Honestly I liked the patent design from the get-go. I thought it was sleek as hell. If this is the console controller, I don't know why they dropped the grips. If it's a handheld and has lumpy shit in the back, that's okay too. Or it's just a prototype.
Haptic buttons vs. physical I'm not going to worry about until people play the device and give impressions. But when it comes to control practicality, I have to say I really do trust Nintendo on that. They wouldn't just do away with physical buttons for shits and giggles. How a game plays is super important to them.