Why do these things break so easily?

I can solder, but my main concern is that it wouldn't work because as I said it looks like it took the conductive pads with it when it popped off. My soldering iron is also really old and long, so I'm not sure it would be very easy to use on this. The smallest thing I've probably soldered are some USB leads in a third-party USB controller from CORE INNOVATIONS. Anyway, the spot where the pads were now has some pale red spots, about the color of a faded brick. My concern here is that there's not enough conductive surface for a new button to even function. I also can't find the right button for it. That is, as of the moment, I have no way to tell if it's the right size of button. I'm also not sure if I'd be better off just wiring in a larger button that would be easier to repair, along with better durability. I've also looked on Amazon, which has a pair of third-party joy-cons for sale at less than the cost of a new motherboard. At the moment, I still intend to repair this pair, if at all possible.

I would also like to add that these joy-cons have not been put through much more than regular use. Aside from an occasional drop on a carpet, all they've been through is normal use. If a product breaks simply because of that, it shouldn't be produced in the first place. I have a GameCube, which is in practically new condition in terms of functionality. The controllers for it are no different. I've only had one break so far, and that was because of a malfunctioning C-stick (it was completely unresponsive to anything). These joy-cons, on the other hand, are pretty much the opposite of the GameCube controller. They break easily, and aren't nearly as comfortable to hold, and are just all-around terrible.

Yes. That means that the whole solder pads came off, unfortunately… so you need to repair the traces to get that fixed, which is difficult to do… you need to carefully scratch it, to reveal the copper. This is different from soldering.

So, soldering in a new button won’t work as there is nothing to solder the legs on :(..

Gamecube controllers and Nintendo 64 controllers are known as strong. Their soldering is better. But also they have weaknesses. Like the movement stick (N64 controller). And the L/R plastic buttons on SNES controllers and the conductive pads on the board came off.

But yes, the soldering part was good. From now one, it’s required for them to use “lead free” solder, which is way worse then leaded solder. It’s giving issues.

So, long story short, those new controllers like Joy-Cons are so complex, the whole motherboard is filled! If something fails on there, it could cause serious issues. They are using cheaper parts, it should not last your life long as the old controllers should have…