There already were rumours before the Nintendo Switch launched, that the left Joy-Con was having connection issues. Pre-launch rumours like that can originate for many reasons, but the most likely scenario is that the hardware wasn’t the final version. Sadly, that wasn’t the case this time and users all around the world are reporting that they are having issues with connection-loss of the left Joy-Con.
With such a widespread issue, it’s clear that people will start to investigate it. One person doing so is the YouTuber Spawn Wave who took the Joy-Con apart to find out why it happened and if it could be fixed. The sad news in this is that it is due to a bad design and the partially good news that it is possible to fix yourself, albeit not that easy.
By tearing the controller apart, Spawn Wave found that the right Joy-Con has a detachable antenna while the left controller only has an antenna that is printed directly on the circuit board. The simple fix here is to extend the antenna with a piece of soldered wire – something Nintendo should have done right away. However, you shouldn’t try this unless you have proper experience with small electronics and soldering.
If you are one of the early Nintendo Switch adapters, then the bug is easily reproduced. Sit on your couch and put something between the controller and the console, such as your leg.
While there is a DIY fix out and I already warned that you shouldn’t try it unless you know what you’re doing, there is a second reason that you might want to hold off on DIY repairs. In the past, Nintendo has been good to issue replacement units free-of-charge, but they most likely won’t do so if you tampered with the device yourself.
You can watch the full video here:
