They are IR. I wish they would have used the FC-16 Go controllers and RF. Those controllers are nice and the RF goes pretty far as well.
P.S. I know Yobo made the FC-16 and not Hyperkin, but these guys steal designs from each other all the time since many are made in the same factory.
What I really think Hyperkin should have done is release a line of RF wireless controllers for the NES, SNES, and Genesis with dongles. Kind of like Messiah did, but actually make them good controllers. These controllers could also have been also compatible with the RetroN series of systems (I think they may be making RetroN2 and RetroN as well). So you could sell retailers just the controllers loose without the dongles to be a cheaper option for RetroN owners.
That way you are killing two birds with one stone. Some nice wireless controllers (which I think the market really needs) and you have other wireless controller options for people who buy RetroN systems as well.