hen you pull the EasySMX S10 Lite out of its box, the bottom ridge of the faceplate might be raised in a way that feels mildly infuriating rather than clearly unintentional, as the gamepad is regularly listed for $40. If you are shopping for a new pad, the price is exactly what makes this device intriguing, considering most Switch 2 controllers cost around $70, Nintendo's own Pro Controller is $90, and 8BitDo's Ultimate 2C costs $30. EasySMX is using Elizabeth Holmes levels of pedantry with this faceplate situation, but beneath the awkward cosmetics lies a surprisingly capable piece of hardware.
What you are actually getting for your money is a device that aims to undercut major rivals without skimping entirely on modern features. The S10 Lite is a pared-down gamepad that comes in two colors, ice blue or pastel pink, alongside a charging cable and an instruction card in the box. You also get Razer's Wolverine V3 Pro costing an eye-watering $200 for comparison, proving just how aggressive budget pricing can be. But is a cheap price tag enough to forgive hardware quirks that make no practical sense?
The good internals versus a wonky shell
To understand why this controller divides opinion, you have to look at what happens when you hold it. The S10 Lite is light and compact, featuring a creamy plastic finish along the body and an anti-slip diamond texture on the backs of the grips. There are two buttons on the rear of the controller, mappable by pressing and holding a small nearby input marked M. While I wish the rear buttons crept up the sides of the grips more, allowing fingertips to more comfortably hit them, they are certainly within reach and nice to have.
Inside, the controller punches well above its weight class with modern technology. The S10 Lite features precise, anti-drift Hall effect analog sticks that hit the sides of their enclosures silently and super softly, providing a feel comparable to Nintendo's proprietary soft-hit action on the Pro Controller. That said, the stick click on the S10 Lite is a little too stiff, making an audible pop when pressed. The face buttons are tactile microswitches with a wonderfully clicky sound and feel, though they are fairly rigid.
While the EasySMX S10 Lite has supremely tactile buttons, Hall effect sticks with a soft-hit feel, motion controls and strong haptics, it also has a semi-transparent, magnetically attached faceplate that's so wonky and cheap-feeling that it overshadows the controller's more attractive features.
This brings us to the core contradiction of the device. The faceplate is attached with four visible, circular magnets and some tension, including the faceplate itself as part of the modular gimmick. Why have a removable faceplate in the first place when the marketing uses misleading verbiage around custom options that do not really exist in a meaningful way? Even after you pop the transparent-blue plastic so it sits flat along the bottom, the left side retains a loose fit that ruins the illusion of quality.
What this means for your setup
Beyond the shell, the S10 Lite packs genuine utility for everyday gaming. The haptics are nice and strong with four intensity settings, making at most a slight whining sound rather than grinding. The bumpers and wide-flared triggers stand out prominently from the chassis, and the triggers have a clicky microswitch action. You also get nine-axis motion controls, a Turbo function that allows you to set input macros to a simple button combo, and the ability to wake up the Switch 2 from afar. On the backside, a built-in toggle lets you swap between Switch and Switch 2 compatibility, or PC, Android and iOS play.
If you can look past a faceplate that feels like a cheap fidget toy, the S10 Lite delivers impressive core performance for $40. You get modern stick technology and solid connectivity without paying Nintendo prices.
For comparison
The $40 EasySMX S10 Lite packs durable Hall effect thumbsticks inside, yet greets the player with a warped faceplate and a loose left edge straight out of the box. A nine-axis gyroscope alongside microswitch triggers match premium gear, while four round magnets awkwardly attempt to justify an empty modular design. Nintendo asks $90 for its official Pro Controller without many of these additions, but this budget gamepad manages to ruin its own advantage with an ill-fitting shell. A pointless push for customizable covers left a capable controller feeling cheap before the game even started.