We go hands-on with the new NYXI Hyperion to see just how well it improves handheld gaming on the Nintendo Switch OLED.
If you’ve ever spent more than an hour with the Nintendo Switch OLED in your hands, you’d surely be aware of the awkward pains and cramps that your poor mitts have had to endure. Wonderfully portable though the Switch is, it also means the unit’s Joy-Cons are uncomfortably slender.
And while many companies have tried to present alternatives, perhaps none have been more successful than the NYXI Hyperion.
The winning formula begins right where you might expect it to: with a larger formfactor. While sliding on the NYXI Hyperion on either side of the Switch’s screen might make it inherently less portable, if you play primarily in handheld mode, the chunkier grips give your hands a lot more to grab on to.
In fact, everything has been given a nice upsize, with a wider analogue stick, and bigger face buttons, making the whole unit a little less dainty. They don’t feel cheap either, so I was impressed with the decent amount of spring in the joysticks and tension in the face buttons that never felt spongey.
Jump to the back and you’ll find two additional makeshift back paddles. These pre-installed buttons might be a little difficult to comfortably hit if your hands are on the smaller side but anybody who has tried to run and jump in Tears of the Kingdom would be able to tell you, it’s worth the extra effort.
Also unconventional for a third-party controller solution is RGB lighting and, more importantly, rumble, but somehow the NYXI Hyperion is able to tick that box too. Each controller side can be manually adjusted to increments of 25%, 50% and so on, and although on the higher settings it can feel as though the unit is trying to overcompensate with its noisy motor, it’s a trade-off I was willing to make considering how many of the Hyperion’s competitors omit the functionality entirely.
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All in all, available to buy on NYXI’s website for $85.48, the NYXI Hyperion is a pretty darn good deal. It’s a full-featured alternative that comes in cheaper than Nintendo’s official offering. If you’re prepared for a little extra bulk and a slightly more plastic feel, than this is one of the best new additions you help improve your Switch experience.
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