CRKD Nitro Deck - Professional Handheld Deck with Zero Stick Drift for Nintendo Switch and Switch OLED (Black)

I honestly love this nitro deck. My husband got it for me for an early birthday present in February because my joy cons were almost entirely useless and had to be taped onto my switch just to even kinda work. The feel of this deck is smooth, super easy to navigate plus no more joy cons coming disconnected. The vibration is a little loud if your switch isn’t the oled I think because of the extra space. I play Fortnite with it primarily an I have not experienced any stick drift or problems with any of the buttons functionality. The back 4 buttons took some getting used to and there is a bit of a weight to the nitro deck but not unbearable even with my psoriatic arthritis. No problems so far with the charging port either. It also comes in a super pretty pink color if that’s your kinda thing. It’s great for the price so far even still now that it’s April. I’d definitely say it’s worth it if you’re thinking about buying it.

It feels magnificent in my hands and the buttons are nice

I love this thing. I had the NexiGo Gripcon to try side by side and the Nitro Deck feels way more solid in comparison. The plastic, the triggers, the joysticks, the D-pad, everything feels higher quality. It's unfortunate that none of these have joystick/button placement like an official pro controller, but this feels fine for me since I'm not playing many FPS games. You could look at the Hori Split Pad Pro or NexiGo Joypad if you can find it, although those have their own drawbacks. The Nitro Deck is great for me, has nostalgic color schemes, gyro and rumble, and the case I got with is it good quality, too.

I have replaced the joy cons on my 2-year-old OLED Switch twice because of issues with them becoming too loose and popping off. I realize this is in part because I have smaller hands and hold the game in a position where I put the heels of my hands below the joy cons to hold it in place. Doing this, I also push up on the joy cons, apparently applying enough pressure to eventually break the latch holding them in place. I play entirely in hand-held mode, so it was worth finding an alternative to constantly buying new joy cons. In addition, I had to send in a prior Switch for repairs because the power cord port became loose and stopped charging, in part again because of how I hold the Switch from below, but also just the fact that the cords are plugged in flush with the bottom, they are prone to being wiggled around as the machine is set down or picked up. For these two issues, this deck has solved the problem. The power input is flat and up higher on the back of the device, and can be used to charge while being used in handheld mode. The console slides in like in a docking device, so any pushing is now distributed across the entire bottom and nothing is pushing on the actual console itself. The action of the buttons and sticks is different from the original switch - more like our Xbox controllers. I love the zero-drift sticks. I had no idea that would make a difference, but the sensitivity of movement is amazing and I can finally be more precise in keeping my character still. Here is the thing - I am NOT a gamer. I am one of those silly people who spends hours playing Animal Crossing and that is 90% of my gaming time. So I cannot speak to how well this would work in other games, I am just walking and running around, interacting with objects, fishing, and designing stuff. No high-pressure stakes here. It has the rumble function - that was the primary reason I picked this over other options. And it is a serious rumble. Not noisy, just a big and rough vibration. And it vibrates for everything. It cannot be modified. This has made playing a little more difficult, as it makes it harder to detect when a fish nibbles vs bites, so I have to rely less on feel and more on sight when doing that task. The only other issue I have had is the connection at setup and again when picking it up after a night without play. It came with a nice little reminder to change a setting on the game system to allow the controller to connect, but it missed one important step. I spent a good half hour getting it to work on the main screen, but as soon as I went into my game it was dead. Not sure exactly why, but after running through the entire menu I realized I needed to disconnect the original joy cons and then it was able to function. Second, on day two it would not connect at all, even after detaching and resetting the console (which is quite easy to do). With some experimenting, I figured out you cannot have the power cable connected at the time of waking/connecting the deck to the console. If I want to play with the power cable attached, that works just fine. I just have to wait until the device is already on and connected. I am guessing this thing makes it impossible to connect to a dead/no battery console and I would need to power the console itself if that happened.One last note - if is huge and heavy! Probably doubles the weight of the console. It has a nice little kickstand on the back, but this is not meant to be a stand for playing not handheld, since they are not removable joycons.

This was supposed to be a really nice upgrade for the switch, but it feels more like overhyped and cheaply made. The nobs on the joysticks fall off easily. The vibration function is weak and makes a noise that sounds like it's installed poorly. Taking the switch out of the case after putting it in is a struggle and can easily put a lot of force on the screen to get it out. The button in the back that is supposed to 'release' the switch doesn't do anything. The two USB c ports in the back are labeled input and output, but are slower to charge than the regular dock and official power supply; even using the same power supply between them.The kickstand is nicer than the standard switch kickstand. It does provide a large bumper of protection. The controller response is identical to the standard switch controllers even when this was the biggest selling point for the CRKD Nitro, having no stick drift (which I didn't have anyways) and gyro compatability. Even though the switch controllers already do this. This isn't really the upgrade it's advertised as.We've had it a week and are already unimpressed with this device. If you want better handheld performance for your switch you're better off using a licensed pro controller and the dock on a large screen. Not this.

I have zero issues with this Nitro Deck, it’s literally perfect for me.People are saying it’s hard to get the switch out, cmon man. People are also saying it drains the battery a little when not in use, a small amount.I do not recommend the Deck+ because of the joystick now being above the ABXY buttons. It felt like I had never played a video game before. Extremely awkward.But seriously, this thing rocks, $42.99 and worth every penny.

Extremely happy with the CRKD Nitro Deck. The design is slightly bulky compared to the stock Switch, but that makes it more comfortable to hold during long gaming sessions, the hall effect joysticks feel great, and the buttons are responsive and feel great to use. It turns the Switch into something that ergonomically feels more like a Steam Deck.I would suggest this for anyone who uses their Switch off the dock regularly.I haven't traveled with it so I can't speak to how it may negatively affect it's portability.