Nintendo's 'Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo' uses technology that can solve the Joy-Con drift problem



This article, originally posted in Japanese on 19:00 Mar 11, 2025, may contains some machine-translated parts.
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There have been numerous reports of a problem with the Joy-Con, the dedicated controller for the Nintendo Switch, called 'Joy-Con drift,' in which the stick is unintentionally recognized as being input even when it is not being touched. On the other hand, it has been revealed that the '

Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo ,' announced by Nintendo in October 2024, is equipped with technology that can solve the Joy-Con drift problem.

Inside Nintendo's Alarmo Clock: A Mario Day Teardown! - YouTube


Nintendo's Alarmo uses the tech that could solve Joy-Con stick drift | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/news/627171/nintendo-alarmo-alarm-clock-ifixit-teardown-magnetic-hall-effect-sensor

iFixit , which disassembles various devices into pieces and performs its own evaluations, disassembled the Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo. After removing the board, display, speaker, etc., the dial and decision button for operation were also disassembled.



I succeeded in removing only the dial and decision button.



When the dial and decision button were disassembled, it was found to be divided into a total of five parts.



It was also revealed that the dial and enter button are equipped with magnets and sensors that use the potential difference generated by the

Lorentz force due to a magnetic field, known as the ' Hall effect ,' to measure position.



Unlike potentiometers , sensors using the Hall effect do not have physical contacts. Therefore, they have the advantage of not being subject to wear or deterioration, and therefore not causing drift problems. Controllers using the Hall effect are sold by many manufacturers, including 8BitDo .

The Verge, an overseas media outlet, said that the Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo uses a sensor that uses the Hall effect, 'not only does this improve the accuracy of using the dial to operate it, but it also helps ensure that the dial of the Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo will continue to work like new in the future.'

Numerous class action lawsuits have been filed regarding Joy-Con drift, citing the 'technical nature of the defect,' and in response, Nintendo began offering free repairs for broken Joy-Con in April 2023 in the UK, Switzerland, and European Economic Area (EAA) countries.

A class action lawsuit has been filed over the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift defect, with the Joy-Con moving on its own, and the plaintiffs have even pointed out the cause with electron microscope photos of the Joy-Con disassembled - GIGAZINE

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