Canadian peripherals company Dbrand has built its brand around an irreverent, sarcastic social media presence that’s landed it in hot water on several occasions. But despite multiple missteps and apologies in recent years, it’s still producing quality skins and accessories for consumer tech – and still raising eyebrows with its marketing.

The firm’s latest Switch 2 product is the Joy-Lock Controller Holder, which, in characteristically provocative fashion, the marketing claims is “80% cheaper than a Pro Controller, yet somehow even more comfortable.”

A bold statement, there, but bearing in mind that Nintendo’s standalone pad will set you back £64.95 / $89.99, anything approaching that level of comfort for a fraction of the price is worth consideration. For 90 bucks, you could get a game and Dbrand’s “more comfortable” accessory. But is there any truth to the spiel?

First things first. Although the Holder itself comes in at $19.95, you’ll want a pair of Joy-Lock Grips for them, too, which are also $19.95, although you get a $5 discount if you buy both. So, unless you already have some Killswitch sheaths, the real cost here is $34.90 for the precision plastic into which you’ll slide your Joy-Con. (There are some $10 stick grips available, too.)

Arriving in small foam beds inside handsomely printed black card slipcases, I was sent both the holder and grips for testing, but I wanted to first see how the holder held up on its own. As something small enough to throw in your bag with a slimline case, it could easily enhance the Switch 2 tabletop experience.

As you can see below, you can use the holder sans grips, but that really pushes Dbrand’s Nintendo-beating comfort claims into the realm of the bovine. I haven’t yet had massive issues using the larger Joy-Con 2 solo for extended periods, but joining them together without additional grippage, if anything, made them feel worse.

Slide them into those grips, however, and things start feeling more like a real pad, with a nice curved ridge to rest your middle fingers on. The grip material is coarser than the smooth holder or the Joy-Con themselves, but slippage during intense play isn’t a worry. Each grip has a trio of shiny stripe details that look pleasant, too.

The Joy-Con’s LEDs shine through into the holder, and colour detailing in the magnetic interiors matches the default red/blue. It’s a sturdy bit of plastic, comparable in build quality to Nintendo’s gear. The hinge is strong enough to withstand accidental opening and closing, with six positions to choose from by pulling the prongs apart, ranging from straight-down perpendicular to a 45-degree(ish) boomerang split.

I found just a notch or two out from perpendicular ideal; holding it ‘straight’ felt similar to using the official Grip that comes with the console (the one that makes your ‘controller’ look like a square puppy). Nothing massively wrong with that, but anyone with a Switch 2 already has one. We’re still not in better-than-Pro-Controller territory.

Pull those prongs apart with a gentle tug (steady), though, and…hmm. Yes, it feels more like a regular pad. Yes, it’s fairly comfy. But no, Nintendo or any firm producing a quality standalone pad won’t be losing sleep over this.

For testing, Pentiment didn’t seem the software to put the holder through its paces, but it held up fine during tense Pragmata hack-and-shoot sessions, likewise when crossing worlds with Sonic and company. The comfort claim aside, it functions as you’d expect and offers some welcome flexibility.

The issues here come more from the button arrangement on the Joy-Con than any inherent flaw with Dbrand’s accessory. Cracking the hinge open a couple of notches and comparing the Pro Controller (see above), you can see that the right stick is much closer to the edge of the Joy-Con, around a centimetre from where my thumb would rest naturally. Moving my thumb to a comfortable position on the stick pushes my palm from the edge, which compromises grip – and that’s the problem. However you hold it, you always feel that control is slightly compromised in some manner.

Obviously, your hand size, digit length, and therefore your mileage will vary, especially if you’re a young gamer or someone with smaller mitts. If this were just $20, it would be easier to recommend if you’re desperate for a pad-like feeling without breaking the bank; for $35, it’s not quite comfortable enough.

And with prices shooting up across the board, whether for consoles, add-ons, storage, or software, more players will be scrutinising whether they really need to invest in a Pro Controller when the Joy-Con they own get the job done. The Joy-Lock Holder isn’t bad at all for what it is, but it’s not enough of an improvement over Nintendo’s regular grip that comes with the console. Unless you’ve already got some Joy-Lock grips, this halfway-house solution won’t stop you dreaming of a proper pad.

Conclusion

If you’re determined to avoid the $90 premium for a Pro Controller, there is merit to Dbrand’s offering here. It’s not a bad product; the build quality is good, and even if the comfort levels aren’t as advertised, it works well enough.

The problem is that the grips required to achieve acceptable comfort bump the price up closer to standalone pad alternatives. Crucially, while Dbrand’s comfort claims were never to be taken seriously, I can’t imagine a solution like this ever approaching the ergonomics and comfort of a proper gamepad. You’ll always be hampered by the position of the Joy-Con’s buttons.

Ultimately, if you bought a Switch 2, it came with an official grip in the box that essentially performs this function. Dbrand gives you a mite more flexibility, but not 35 bucks’ worth. If it charged your Joy-Con, it might be a different story; as is, this is worth consideration if you already own the Joy-Lock grips. Otherwise, I’d recommend investing a little more in a standalone controller.

The sample used in this review was provided by Dbrand. The Joy-Lock Controller Holder and Grips are available from Dbrand’s website.