PowerA MOGA XP7-X Review

Manufacturer: Power A
Where to Buy: PowerA
RRP: $99.99 (or region equivalent)

Cloud gaming is here to stay, and if you’ve read any of my previous thoughts on my time with the service you’ll know I’ve been won over fully. Not just by the quality of the streaming, but the various peripherals that are out there to facilitate playing. The latest to drop by Tavern Towers is the PowerA MOGA XP7-X, and it is possibly the best solution I’ve yet used.

First impressions are everything, and as soon as I had it in my hands I knew I was in for something great. The weight is just right, a little heavier than other examples but not overly so thanks to the built in battery for not only the device, but also wirelessly charging our phone too. Button feel is spot on too – clicky enough without much in the way of stiffness or sponginess, while the sticks and bumpers are equally good. The triggers have a bit of stiffness to them, which I’m not sure I’m overly keen on. They function fine for the most part, featuring full analogue control, but I did find once or twice mid battle that I was needing to pull that bit harder to get a shot off.

All of this (other than the phones) is included in the box, with that stand neatly slotting within the controller when not in use

A key part of the XP7-X are the back buttons. This is the first device I’ve used to feature them for cloud gaming, and as a big fan of the Elite-style pads on console, I’m very pleased to see them here. Assigning them is simple thanks to the green button on the bottom of the device. We only get one button per side, but that’s better than none! It did take a little while to get used to the placement, mind. They fall under our ring finger rather than index or middle which is different to the standard placement. The form factor of the controller means this is the most logical place though, and again, I’m just glad we have the option on a cloud controller.

The handles pull out and latch around the phone with a solid grip, with my Samsung A32 pretty much maxing out the available width the XP7-X goes to (about 6 ½” end to end). Once the phone is in, the weight and balance feels great. The handles also feature a little bit of movement rather than being rigid in place, which I found to be nice for comfortability in different positions.

With Bluetooth enabled, it basically feels like holding a PowerA Switch, with the benefits of having the Xbox controller layout. In my time testing, I played Midnight Fight Express, Fortnite, Halo Infinite, and Turbo Golf Racing, and each title performed as we’d expect in terms of control feel. Again, those stiffer triggers made some moments in battle a tiny bit trickier, but outside of that I had no problems getting into whichever game I was playing, quite happily playing on this even when the home console was freed up.

Included in the box are a couple of USB cables, as well as a stand that nestles neatly between the controller grips when not in use. The latter allows us to prop our phone up while still being able to play, and the former means we can plug our phone in to play should the XP7-X’s battery have run out. I’ve used mine for around 10 hours at this point on a single charge with no signs of getting low on juice, though when using the wireless charging bank as well this will no doubt lower the overall lifespan. A handy button on the front lets us see how our charge is doing as well.

Conclusion

All in all, I’ve really enjoyed using the PowerA MOGA XP7-X for my cloud gaming needs. Other than some slightly stiffer triggers that take a bit of getting used to, this is an excellent device for those looking to take advantage of cloud or mobile gaming. With long battery life, wireless charging for your phone, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, and a great weight and feel, it’s gonna take something exceptional to beat this.

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Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.
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Good
  • Fantastic feel and weight
  • Easy to set up and use
  • Bluetooth and USB connections
  • Wireless charging for phones
  • Long battery life
Bad
  • Slightly stiff triggers
9.8
Excellent
Written by
I've been gaming since Spy vs Spy on the Master System, growing up as a Sega kid before realising the joy of multi-platform gaming. These days I can mostly be found on smaller indie titles, the occasional big RPG and doing poorly at Rainbow Six: Siege. Gamertag: Enaksan

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