switch 2 remotely, doesn’t support Amiibo scanning, and skips out on small conveniences like a headphone jack. If you need every feature Nintendo offers, you’re still locked into the Pro Controller’s higher price.
But Hori says it isn’t just cutting corners. The joysticks use tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors that help resist stick drift, a problem that has haunted Nintendo hardware for years. There are also remappable back buttons, a turbo-fire mode, and a dedicated game chat button that sits where the Pro Controller’s home button usually is. It’s a smart mix of practical tweaks and thoughtful design choices that show why Hori still matters.
There’s a dose of nostalgia basked in, too. Instead of Nintendo’s minimalist matte look, Hori leans into translucent shells in colors like mist black, frost white, aquasian, shine yellow, and ruby magenta. It feels like something from the late 90s, more Game Boy Color than Switch 2, and that alone might be enough to win over fans who miss that playful aesthetic.
Oluwaseun Bamisile
The Wireless Horipad Turbo is available for preorder in Japan at 7,980 yen (~$54), through Hori’s official site and Amazon Japan. It will ship before the end of the year. A Western release hasn’t been confirmed yet, but the controller will work with all versions of the Switch 2 if it does arrive globally.
Overall, if you want every single feature, Nintendo’s Pro Controller still reigns.
But if you’re tired of accidental screenshots, random pauses, or just want a pad that feels like it came from a more colorful past, Hori’s Horipad Turbo might finally be the controller that understands you.
