As a long-term Zwifter, I recently invested in a Zwift One Kickr Core and matching Play controllers to improve my Zwifting experience over winter. Imagine my dismay when both the trainer and the controllers arrived defective. Wahoo replaced the trainer and, after a wait, Zwift kindly supplied a new pair of Play controllers.
Alas, the new controllers seem harder to connect to Bluetooth than the old ones and far more prone to randomly disconnecting on the odd occasion that they were connected. However, after some trial and error, I do believe I understand the issue and have a work-around.
Basically, the controllers will connect fine, and work exactly as described whenever the charging leads are plugged into them. They do not have to be charging – simply having the leads plugged in is enough. To me this suggests there is a possible issue (either design or manufacturing) with the internal Bluetooth antennas on the controllers. I can validate this as every other Bluetooth device used in the same location connects fine with the computer (Apple Mac Mini M2). This includes a Wattbike Atom and, of course Zwift’s own trainer (the Kickr Core).
Obviously, having the charging cable permanently plugged in is not ideal – and I’m sure in some way compromised the IP rating for the controllers – but it may be worth trying if you experience connection issues. I shared this with the Support Team, who asked me to share it here.
I made a video for my YouTube channel (search for The Improbable Ironman - Zwift doesn’t allow links here).