This Pop-Out Cellphone Controller May Reinvent How We Consider Cellular Gaming

At the moment’s retro recreations are so good at replicating the Game Boy’s look, feel, and portability. The issue is, my pockets are already occupied with my cell supercomputer that comprises my life behind a 6.3-inch pane of glass. If my telephone has a robust processor and glorious AMOLED show, why can’t it additionally turn into my gaming gadget once I’m on the go? MCON, the controller hyped to hell and again by younger engineer Josh King and delivered to market by telephone peripheral makers OhSnap, may very well be sufficient to make me depart my handheld at dwelling.

I first saw the $150 MCON telephone peripheral again at CES 2025; solely then it was a really early prototype utilizing 3D-printed components. Even then, I got here away impressed with the collapsible telephone controller. I needed to duck and weave by way of many, many halls at IFA 2025 to search out the miniscule stall for MCON’s designer OhSnap. The corporate let me wrap my exhausted arms across the new, black and clear plastic MCONs that will likely be transport later this 12 months after its profitable Kickstarter from earlier this 12 months.

MCON has surprisingly great-feeling controls

Once I take a look at most fashionable telephone controllers, whether or not they’re the Backbone, the 8BitDo mobile controller, or a Razer Kishi, all of them boil right down to an Xbox controller cut up in half to make room for a telephone. A few of these units provide higher controls or bigger cavity house for as much as the size of a 13-inch iPad. Whereas they’re slim sufficient to slot in a bag, the difficulty with this basic design is that they’re not so moveable you possibly can slip them right into a pocket. MCON is concerning the dimension of a telephone itself. It’s compact sufficient that it might match into cargo pants-sized pockets or right into a pocketbook. I doubt it might slot in most skinny denims with out tearing a gap in your pants or thigh. The collapsible cell controller additionally makes use of a MagSafe magnetic attachment level whereas it communicates with the telephone over Bluetooth, quite than a bodily USB-C connection.

You possibly can consider MCON as a Nintendo DS or a slide-out PSP Go, although with out a display screen or PCB (printed circuit board) of its personal. The controller collapses to the scale of your common telephone. With the press of a button, the spring-loaded entrance plate shoots out to disclose twin thumbsticks, 4 face buttons, and a D-pad. Two fold-out wings fan out from the bottom to create a pseudo-controller really feel, although you possibly can recreation with out them should you can retreat to your Recreation Boy glory days, earlier than firms cared a lick for wild ideas like “ergonomics.” The additional advantage of MCON is the way it retains the display screen angled up, which can be extra comfy when sitting and gaming in comparison with Steam Deck-like handheld PCs or the Switch 2.

The model I used was a prefab design, although it’s the closest mannequin the corporate had accessible for when the gadget went into full manufacturing. The total-size drift-resistant TMR (tunnel magnetoresistance) joysticks didn’t really feel constrained regardless of being deep-set into the controller. Whereas the buttons had a pleasantly shallow and clicky really feel, I wouldn’t have been in a position to hear how loud they have been in such a crowded conference corridor. The true shock was the 2 triggers. Regardless of being so skinny and near the gadget, they dipped to a stunning depth. I didn’t really feel as a lot resistance for every set off as I could have appreciated from my favorite controllers, however I’d nonetheless want them over the clicky triggers of many DS-like units.

Time to work out the kinks

I didn’t get to play something however Warped Kart Racers, a recreation that routinely accelerates for you. I think about most individuals who backed the MCON controller are extra concerned with video games with out stable contact controls. It might be an choice for cloud gaming when you could have entry to a powerful Wi-Fi connection. What could also be extra thrilling is the way it may very well be used for retro emulation. The MCON’s MagSafe dock can slide out and reposition vertically for taking part in old-school Recreation Boy video games on emulators, like Delta on iOS.

The pop-out mechanism felt quick and easy, although I discovered it was troublesome to push the magnetic plate again into place. It took two arms, providing a grating really feel because the rail floor in opposition to itself. OhSnap! instructed me it was engaged on making that mechanism smoother as they run into full manufacturing. That is the type of gadget designed for taking out whereas ignoring the world in your day by day work commute, and it might be particularly helpful to break down the MCON with one hand and slip it into your pocket when it’s good to. OhSnap mentioned MCON ought to launch a while late in October, so we’ll know then if my telephone would possibly lastly turn into the Recreation Boy I needed it to be.