Another game controller maker is embracing drift-resistant Hall effect joysticks

Posted on 2023-10-10 by pappp

Source: The Verge - All Posts

Article note: This is one of those staggeringly obvious changes to a basic component that is taking a surprisingly long time to really assert. Hall effect sensors are all over the place in consumer electronics, and hall rotation sensors in particular have kind of eaten the motor feedback market, they're dirt cheap because they're small and simple and made in huge volume, they're easier to interface... and almost everyone is still using resistive joysticks that wear and die.
Black and white controllers standing back to back with rainbow colors surrounding them.
The T4 Cyclone comes in white and the T4 Cyclone Pro in black. | Image: GameSir

GameSir is the latest company to launch wireless controllers featuring magnetic, stick-drift-resistant “Hall effect” joysticks: the new T4 Cyclone and Cyclone Pro gamepads. Currently, standard controllers from companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft still incorporate potentiometer joysticks that are prone to annoying stick drift over time as they wear down. Third-party accessory makers have started a trend to include Hall effect technology in their controllers, hoping to offer better longevity.

The first of the T4 Cyclone pair has a Nintendo-style face button layout, where the A button is to the east of the cluster. The Cyclone’s joysticks aren’t the only part of it that includes Hall effect tech — GameSir is also using it in the...

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