Dish vs 8BitDo: do you really need to spend $50 on a Pro 2 or Ultimate?

8BitDo has earned its fans. The Pro 2, the Ultimate Wireless 2.4G, and the SN30 Pro+ are well built, work across platforms, and are reasonably priced. Ask for a wireless PC controller recommendation and one of them usually comes up.

They still have limits: over Bluetooth they feel a step behind a wire, their range stops at about one room, and each one costs money. Dish solves the same problem differently: for free, and over your Wi-Fi.

This post covers which one you actually want, and why the answer is often both.

The headline differences

The two aren’t really competing. They work together.

If you have an 8BitDo, Dish makes it more useful

Pair your 8BitDo to your phone over Bluetooth, or plug it into a laptop running Dish for Windows or Dish for Linux, and Dish sends it to your gaming PC:

• Your 8BitDo Pro 2 becomes a wireless controller for your gaming PC from anywhere in the house, with the physical pad you already like.
• The only Bluetooth hop is between the 8BitDo and the phone in your hand, a few inches. Wi-Fi handles the long stretch to the PC, which it does far better than a Bluetooth pad or a dongle across a wall.
• Four friends with their own controllers and their own phones can all connect to one PC for couch co-op, with no dongles.

This is what we recommend to most people: buy an 8BitDo if you want the physical gamepad, and use Dish to extend its range across your house.

The rest of this post assumes you don’t have an 8BitDo and want to know whether Dish replaces buying one.

Where Dish wins on its own

1. It’s free

You don’t have to spend $50 to $70. Dish is free. If you find it useful, tip what you can, but nothing is required.

2. Range

A dongle or a Bluetooth pairing covers about one room. Wi-Fi covers your house. If your gaming PC isn’t in the room with your couch, you’re already outside 8BitDo’s range.

3. Your inputs stay private

Dish has no account and no cloud, and your inputs are encrypted between your phone and your PC. See the security page.

4. Several players, easily

Bluetooth gets unreliable past a couple of controllers, and an 8BitDo dongle pairs one controller. With Dish, several phones connect to one PC at once, each its own controller.

5. Responsive where it counts

An 8BitDo over Bluetooth feels a step behind wired. The Ultimate’s 2.4 GHz dongle is much better, about as fast as wired, and Dish over 5 GHz Wi-Fi matches it. In a crowded apartment, where a Bluetooth pad can stutter, Dish on 5 GHz stays consistent.

Where 8BitDo is still better

1. It’s a real gamepad in your hand

A phone is a phone. Even with a clip-on grip, a physical gamepad is nicer for long sessions. If you’d rather hold a real controller and don’t need across-the-house range, get the 8BitDo.

2. Battery life

An 8BitDo Pro 2 runs for many hours on a charge. A phone running Dish keeps its screen going if you play on the touch screen, and that’s the real battery cost. For a casual hour you won’t notice. For a long session, keep a cable nearby.

3. No Wi-Fi required

On a plane or anywhere without Wi-Fi, an 8BitDo paired straight to a laptop still works. Dish needs a network both devices can reach.

4. Physical controls

8BitDo pads have real analog triggers, a real d-pad, and swappable parts on the Pro 2. A touch screen doesn’t reproduce those. If they matter to you, get the gamepad, and pair it to Dish when you want the range.

Who should pick which

Pick Dish if:

• Your budget is $0 and you already have a phone.
• Your gaming PC is in a different room from your couch or TV.
• You want couch co-op without buying more controllers.
• You already use Sunshine and Moonlight.

Pick an 8BitDo (and use Dish to extend it) if:

• You want a physical gamepad for long sessions.
• You also want a portable controller for a Switch, Steam Deck, or phone.
• You have about $50 to $70 to spend.

Buy an 8BitDo and also use Dish if:

• You want both the physical gamepad and the across-the-house range.
• You want couch co-op with friends who don’t all own controllers. Their phones become the second, third, and fourth gamepads.

How to set up Dish with an 8BitDo

1. Pair your 8BitDo to your phone over Bluetooth, the normal way, or plug it in over USB.
2. Install Dish on your phone and Satellite on your gaming PC.
3. Pair Dish with Satellite once using the 4-digit PIN.
4. Pick the 8BitDo on Dish’s controller list and bind it to your PC.

The first setup takes about five minutes; after that, Dish reconnects on its own.

What to read next

• Use your phone as a wireless controller for your PC
• Sunshine + Moonlight + Dish: the cloud-gaming-at-home trio
• Why Wi-Fi beats Bluetooth for gamepad streaming
• PC gamepads compared: 15 wireless controllers and phone-as-controller apps, ranked by latency

If Dish replaced or complemented your 8BitDo, tips keep the project going.