Ohsnap MCON Controller Review
A Magsafe controller to make your phone into a console
Purchase Price: $99.00
Brave New World
I was shocked when I first heard the news that Ohsnap would be getting into the gaming peripheral business with the launch of the MCON gaming controller. Otherwise known for their magnetic phone accessories like their flagship product the Snap Grip, a gaming controller was a pretty huge leap to an unknown territory for this company. I’ve had a couple generations of their PopSocket alternative offering and while they weren’t perfect by any means, they sure did have a unique user experience. I’ve been on the look out for a pop and play gaming controller to run a quick session of Tetris from my phone here and there. Could Ohsnap be the revolutionizing touch the mobile handheld gaming controllers needed to take the market to a brave new world?
The MCON isn’t overly complicated in terms of how it works. A smartphone magnetically snaps onto the MCON’s magnetic surface exactly like it does with all the other Ohsnap products in their lineup. It’s a sturdy connection that I’d say I’m rather confident will stay on the controller. When you slide the connected phone up into viewing position, it is a bit top heavy, especially depending on the phone type and case you have.
The controller and the magnetic holder are actually two separate parts connected together by a slide out mechanism centered around a kickstand. The magnetic holder portion has a metal kickstand that slides into the controller and can disconnect by pressing the eject button. When fully disconnected from the controller, the kickstand props up the smartphone so that it sits at a viewing angle for either consuming videos or playing games that Ohsnap has labeled Kickback Mode.
Since the controller portion of the MCON is a Bluetooth controller, you can lean back in your chair and control your character while the phone is propped up on your table if you wanted to game that way. It’s a neat secondary function that some people might find valuable akin to the type of experience a Nintendo Switch or Lenovo Legion Go offers. The controller can pair with up to 3 devices and switch between them by tapping the pair button. I’m not too certain the hinge supporting this kickstand will endure a heavy workload over time, but it’s been okay so far.
Touch and Feel
The actual controller portion of the MCON is quite compact. It’s made of plastic all around and the face is extremely flat. The two analog sticks don’t protrude over the shell like most controllers do. Ohsnap has them in a hole so that everything folds up neatly. The same goes for the D-pad and the X,Y,A,B buttons as well. Ohsnap sourced Gamesir’s Mag-res joysticks that are marketed to be ultra accurate, low power consumption, anti-tick drift, full size, and better than hall-effect. That’s a hefty claim, but I haven’t had any real complaints about the performance of the joysticks so far. They’re a bit small without being too tiny, but they do feel good to use. The buttons are a type of silent switch that don’t have a lot of travel behind it. They are pretty quiet as the type of switch would suggest it to perform. That’s probably a good trait as I surmise playing out in the world– say on a bus or in a waiting room– would be less bothersome to people around the controller. The MCON does not feel like a premium hardware at all though. In fact at times I felt like I was holding a toy because of how light weight it is. This does make sense in the big scheme of things as when the phone is mounted, the bulk of the weight lies with the device that runs the game so the controller needs to be lighter or else it's a lot of added mass.
Just a quick summary of the rest of the controller’s buttons, the shoulder analog triggers are functional and don't take up much space. The L1 and R1 triggers are especially thin. I appreciate the attention to detail by adding texture to the larger L2 and R2 triggers to distinguish the set so your fingers know which one it's touching. That’s beneficial when you’re working with such thin margins of input. Ohsnap has included a handful of buttons to help control your smartphone like a Home return button, a couple of Menu and Settings buttons, and a Record button. Out of habit I reach for the touchscreen to handle these operations, but they are nice to have on a controller.
In terms of comfortability in the hands, the MCON is nearly unusable playing for long sessions as a flat controller with the phone mounted on it. Because the phone is so heavy sitting on the magnet like this and the gamepad portion is tucked on a level under the screen, it gets uncomfortable fast. If you just hold it for a minute, it doesn’t feel too bad. In fact, I surprisingly found it comfortable to hold with my hand size. The wear and strain kicks in around 5 minutes of continuously holding it in this manner. It’s a noticeable weight that just feels uncomfortable to hold.
Great Additions
Fortunately this isn’t how anyone should be playing with the MCON because Ohsnap has implemented deployable grips that flip out from within the controller. They’re a little stiff to plop out, but once they’re deployed, it’s night and day. The grips make the MCON absolutely 100% better to hold. I can’t over stress how much these grips reduce hand strain and completely eliminate the phone weight issue I keep talking about. Having the ability to support the top heavy mount by wrapping the fourth finger, the pinky, and even the middle finger around the grips makes the experience so much better. In fact, I found myself missing this support when I went back to holding a traditional controller. Without a doubt in my mind, the deployable grips are the best part of the MCON and it isn’t close.
Masters of Magnetism
Ohsnap makes not only magnetic grips, but now sells wallets, stands, chargers, cases, and even docks
The second best part is that the MCON folds up neatly into a compact form factor and can be stored in a pant pocket. It’s about the same thickness as a Nintendo Game Boy Advance with the length of a first-generation Google Pixel. It’s not a bad size to haul for a gaming controller of this kind. Extending phone controllers are usually wider and less pocketable like the Razer Kishi V2 Pro so I do see the potential appeal for travelers using this Ohsnap product. While I haven’t done any air travel with the MCON during my evaluation period, if I’m going on a short business trip where I don’t normally bother to bring a dedicated handheld console like the Steam Deck, I’d probably rely on the MCON with my smartphone to handle short bursts of boredom at a hotel or airport lobby.
Additional functions that may or may not be beneficial to someone is the inclusion of a built in gyroscope. While your phone already has one for motion-based input, having it built into the controller is useful for use in Kickback Mode when the phone is sitting on a table. You’re still going to be able to use motion to control aim or angles in your game.
final thoughts
As long as your phone or case has a magnetic back like MagSafe or PixelSnap, the MCON will work with it. There’s also adapters that can be used to mount the magnets, but I can’t think of a modern phone that the MCON won’t be sufficient to use with.
I’m personally still searching for an unobtrusive magnetic controller that can stay mounted on the phone without adding significant bulk to just get a quick Tetris session in throughout breaks in my day. This unfortunately isn’t that type of controller for that particular use case as it’s too large to stay mounted on the phone for daily use. However, I do think this is a viable alternative form factor to a Razer Kishi or a Backbone controller.
For a company like Ohsnap to join the fray as a competitor of mobile game controllers and actually succeed in creating something different from what we’ve seen in the market is a huge step forward for the health of the market. I love seeing so many new portable efforts being introduced and produced for consumers to purchase. This is all great news for mobile gaming and emulation fans.
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