Gulikit TMR Joysticks Review: The $20 Xbox Ally Drift Fix
Eliminate Xbox Ally stick drift forever with the $20 Gulikit TMR joystick upgrade. Discover why this magnetic, solder-free fix is the ultimate gift for gamers.
By Team Gimmie
Updated August 27, 2026
The $20 Upgrade Your $1,000 Handheld Should Have Included
If there is one thing that genuinely boils my blood as a product reviewer, it is the “premium” tax that somehow misses the most basic components. We see it all the time: high-end smartphones that shatter if you look at them wrong, and now, thousand-dollar gaming handhelds that rely on joystick technology from the 1990s.
I’m talking about the Xbox Ally X. It’s a beast of a machine. It’s powerful, it’s sleek, and in this holiday season of 2025, it’s arguably the hot ticket item for serious gamers. But it has a dirty little secret: the joysticks are still prone to "drift." That’s the technical term for when your character starts walking off a cliff even though you put the controller down to take a sip of coffee.
But there is good news. For about the price of a takeout lunch, you can fix it—and it makes for one of the smartest, most practical tech gifts of the year.
The Drift Dilemma
Let’s be real for a second. When you drop $600 to $1,000 on a handheld console, you expect it to last. But the "Xbox Ally" (manufactured by Asus) shipped with traditional potentiometer sticks. These use physical contacts that wear down over time. It’s not a matter of if they will fail, but when.
I find it frankly baffling that manufacturers are still cutting corners here. We have better technology. We’ve had it for years. But they didn’t include it in the box.
Fortunately, the aftermarket community moves faster than corporate supply chains. Gulikit, a brand I’ve watched gain a cult following for solving Nintendo Switch drift years ago, has stepped in with a solution that actually has the manufacturer's blessing.
Enter the $20 Gulikit TMR Joysticks
Here is the fix: Gulikit’s TMR (Tunnel Magnetoresistance) joysticks.
Unlike the stock parts, these don’t rely on physical wipers rubbing against a track. They use magnetic fields to detect movement. No friction means no wear, and no wear means no drift. They are smoother, more accurate, and theoretically should outlast the console itself.
