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What is a Hall effect sensor? The joystick and keyboard tech explained
In This Article
You might have heard about Hall effect joysticks over recent years, primarily owing to issues with stick drift on theNintendo Switch. If you’re wondering what they are, here’s our simple explainer.
Hall effect sensors have been around for some time but they are now cropping up in joysticks and keyboards alike. The technology has some benefits that some more seemingly modern options do not offer.
Whether you’re considering a product with hall effect sensors or you’re just wondering what the technology is ahead of it potentially cropping up on more devices in the future, we’re here to help. Read on for the basics.
What is a Hall effect sensor?
A Hall effect sensor is an electronic device that records an input when variance in a magnetic field is detected. Hall effect is named after the scientist Edwin Hall and hisdiscovery in 1879.
In the context of switches used in gaming and computing peripherals, Hall effect sensors are found in keyboards and gaming controllers. The sensors detect a keypress or joystick movement using the Hall effect. It can be beneficial as, like optical switches, there is no contact between parts, avoiding wear and tear – the cause ofstick driftwith Nintendo’s Joy-Con controllers.
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Again, like optical switches, Hall effect switches are also beneficial in terms of speed, avoiding the delay in response that some mechanical switches feature. Hall effect switches can offer a degree of customizability as well, letting you adjust the actuation point, such as with theCorsair K70 Maxkeyboard.
The team atGuliKitcreated its own Hall effect joystick for Joy-Con replacement kit to help users fix the wear and tear issue which causes stick drift on the Nintendo Switch. A patent application has hinted Nintendo is working on a solution for Joy-Con drift, potentially for the Switch 2, that will use Hall effect sensors (viaDexerto).
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Adam is the Computing Editor of Trusted Reviews. He joined as a staff writer in 2019 after graduating from Newcastle University with an MA in Multimedia Journalism. After spending two years at WIRED,…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
