I’m all about retro gaming accessories, especially if it looks like a Game Boy. Elago have created numerous Game Boy styled accessories in the past, I still have their AirPod case which looks like one and their Apple Watch stand, but now there’s an accessory to charge your iPhone, which coincides well with the recent release of emulators on iOS.
Meet the “Magnetic W5 Stand“… a boring name I know, but for legal reasons they can’t actually state that it’s a Game Boy because Nintendo will be Nintendo and they’ll undoubtedly throw a cease and desist their way.
At just $35 this won’t break the bank, making it a great price for those that want to gift yourselves or friends. The stand itself is made of 100% silicone which surprised me, as I presumed it would be plastic, it makes it very flexible and immune to bumps, scratches or breaking if transported.
Because of the flexible material used it’s incredibly easy to install your MagSafe charger, it can be massaged in with ease, and there’s a bottom part that lets you wrap around the excess cable, again making it very easy to install and remove.
The back of the Game Boy Advance SP removes, so it technically comes in two parts, once installed the back part gives the flexible front strength to keep your heavy iPhone at a good viewing angle.
The “screen” of the Game Boy Advance SP features a very thin silicone cover, thin enough that the magnets work on the charger and thin enough so that it can actually charge your iPhone. It also features a green “charging” icon so that it looks like the Game Boy is on, although I will mention it shows the green Game Boy DMG screen, not a coloured GBA SP screen… but that’s just me being picky!
In terms of detailing I am impressed with how close this compares to the original GBA SP. It’s slightly smaller in general, but with a closer look it features the small concave in the center of the DPAD, the small 16 holes for the speaker grill, the light button, small text around the screen bezel, a sticker on the bottom, and the power/volume buttons are in the correct position too.
The angle of the mount is reasonable too, it does state that you can Facetime with it docked which yes you technically could, but the angle would force you quite far back from the iPhone itself, as it seems to angle itself at your chin rather than your face, so I wouldn’t buy this specifically for Facetiming, I prefer using it as a clock, or in calendar mode for example.
Overall, it does what it’s meant to do, and well, it’s a new addition to Elago’s line of Game Boy accessories and you can tell that they’ve designed this in house, keeping an eye on every little detail to keep retro gamers happy. It makes a great gift for those that use MagSafe charging and I look forward to seeing more retro inspired products from Elago.
