Since the Nintendo Switch launched, the big problem plaguing the device has been the “desync” issue with the left Joy-Con. It turned out to be more of a signal interference issue than a syncing problem, but nevertheless. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild players in particular were thoroughly frustrated as they watched Link propel himself over cliff edges over and over. While official word from Nintendo has been generally useless (Keep the Switch away from aquariums!) a report from a CNET writer has revealed an actual fix, courtesy of Nintendo support.
After being fed up with connection issues and contacting Nintendo support, writer Sean Hollister sent his Joy-Con in for “repair.” Once it came back, the problem seemed to be fixed, so naturally he popped that bad boy open to see what was different. In the article, he provided before and after shots and highlighted a small difference: Hollister’s Joy-Con came back to him with a tiny piece of foam. Speculation suggests it’s a bit of conductive foam placed on top of the Joy-Con’s antenna traces, meant to help protect the Bluetooth antenna from outside interference.
Hollister also bought a newer left Joy-Con from Amazon. After testing it, it seemed to work just as well as the newly-foamed launch Joy-Con. After opening that one, Hollister saw no foam, but he did notice different labelling on the circuit board compared to the older one. This suggests Nintendo quietly addressed the issue on newer Joy-Con shipments.
Problem solved? Some more transparency from Nintendo would probably be a good idea, as admitting the issue and then assuring its repair would probably be a better PR move than dealing with it being vague non-statements. Either way, it’s nice to know the whole ordeal is ostensibly coming to a close.
Source: CNET