Update: Nintendo of America issued the following statement to Ars Technica that seems to confirm much of what was shown in the original CNET report:
There is no design issue with the Joy-Con controllers, and no widespread proactive repair or replacement efforts are underway. A manufacturing variation has resulted in wireless interference with a small number of the left Joy-Con. In the future, this will not be a problem as manufacturing variation has been addressed and corrected at the factory level.
We’ve determined that a simple fix can be made for any affected Joy-Con to improve connectivity.
There are other reasons why consumers may experience wireless interference. We ask consumers to contact our customer service team so we can help them determine if a repair is needed. If so, consumers can send their controller directly to Nintendo for the modification, at no cost, with an expected quick return in less than a week. The timing of the repair may vary by region. For help with hardware or software questions, visit http://support.nintendo.com.
Original story
After early Nintendo Switch reviews noted widespread issues with the left Joy-Con occasionally losing wireless connection to the console, hackers have found that opening the controller and adding a simple piece of wire seems to significantly increase the effective range. to increase. Now Nintendo is offering a similar solution to users who call on the support line, and the company may now be selling redesigned, fixed controllers in stores.
At CNET, writer Sean Hollister talks about his experience with Nintendo customer service, which he calls “just about the best electronics customer service I’ve ever experienced.” After getting a free shipping label for his controller after a weekend call, Hollister received his controller back in the mail just five days after shipping.
Opening the fixed controller showed that Nintendo didn’t have to do much to fix the connection problem. The only obvious difference is a small piece of black foam that sits on top of the corner of the controller board where the Bluetooth antenna track is located.
Hollister and his colleagues at TechRepublic hypothesize that this is a piece of metal-coated conductive foam designed to reduce interference from outside sources (including the large metal joystick housing that sits right next to the antenna on the left Joy-Con). Hollister says the controller stops working when the foam is removed, suggesting the small fix is all it really needed.
Hollister also went to the trouble of buying a new Joy-Con through Amazon, which has a circuit board with a slightly different label than the launch unit. While the Amazon controller didn’t have conductive foam covering the antenna track, it worked without connection issues in Hollister’s tests, suggesting Nintendo may have solved this problem in this new line of retail controllers.
A Nintendo representative was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment from Ars Technica at the time of going to press. In a statement to CNET, Nintendo said that “there are no widespread technical issues” with the Switch hardware, and it reaffirmed its commitment to resolve any issues through its support service. Nintendo also told BGR this week that “the total number of repair or replacement requests for Nintendo Switch, including for Joy-Con, is consistent with what we’ve seen for all the new hardware Nintendo has launched.”
Nintendo’s Online Switch Troubleshooting Guide currently recommends that users experiencing problems with their Joy-Con connection should disable other nearby wireless devices and ensure that the console is not near other sources of interference, such as “pressed against a large amount of wires and cords placed in or under a metal object, [or] near an aquarium.” The troubleshooting guide says nothing about sending the controller in for what appears to be an easy fix on Nintendo’s side, and the company has not yet offered any form of formal recall for the controllers.