The ‘Gun God’ Controller Turns One Plus’ New Smartphone Into a Sleek Handheld Gaming Console
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If you want to turn your smartphone into a gaming handheld, there are plenty of accessories to try. However, most add full-size controllers to either side of your phone, which is great for gaming but not for portability. OnePlus seems ready to try something a little different (at least compared to most competitors), by offering a gaming case that you can fit in your pocket.
The ‘Gun God’ adds triggers and a cooling fan to the Ace 6 Ultra
In a post on its Weibo page, OnePlus announced a new gaming accessory for its upcoming Ace 6 Ultra smartphone. The “OnePlus Gun God Game Controller” may have a clunky name, but the accessory itself looks pretty slick. The controller is a flat slab with rounded edges on each side, which serve as “handles”. Here you’ll find the traditional L1 and R1 triggers, as well as internal triggers accessible via your ring finger. OnePlus says the triggers have a 1,000Hz polling rate (the rate at which the trigger reports its position to your device) as well as a “super-fast” 1.8ms response, and that you can remap the buttons as you wish.
Perhaps most interesting of all here is the removable magnetic “suction” fan. From the promotional images you can see that the fan can stay flat in the controller, but separate it and you can open the fan for additional airflow. It’s unclear whether the Ace 6 Ultra is specifically designed to take advantage of this active cooling system, or whether the fan simply takes the heat generated by the device and pushes it away, but either way, it’s an intriguing design. I’m curious to see testers put it through its paces and identify what effect it has on performance, if any. The controller also comes with a USB-C port, so you can charge your phone while it’s inside the case.
Credit: OnePlus
Of course, the main omissions here are the buttons and joysticks. Although there are four triggers, you’re still entirely dependent on the phone’s touchscreen for the rest of your controls. Having dedicated triggers frees up screen real estate and probably makes it easier to play shooters and other trigger-intensive games, but it probably won’t appeal to gamers who rely on physical buttons, d-pads, and joysticks for their games. The advantage here is that this controller is much more compact than some controller accessories on the market. Compare the Gun God to something like the Backbone and you’ll see the difference. The former can be slipped into your pocket, while you would have difficulty storing the latter anywhere other than a bag.
What do you think of it so far?
Again, there are compact solutions on the market that include these additional buttons and sticks. Take the MCON, which is designed to fold into a sleek pocket size, like a PSP Go. It’s almost as convenient to carry around as the Gun God, but it also comes with all the buttons and joysticks you could want in a mobile gaming handheld. Also, it doesn’t depend on the phone.
Still, what OnePlus is doing here is very interesting. The Gun God launches on April 28, although it’s unclear when (or if) it will debut in the United States.
