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8BitDo Professional 3: One-minute evaluate
Within the half-decade or so I’ve been testing gaming {hardware}, I’ve beloved virtually each 8BitDo product I’ve reviewed. The 8BitDo Professional 3 is not any exception. In actual fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best budget-friendly controller available on the market at present. Sure, even beating out different fascinating selections just like the GameSir Nova Lite.
Opposite to its look, the 8BitDo Professional 3 isn’t simply the Professional 2 in a very slim-fitting trenchcoat. It seems to be similar to its predecessor, certain, however 8BitDo has refined the newer gamepad to what looks like its logical conclusion. TMR (Tunnel Magnetoresistance; basically an enchancment over Corridor impact) thumbsticks, swappable magnetic face buttons, micro change set off locks, charging dock, and two extra remappable buttons for a complete of 4 are all additions right here.
Then there’s the d-pad, which, regardless of being an easier cardinal design, is likely one of the nicest-feeling I’ve ever had the possibility to mess around with. It’s rugged and exact, neatly avoiding that spongy, mushy really feel that you simply discover on numerous retro-inspired controllers.
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(Picture credit score: Future)
You’re getting a symmetrical stick structure right here, which isn’t too widespread within the third-party controller house, particularly past the realm of PlayStation and its present DualSense controller. And when you’re not getting compatibility with Sony’s machine (or Xbox consoles for that matter), the 8BitDo Professional 3 is broadly appropriate with PC, Change, Change 2, in addition to iOS and Android gadgets. For connectivity, your choices are 2.4GHz (with dongle included), Bluetooth, and good ol’ wired by way of USB-C.
- 8BitDo Professional 3 Controller (Change Purple) at Amazon for $59.99
Battery life can fluctuate, although I discovered the 8BitDo Professional 3 outlasts the pricier 8BitDo Final 2 on this entrance. The model states you’ll get round 20 hours per cost, however this all depends upon your private utilization. Hopping between Change 2 and PC (Bluetooth and a couple of.4GHz connectivity, respectively), I managed round 15 hours earlier than needing to prime up. On common, that also beats out the Final 2’s 10-15 hours.
The one gripes I’ve with the Professional 3 are minimal; nice-to-haves, if something. I’m not a fan of the Begin/Choose buttons being crammed proper within the middle, they usually’re a bit mushy to the contact. And I feel the shortage of a 3.5mm port for wired headphones is a disgrace, although the Final controllers didn’t have considered one of these, both.
These nitpicks apart, in case you’re available in the market for a brand new PC and/or Change-facing controller and also you don’t need to break the financial institution, purchase the 8BitDo Professional 3. For now, it’s the final phrase in budget-friendly controllers and, astonishingly, has not one of the regular concessions made to get it all the way down to a value this low.
(Picture credit score: Future)
8BitDo Professional 3: Value and availability
- Prices $59.99 / £40 (round AU$84)
- In the stores now at 8BitDo’s Amazon retailer web page
- No set value within the UK, however hovers round £40-£50 relying on colorway
The 8BitDo Professional 3 launched in 2025 and is available for purchase proper now from 8BitDo’s Amazon retailer web page. Within the US, you will get it for $59.99, which places it in roughly the identical value vary because the GameSir Tarantula Professional — a equally sensible Change-facing symmetrical controller. That’s additionally cheaper than the Nintendo Change 2 Professional Controller; best in case you’re looking for a pad for the hand held hybrid that does not empty your checking account.
Issues get a bit bizarre within the UK, price-wise. At Amazon, I’ve seen the 8BitDo Professional 3 hover wherever between £40-£50 on the model’s official retailer web page, and there doesn’t seem like a set-in-stone retail value for it. It’s price noting that these aren’t second-hand listings, both. Finest to not look a present horse within the mouth, although; in case you’re within the UK, you’re getting the 8BitDo Professional 3 at an aggressive value given its high quality and have set.
8BitDo Professional 3: Specs
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Value
$59.99 / £40 (round AU$84)
Weight
8.5oz / 242g
Dimensions
6.1 x 3.9 x 2.6in / 154 x 101 x 65mm
Compatibility
Change, Change 2, PC, iOS, Android
Connection kind
Wi-fi (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)
Battery life
15-20 hours
8BitDo Professional 3: Design and options
- Construct seems to be like a SNES controller with fashionable prospers
- A deal with tactility and immediacy
- Neat extras like set off locks and swappable face buttons
Put the 8BitDo Professional 3 and its predecessor side-by-side, and also you may not discover any speedy variations. They broadly share the identical silhouette, trying like a SNES pad with grips bolted on. And people flat, barely curved shoulder buttons virtually seem like they have been taken wholesale from that iconic 16-bit period controller.
It’s not simply seems to be that 8BitDo has borrowed from Nintendo’s playbook, although. Almost each module on the controller — from sticks and d-pad to face buttons and triggers — has been carried out with tactility in thoughts. I do know, that’s not unusual for the trendy controller, but it surely’s nonetheless pretty uncommon to see within the Professional 3’s value bracket.
One instance is the merely elegant d-pad right here. It’s not a lot of a looker, and its bumpy texturing gives the look of one thing clunky and toy-like. In actuality, it’s exceptionally comfy and gives a stage of precision that even Nintendo’s dear Change 2 Professional Controller d-pad can’t match.
(Picture credit score: Future)
One other extra attention-grabbing characteristic the 8BitDo Professional 3 has is its magnetic, swappable face buttons. These are extra for present than something, however they’re a neat additional that lends the controller some persona. An apparent utilization right here is you can swap across the ‘ABXY’ structure based mostly on Change/XInput preferences.
There’s additionally a multicolored set of face buttons included in a latch beneath the charging dock (the place you’ll additionally discover the two.4GHz dongle) and a small plunger-like merchandise that you simply stick onto the buttons to take away them with ease. Don’t fear, although; the buttons themselves don’t really feel unfastened and received’t come off throughout play.
Throughout, it’s a great-feeling package deal, although the one space the place design lets me down (and hasn’t been improved on because the Professional 2) is the reasonably mushy Begin and Choose buttons. These are harking back to the squishier buttons discovered on the SNES pad, so it’s doubtless that is one other continued design inspiration. They only don’t really feel notably nice to press and lack that immediacy proven off by the whole lot else on the Professional 3.
8BitDo Professional 3: Efficiency
- Heaps of customizability
- 15-20 hours of battery life
- Set off locks and claw grip bumper buttons really feel nice
I check and evaluate controllers fairly often, and sometimes, switching from one to a different can take a little bit of getting used to, particularly when there are variations in dimension and button/stick layouts. In distinction, the 8BitDo Professional 3 felt instantly comfy to make use of due to a rounded design that sits within the arms excellent.
Apart from the Begin and Choose buttons, which I really feel are only a bit too crammed collectively within the middle, the whole lot else rests beneath your thumbs and index fingers excellent. These lengthy, rounded bumper buttons act as a pleasant cushion to your fingers, and the brand new claw-grip remappable bumpers subsequent to them sit beneath your fingertips. I really like these, particularly, as they’re splendidly clicky and responsive. I’ve even taken to mapping them to my set off actions in Remaining Fantasy 14 On-line, for terribly fast entry to abilities on my hotbars.
Briefly, I’ll go over how one can really make use of those additional remappable buttons your self, as a result of it’s not instantly apparent. You may set them within the wonderful Final Software program V2 app for PC (which additionally enables you to tinker with vibration energy, button macros, and stick sensitivity). However a faster strategy to do it’s to carry considered one of these buttons in tandem along with your enter of selection and the ‘Star’ button discovered on the bottom-left of the controller. It may be fiddly, particularly in case you’re binding a number of inputs, but it surely’s a lot sooner and simpler this fashion in case you don’t have speedy entry to a PC.
The same collection of inputs applies to the Professional 3’s ‘Turbo’ performance, which allows the repeated urgent of an enter just by holding a button down — helpful for arcade video games and shoot-em-ups that don’t have already got a turbo perform inbuilt. To allow Turbo on the Professional 3, simply maintain down the button you’d wish to assign Turbo to, along with the Star and Residence buttons. To disable it, repeat that exact same enter.
Now, I’ve yapped on about responsiveness quite a bit, but it surely actually is the secret right here. There’s great precision to each module discovered on the 8BitDo Professional 3. The distinctive d-pad is a spotlight, as I discussed on the prime. These TMR thumbsticks are extremely easy, too, and as somebody who prefers a shorter set off pull, the digital set off locks featured right here work splendidly.
That final level is essential, as I’ve examined many a finances pad just like the HyperX Clutch Gladiate, which had set off locks that rendered the triggers utterly unusable for many video games. That’s why I admire it all of the extra when an inexpensive controller really places the hassle in.
Battery life isn’t precisely class-leading, however I managed round 15-20 hours on a full cost, which is in keeping with what 8BitDo estimates on its web site. Out of the field, battery life is at roughly half, so I like to recommend topping up by way of USB-C or with the included charging dock earlier than your first use.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Ought to I purchase the 8BitDo Professional 3?
Purchase it if…
Don’t purchase it if…
Additionally contemplate…
If the 8BitDo Professional 3 isn’t fairly what you’re after, I’ve highlighted a pair extra merchandise from the model that I like to recommend.
Swipe to scroll horizontallyRow 0 – Cell 0
8BitDo Professional 3
8BitDo Final 2
8BitDo Professional 2
Value
$59.99 / £40 (round AU$84)
$59.99 / £49.99 (round AU$90)
$49.99 / £33.89 (round AU$74)
Weight
8.5oz / 242g
8.7oz / 246g
8.0oz / 228g
Dimensions
6.1 x 3.9 x 2.6in / 154 x 101 x 65mm
5.7 x 4.1 x 2.4in / 147 x 103 x 61mm
6.1 x 3.9 x 2.6in / 154 x 101 x 65mm
Compatibility
Change, Change 2, PC, iOS, Android
PC, Android (Change model bought individually)
Change, Change 2, PC, iOS, Android
Connection kind
Wi-fi (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)
Wi-fi (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)
Wi-fi (Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)
Battery life
15-20 hours
10-15 hours
15-20 hours
How I examined the 8BitDo Professional 3
- Examined for 3 weeks
- Primarily examined on PC and Change 2 with each wi-fi and wired connections
- Performed quite a lot of single and multiplayer video games
For this evaluate, I ended up testing the 8BitDo Professional 3 for round three weeks. I put it via its paces with video games of all types, from the high-difficulty Savage raids of Remaining Fantasy 14 On-line to the hilariously off-kilter vibes of Tomodachi Life: Dwelling the Dream.
The controller felt greater than well-equipped for any sort of sport thrown at it. That extends to combating video games like Avenue Fighter 6 and Tekken 8, and retro racers on PC by way of emulation, together with NASCAR: Dust to Daytona and Ridge Racer Kind 4.
Naturally, I additionally discovered the Professional 3 to be unbelievable for arcade video games due to its remappable buttons and Turbo performance. On this entrance, enjoying titles like DoDonPachi Resurrection on PC in addition to Steel Slug 3 and Rave Racer on Nintendo Change 2 felt excellent.
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First reviewed Could 2026
8BitDo Professional 3 Controller: Value Comparability
