Transcription
Mobile controllers are so good right now! This episode of Some Gadget Guy is brought to you by viewers like you, all the folks who share content on social media, and the incredible generosity of my patrons at patreon.com/guy. More on those awesome geeks later in the video.
Now, it's getting really tough; there are some incredible options out there. The folks at Asus sent this my way to take on a test drive and share some thoughts. It's the ROG Tessen mobile controller, a USB-C extending controller that clips onto the sides of your phone. I've had a love-hate relationship with these kinds of controllers. I think they're often made for an average phone build that doesn't have very large cameras. My favorite powerhouse phones have big cameras on the back, and Backbone Kishi just aren't going to fit. Even Gamer recently has been trying to change up their options to allow for a bit more depth or flexibility.
To spoil some of my conclusion at the end of this video, Asus has addressed most of my portable controller concerns. Up front, I really like the different button tactile feels between the D-pad and ABXY; they have that sharp, clicky mechanical action. The control buttons on the bottom have a bit more depth to them. The bumpers are kind of a halfway point, with just a little deeper action than the ABXY, and smooth action on the triggers. I think a lot of folks are going to like that.
Then we get to the back. The back paddles are actual aluminum paddles. Buttons work great on the bottom of a controller or on my Steam Deck, but actual paddles just hit different. Now, the main concern for durability—and I can already see some comments on this—is that I don't believe the sticks are hall effect. Asus describes them as console grade. I haven't had this long enough to comment on any potential drift issues, and that'll likely come down to the games you play and how hard you are on the controllers you use.
But the big win is phone compatibility. It's a USB-C controller, and the frame that holds the phone is really deep—so deep that Asus includes adapters and plates to help fit your phone to the depth of the case. If you use a thin bumper case, you might need one of their medium inserts, or if you rock your phone naked, you might need one of the thicker inserts. As a specific example, right here I'm using this with my Vivo X100 Pro, which has a humongous camera bump on the back. So, I'm not using any adapters at the top because I have this little bit of a bumper case; I need as much clearance as I can get. But the phone's a lot skinnier down at the bottom, so I'm actually using one of the chunkier adapters by the USB-C port.
Instead of one telescoping arm, there are actually two, and the center piece is really small, but it has hinges to fold Tessen up for better portability. I cannot express how critical these hinges are to improving the phone fit. Again, I like the phones with the big cameras, and on other sliding controllers, the camera module starts pushing against that part, flexes the controller, and it might cause the phone to start angling out of the case—especially if there's just a tiny little ridge trying to hold the phone in. This was most noticeable for me on the Gamer X Series controllers. I mean, you can shift around this center piece to adjust for the phone, but on the Tessen, you can shift the center piece to adjust, but even if the phone flexes the controller, the hinges are able to bend a little, and the edge that holds the phone in place is wide enough to handle a slight angle without the phone trying to pop out. This is the best design I've seen yet for holding any phone in my collection.
Into the operation: Asus's Armory Crate allows you to customize the buttons, the lights, and the paddles. It's an app they use for other products too, so if you have Asus gear and you're in their ecosystem, it's not an issue. But if this is the main thing you're going to use with your smartphone, you still have the same setup and list of permissions for background use, Bluetooth, notifications, etc. It might be a little annoying if you're just trying to use a clip-on controller, but still, it's mandatory to have some kind of adjustment and button remapping tool. I'm not the biggest RGB guy, but it is cute seeing those edge lighting accents.
The USB-C is at an interesting angle, but it does have 18W charging pass-through. In this day and age, I think it's funny to say that's fast charging pass-through, but it is good for keeping your phone trickle charged while you're gaming. The last bit that would have been nice, but I don't think it's a deal breaker, is that it would have been cool to see this work with a PC as a super light and small travel controller for a laptop. I got my hopes up that the RGB worked when connected to my laptop, but no games could see the Tessen; there was no data or control being transferred over that cable.
I just have to reiterate that the mobile gaming situation is a lot healthier than a lot of gamers would like to admit. This has been wonderfully compatible with more recent Android games. There are a bunch of older PC and console ports and indie titles that work great without any adjustments or remapping needed. I also like hooking this up to Steam Link when I'm gaming at home. Between a nice phone or a Steam Deck, I basically try to never sit in front of my workstation to play my games these days.
We got to point out that this is a premium-priced accessory, but I would highly recommend it for folks that have phones which don't always fit well in Backbone. I don't find this style of controller to be convenient at all if you have to remove a phone case for it to fit. This is why I've used traditional controllers with top cradles for so long. Tessen is a big step in the right direction for phone compatibility.
While I like to show off a couple of games that I like to play, I'm also trying to keep up a list of great games on Android that aren't just garbage. The first folks who get to see the updates to that list are my awesome patrons. I greatly appreciate everyone who's out there trying to support their favorite YouTube channels, especially if you're out there sharing content on social media. But if you have the means, I hope you'd consider checking out the community at patreon.com/guy. Early access tiers, production diaries, the private Discord—they're basically just a really cool group of geeks. So, I hope you'll check them out.
Once again, those folks are literally helping to keep the lights on here in the Gadget Lab. My videos, reviews, editorials, and articles would not be possible without their generosity. Now, you know you can find me around the rest of the internet at Some Gadget Guy, basically everywhere. But these days, I'm trying to spend a bit more time on the Mastodons, a little less so on the Facebooks and the Instagrams, and definitely not on the Twitters. I will catch you all on the next review!