Nacon MG-X Review

Manufacturer: Nacon
Where to Buy: Nacon
RRP: £85.29

Cloud gaming is here to stay, and while there have been some non-starters (Onlive, Stadia anyone?), I have to say that so far I’ve been pretty impressed with Xbox’s Cloud Gaming solution via Game Pass Ultimate. It can still suffer from the woes of a slow connection or intermittent drop outs, but on the whole the service has performed admirably. I’ve found myself using it more and more lately thanks to my kids hogging both my Series X and S, and so was looking for a decent way to control the games themselves. I’ve tried the controller clip that was given out at X019 which is fine, if a bit unwieldy, and the touch controls are very hit and miss depending one what I’m playing. Controller grips such as this Nacon MG-X though? Let’s get into it.

As you can see from the pictures below, initial looks line up to be something similar to the Nintendo Switch in terms of form factor. Indeed, with my Samsung A50 gripped in, it ends up being exactly as wide and high, albeit a little lighter to hold than the Switch. A recent upgrade to a Samsung A32 5G means the unit stretches to maximum reach to hold it and the case, with it supporting screen sizes of up to 6.7″. The MG-X‘s left section pulls out to accommodate the phone, with a pleasingly strong grip action holding the device in place firmly.

Connecting via Bluetooth to the phone, the MG-X has it’s own battery that needs charging up. This can last for up to 20 hours, with the included USB-C cable needed to charge it up when we’ve played for too long. We can still play when the unit is charging handily too. There’s no way to also charge the phone while it’s in the MG-X due to the charging port on the bottom being covered by the grip, though thanks to the Bluetooth connection it’s fully possible to have the phone out of the MG-X and still use it to play.

So it connects and holds the phone well, but how does it actually feel to use? Well, in all honesty much like a Switch/Xbox controller hybrid – that is to say, it’s very good. Much like the Switch, larger hands might struggle a little with getting a comfortable position for long periods, but overall I found using it to be easy and comfortable for the most part. The sticks are nice and responsive, and though they are convex (think PS3 style) they had a decent amount of grip on them, meaning I didn’t find them to be too slippery as I usually do with convex sticks. The d-pad is passable, with a classic cross design perfect for platformers, though fighting games might prove to be trickier thanks to a lack of physical diagonal inputs.

The standard ABXY button layout is nicely placed, with each button having a satisfying amount of click and pressure to them. The Guide, View and Start buttons are nicely placed to allow ease of use too, but as with all cloud gaming there’s no need for a capture button here. So far, so good, which is where we come to the triggers and bumpers. The latter have a great click to them, but I found them to be slightly weirdly placed, almost recessed too far into the shoulder of the MG-X. A standard Xbox pad has them raised above the triggers, and so I think this is more that it’s different to what I’m used to than anything, but I did find them a little tricky to use in the heat of the moment.

The triggers are a mixed bag for me too. On the one hand the are nicely placed, falling under my fingers naturally. They are fully analogue too, unlike the Switch, allowing for fine control in titles like Forza. My issue with them though is that the springs used to bring them back into place are very strong. So much so that repeatedly pressing them became somewhat of a pain after a short while. They’re responsive for sure, and far better than most other grips I’ve tried, but that stiffness didn’t let up across all the time I used the MG-X. When reviewing Flynn: Son of Crimson I found repeatedly using them for his special attack was far trickier than I would have liked, while a go of Halo: MCC made the combat slightly more uncomfortable than it could have been.

Of course, cloud streaming is still far from perfect, but even when it was having slight issues the MG-X held up well. I found it perfectly suited to 2D action games and platformers thanks to the great d-pad and buttons. Again, FPS titles struggled a little due to inherent cloud streaming issues and those stiff triggers, but even then general control was nice and responsive. In fact, I found myself forgetting I was even cloud streaming at times, the MG-X felt almost like a natural Xbox-centric handheld device. Again, with a similar form factor the Switch it was a joy to use, and it’ll be my go to for any all cloud gaming going forward for sure.

Conclusion

The MG-X is overall a great bit of kit, and makes cloud gaming much more enjoyable. The battery life, ease of use, and general feel to the controller had me reaching for the cloud far more often than I have done in the past. The slightly awkward and stiff shoulder buttons aside, as long as you’ve a decent connection to the cloud then the MG-X will feel just as good as playing on the console.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.