For anyone who’s ever yearned for the sorcery of a phone that turns into a handheld console, there’s a new sliding Bluetooth controller — sans the bulk! — designed to scratch that itch.
The MCON is a magnet-mounted gamepad that lurks behind your phone while you’re texting and leaps out into full controls when you want to play — a contemporary homage to hardware like the Xperia Play and PSP Go.
A Concealing, Floating Design for Magnetic Mounting
The MCON doesn’t attach with the usual telescopic clamp, but snaps into the back of your phone through MagSafe-compatible magnets. With the help of a spring-assisted rail, you can slide your controller horizontally out, and gain full access to all inputs on your device, without blocking the display. When you aren’t using it, it nests neatly against the phone for pocket-friendly carrying.
The package even includes an adhesive magnetic array and spacers to accommodate phones without native magnets, clearing the camera bumps of all but the most unwieldy devices.
It also works well with third-party magnetic systems (like Pixelsnap) and cases with embedded magnets.
Controls Crafted for Serious Play and Longevity
And under the hood, the controller is designed for “console-grade” feel. It also features TMR (tunnel magnetoresistance) sticks, a contactless sensor technology within the same family as Hall-based designs. The big benefit: resistance to drift over time, since the position sensor has no rubbing potentiometer to wear down. Analog triggers, full gyro support for motion aiming and responsive face buttons help round out a layout that’s designed for everything from retro emulation to competitive shooters.
A neat ergonomic touch is the pair of flip-out handles. They fold away when you need to travel but provide your hands with a more gamepad-like grip during longer sessions — a comfort advantage many slab-style mobile handhelds and telescopic rigs can’t match.
Flexible Connections and Tabletop Play with Kickstand
The MCON communicates over Bluetooth 5.4, and multi-device switching ensures it’s easy to jump between your phone and a tablet or laptop. For zero fuss, you can also run it in wired USB-C mode. The aluminum backing plate is more than a simple mount: pop the controller off and the plate converts into a kickstand, great for tabletop play with your phone popped up. When you’re on the go, that same plate will act as a protective cover for the sticks and buttons.
Battery life is rated at up to 15 hours from a 500mAh cell, which is well aligned with normal weekend gaming or a cross-country flight. Charging is over USB-C, and there’s an accessory dock for use in living-room setups.
Docked Play for Gaming on the Big Screen at Home
There’s an optional MCON Dock that sits next to your TV and facilitates couch play. Plug in your phone, connect the controller and boom, you’re ready to output 4K at 60Hz (pending that sweet USB-C video support on your handset). The dock will also charge your controller when not in use and can be purchased separately for $69.99.
And that obviously lends itself to cloud platforms and remote play. Services such as GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming and PlayStation Remote Play are more and more optimized for Bluetooth controllers, and modern Android games from Genshin Impact to Call of Duty Mobile map cleanly to gamepad inputs.
How It Stacks Up Against Other Mobile Controllers
At $149.99, the MCON is at the higher end of mobile controllers, on par with products such as the Backbone and Razer’s more recent Kishi Pro. Those are centered on the telescopic clamping and passthrough USB, while the MCON is all in on magnetic mounting, a hidden slider and deployable grips. It’s a different bet: putting portability at the fore without such an emphasis on getting full-size controls in.
The idea struck a chord with early adopters. In total, backers pledged nearly $1.75 million to Reeback’s campaign that began in January and attracted 16,000-plus supporters, indicating an early interest for a new form factor in a category that had been looking samey same for years.
Why the Release Schedule for MCON Makes Sense Now
Mobile games are still the industry’s biggest moneymaker. Analysts at Newzoo estimate that mobile titles make more than $90 billion globally each year, and ever bigger franchises are being released with full support for controllers. On the other hand, improvements to Bluetooth, low-latency codecs and motion sensors have narrowed the gap between phone-based play and dedicated handhelds.
For anyone who has fond memories of sliding phones that turned into a console, the MCON is an overdue but welcome modernization. It’s nostalgic without getting kitsch, practical (without being “practical” in the way only bulky gadgets can be) and clearly engineered with occasional little touches you wouldn’t expect but are nonetheless small but smart quality of life updates. If your dream setup is a regular phone that can transform into an impressive pocketable device with one swift movement, it might be the first genuinely exciting take on the concept in years.
