Just want to mention that Guilikit now have the KK3 Max which has some improvements over the KingKong 2. It’s also possible to grab a PS5 controller and connect it to your switch with an 8bitdo wireless adapter.
I have both Guilikits, an 8bitdo ultimate and the ps5 combo here. The 8bitdo ultimate is certainly the safest option of the bunch, but I like the KK3 Max most.
The KingKong Pro 2 has some massive polling rate issues. If you want to use the thing wirelessly on PC, you’re stuck at 60Hz and it’s not even very consistent, which is awful compared to all the others. Not sure how it’s looking on switch since it’s difficult to measure that, but I feel like it’s similarly much slower than other controllers.
The KK3 Max doesn’t have that issue, though I haven’t done any latency testing yet. In terms of Gyro, the KingKong Pro 2 was also pretty bad, no way I could play splatoon with that. I don’t know if that’s improved on the KK3 Max, I haven’t tried gyro yet so I can’t comment on it.
While I’ve had no hardware failures with either of them (I’ve only had the KK3 Max since yesterday), they also don’t exactly give me confidence that they won’t. It’s not that they’re badly built, but in particular the stick caps and should buttons just feel like they might give out fairly early. I will say that I find them by far the most comfortable though, and I love the material they used, it feels really nice, especially compared to the 8bitdo ultimate’s cheap plastic. I also find the back triggers to be much better than the others. On the KK3 Max they have this new digital trigger mode and it’s awful, but the normal analogue trigger feels fantastic. On the KK2 the triggers were pretty nice also.
PS5 controller’s battery life is awful. Also the experience can vary depending on the adapter used, the Mayflash Magic ones I found to be significantly worse than the 8bitdo adapter.
The 8bitdo ultimate is just an allrounder. I don’t like the shape and materials used, as well as the way the back triggers feel. All those points are better on the Guilikit, but then again the 8bitdo certainly is built better and I can say that it has 0 polling rate/latency issues and its gyro works great, which is why I say it’s the safest options.
Also, no matter what 3rd party controller you’ll get, you won’t ever find a replacement for the original Switch Pro’s HD Rumble stuff. In fact, Rumble is always a little awkward on all of these controllers I find.
Oh I would never use bluetooth on PC, that adds input latency like crazy. I was talking wireless only ever over 2.4Ghz with the 8bitdo adapter. Even there the KK2 had really bad latency while all the others were fine. The KK3 Max actually comes with its own adapter to achieve 1000Hz wirelessly (I got only around 880, but still higher than all the others on stock which are usually stuck on 250 or 500Hz. You can overclock the PS5 to 1000 when wired but I never did).
Also since you mentioned them going for an elite controller style with the KK3 Max, I wouldn’t count on its back pedals. Personally I find they make it impossible to hold the controller. I’ve never liked the back pedals on the Xbox Elite, and I like them even less on the KK3, while I found the one on the 8bitdo ultimate really nice (though I never used them anyway).
As for the branding I have no clue. They did have a US/Target version of the KK2 Pro called the Zen Pro which was the exact same controller, just sold at Target. I think they’re just weird with their naming.
On that note, I’ve also heard there is supposed to be more budget versions of the KK3 Max coming out over the year (I think it was two more), similar to how they had a KK2 and KK2 Pro.