General Discussion

We've had our Switch for about a year and play almost exclusively with a pro controller and haven't noticed any drifting :D
Also the pro controller is amazing you should just get one anyway. It's so comfortable and the battery lasts for ages :D

From what we've researched cleaning and/or replacing the joysticks is easy and fixes the drifting for a while.

Mine hasn't drifted yet, but my brother's started drifting only a couple months after he got it in April of last year. He ended up having to buy replacement joycons because it affected the types of games he plays too much.

I bought my V1 Switch during the consoles launch week and it's just now starting to have joy-con drift. Unfortunately, the screen has also decided to start flickering when playing in handheld mode. So, I don't want to spend money on new joy-cons if I'm just going to buy a new switch in the near future. >_<

As far as I can tell we don't yet have enough data on the Lite/V2 switch drifting issues to know if it affects them more or less (since not quite enough time has passed), though the assumption is it definitely still affects them.

Personally, my left joycon started drifting maybe 9 months after I bought my switch (bought it new in 2018). I tried all the tips and tricks but nothing worked long term to fix it so I just dealt with it until my right joycon also started drifting. It's now completely intolerable so I caved and bought a new pair.

Honestly, I'm super disappointed in Nintendo about this. I mean I still have OG gamecube controllers that function perfectly, it seems like they really dropped the ball here and they refused to admit it and take steps to fix it until someone actually took them to court about it. And at least with the original switch you can switch out joycons, I don't even want to think about how frustrating it is if you have a lite.

I second the suggestion to get a pro controller, they are much better made and a great feeling controller (besides the D pad). Unfortunately they're not nearly as useful if you play primarily in handheld mode.

[color=cadetblue]Thank you to everyone who has replied and given your experiences! It means a great deal to me and I appreciate the fact you're taking time to help me out : ) [quote name="Ern" date="2020-05-30 04:42:57" ] Honestly, I'm super disappointed in Nintendo about this. I mean I still have OG gamecube controllers that function perfectly, it seems like they really dropped the ball here and they refused to admit it and take steps to fix it until someone actually took them to court about it. And at least with the original switch you can switch out joycons, I don't even want to think about how frustrating it is if you have a lite. [/quote] [color=cadetblue] That's exactly how I feel too; All my other Nintendo products took a beating from me when I was younger and barely have a problem, but this just sounds like their quality is going downhill. Disappointing for a device that's worth 300 USD. And the lawsuit only adds insult to injury, it seems like they were [i]never[/i] going to address or attempt to fix it. Only when their money/company image is on the line do they seem to care : / Sad. Thank you for the rest of your input! I'll look into a pro controller as an option for sure.

I have the V1 Switch since January. I played Pokémon Sword, Mystery Dungeon DX and even Super Smash Bros only with the Joy Cons. Up to this date no drifting occurred.

I also bought myself the Pro Controller three weeks ago, which seems to have the same sticks? They are a bit more rubber-like, while the Joy Con's are plastic, but other than that they seem similar. The Pro Controller also works fine, no drifting yet.

I bought my switch about 2 years ago and my left joycon (blue) started drifting after I stored it in the original box for a couple weeks over the holidays. I think the joystick got tilted in the box when moving it and some dust or something must have gotten underneath the little cover at the bottom of the stick. Now it drifts up and slightly to the left. It is very annoying when navigating menus or in animal crossing when I am hitting rocks. Otherwise it's not too bad? Sometimes recalibrating it helps, and having the joycons attached to the switch seems to work better than having them wireless.

I'm just going to deal with it until I save up to buy an orange/purple joycon set because I've been wanting those anyway.

You shouldn't let the possibility of drift stop you from getting a switch if you want to play the games for it.

id recommend getting the switch and not the lite!

when i got mine with the original joycons (blue left, red right) they started drifting about 3 or 4 months after purchasing which was extremely annoying. smash was unplayable, breath of the wild was annoying, and stardew valley and minecraft were also very apparent. i went to the store i bought it from and got some replacements under warranty and have been fine since then, about 10 months. i got the red left and right blue joycons if you wanted to look for those specifically.

my family bought a home console for the kids with a set of original grey joycons and a pair of orange and purple, and they have yet to drift. (which is shocking to me, a bunch of kids under the age of 10 and a few above are apparently less harsh then me?? hmm...)

maybe it was just a problem with my original joycons? they might have just been dusty but i swabbed them with cotton and rubbing alcohol several times with no luck.

long story short... i recommend a switch with grey joycons, or see if you can get a orange and purple pair as in my experience they hold up best!! hope this helps and that you can get a hold of one, ive gotten a lot of use out of mine so far!!

So for me, all of my left joycons have gotten drift (all of my joycons are grey). Not a single one hasn't. Gamestop had an amazing warranty when I picked up an extra and I could get a new one for $5. Thing is that's still $5 every couple of months. I also picked up a pro controller and I've almost exclusively used that when I'm playing on the TV. I've heard that there are special joysticks you can order on amazon that fix the problem, and several speedrunners/youtubers have recommended them. Honestly joycon drift is the reason I bought my mom a lite instead of a full switch. I wouldn't say you shouldn't buy a switch because of it, but definitely just be aware it is a tiresome issue. I haven't bought any new cons in a while so I'm wanting to pick up one of the new color sets to see if that helps fix the issue! All in all, get a pro controller & warranties. That's my best advice.

A little edit here. I played today with my switch using the Pro Controller. The Pro Controller has a little drift now. Sometimes when I move the left stick down and right, it'll keep going that direction until I move the stick slightly in a different one.
The controller isn't even one month old. And I didn't even play hectic games or was rough with it. While the drift is not that bad and can be somewhat corrected, it still makes me upset.