One thing that has always bothered me when it comes to playing games on my phone is the tap screen controls. While not all mobile games are designed to be played on a controller, it is so much nicer when they are. Recently, I’ve had the pleasure to try out a few controllers from Turtle Beach and they really do change things up.

The short way to post this review is that it is essentially their new React-R Controller but designed for mobile gaming on an Android while being compatible with PC and Xbox family consoles. However, if you prefer the handheld feel for mobile gaming, you might want to consider the ATOM Controller instead. Either way, Turtle Beach is definitely on a roll this year!

What’s In The Box

In one of the cleanest box designs I’ve seen, the controller and the assets are separated with their own liftable flaps. Under the bigger flap you will find the controller itself, the manual, and - if you got the special - a 1 month Xbox Ultimate Game Pass code. Under the smaller flap, you will find the charging/connection cable and the mobile device holster.

The holster is pretty simple to figure out right out of the box. You have two knobs that loosen to allow you to adjust the level of tilt and a knob on the bottom to screw it in place on the controller. It has a hole where the charging port is too, so if you can be playing while charging (which is not recommended).

Aesthetics and Build Quality

The controller is designed and modeled after the classic Xbox style, making it a formidable and comfortable fit for most gamers. It comes in two different color styles, black with silver trim and ‘blue magma’ which is blue with orange trim. Given their classic design and nice color scheme, they do have a modernized gamer aesthetic to them.

One thing I noticed that is unlike the React-R is that it doesn’t have the grip style feel around the handles. Instead, they are rather smooth and feel nice in your hands. Personally, I do prefer the grip feel as it gives me a natural relaxation while holding the controller while the smooth handles tend to make me grip harder. It isn’t a big deal and just means I take more breaks to stretch and relax my hands.

Testing the phone holder turned out to be really impressive! At first, I thought it would have trouble holding phones with bulky cases - which is what I have - but it handled them pretty well. First I tried it with my phone which has a thick anti-breaking case and it fit just fine, although I wouldn’t tilt back or play laying down with it. Out of the case, my phone is held very sturdy and doesn’t seem to move. The impressive part came when I tried my wifes phone which has a wallet case and it managed to grab the wallet part with a firm grip. I even tried flinging the phone out of the grip and it didn’t budge. So, while the phone holder is really easy to set up and work with, it is a beast of a holster!

Specs and Special Features

As with many controllers from Turtle Beach, this thing comes set up with the works. You have your separate volume controls for chat and game, a mute button, the mode selection buttons - which allow you to use the D-pad to control the active mode, and their patented Superhuman Hearing option. This means that as long as you are using a Turtle Beach official headset while gaming, you can use the controller to adjust your sound settings as well. This can be done on phones, Xbox, and PC, but it did seem a bit more limited on the phone.

It connects to devices with both the cable and via Bluetooth, which makes it a very handy controller for multiple devices. As long as your Android phone, tablet, PC, or Xbox device has the option to connect via Bluetooth, this controller should work just fine.

Along with that, the controller has a battery life that is expected to last over 30 hours and has a quick charge rate of only 2 1/2 hours. They also put two buttons on the back of the controller which are mappable to be customized for how you play. Plus, there is the EQ interface, which really puts all the aspects of this controller in the hands of the user.

What It Could Have Done Better

As I mentioned before, I prefer the grip style handles on the React-R over the smooth grip on the Recon Cloud Hybrid. I wish they would have used that special grip instead as it is a more relaxing handle to hold.

Verdict

The Recon Cloud Hybrid Controller really brings the console gaming experience to the mobile gamers world! I really enjoyed playing my variety of phone games with it and it changed up the game to the point that it doesn’t even feel like a phone game sometimes. Plus, the option to bring this with you wherever you go with an easy screw-on setup to get started makes this controller worth having. Again, if you prefer the handheld feel when playing mobile games then you will want to look into the ATOM Controller, but if you like the classic controller feel and just want a good, affordable controller that works for your Android devices then this is what you are looking for!

Recon Cloud Hybrid Controllers are available now on Turtle Beach’s website for $99.99 USD.