The Analogue Pocket has now been rolled out to most of its customers, with shorter shipping times for those that are buying one in 2023.
With the large numbers of orders now out in the wild, companies are seeing the potential to take advantage of that, one company being PWRUPNow, an accessory company that is building a grip for the Analogue Pocket.
PWRUP were nice enough to send over a first concept of the grip to show Retro Dodo readers.
At first, I was a little disappointed with the build quality, but I needed to remind myself that this is a very early 3D printed concept, and their team assured me that “we’re working on a second generation model that will have a higher quality fit and finish”.
I must mention to be somewhat wary of products like this, many companies use media attention to receive revenue before the product even exists, using cheap “concepts” to grow attention and revenue before much of the product planning has been done.
I am not saying PWRUP is doing this, I simply recommend waiting for the real product to be released before spending your hard earned cash, as you/we don’t know what the final product will look/feel like.
Putting that aside the grip fits the Analogue Pocket perfectly, and installation is as simple as sliding the console into the grip which is stopped by pads at the bottom.
I was originally a bit wary of sliding it on at first, but it didn’t scuff, scratch or give any resistance when pushing the device into the grip.
It holds it with enough force to be able to swing it around lightly. That said i did try holding it upside down over a pillow to see if a forceful shake would release it and it did infact release after two shakes.
So it’s tight enough for me to feel comfortable holding it by my side or walking with it, but i just needed to mention that it’s not completely “locked in”.
The grips on either side are very large and are incredibly comfortable. They are well rounded and allow my fingers to sit nicely on the shoulder buttons on the back of the console.
However, the current grip material used is incredibly cheap, so cheap that it feels like I could peel it off with some glue. It feels like a really low quality yoga mat.
The same goes for the material used inside the grip, its a very small amount of padding. A rubber material on the inside would probably give better “hold” results.
The same goes for the sides, you can see that it’s a obvious 3D printed sample, so there’s excess plastic all around the corners and lips, but again this is the early concept before their main product gets produced.
It makes the Analogue Pocket feel like a modern day games controller, the design is near-perfect and adds long term comfort to a very squared handheld.
All they need to do now is match this product with the Analogue Pocket’s build quality, install high quality rubber with a minimal design and perhaps find a way that allows the grip to stand up when placed on a desk.
A extra of adding flared shoulder buttons wouldn’t go amiss too!
This will be hard because the device sits high up within the grip making it very top heavy.
If you look past the build quality, PWRUP have designed a very nice grip for the Analogue Pocket. It adds much needed comfort, offers a little bit of protection, keeps access to all buttons/ports and allows you to play on your portable device for longer periods of time.
They have already sold over 300 units of this prototype on Etsy, so there is a demand for it, they just need to finalise the materials and build quality before we can recommend it.
The PWRUP Analogue Pocket grip is retailing for £35/$35 at this moment in time, as mentioned before, we highly recommend waiting out until their second generation model.
Whats your thoughts? Too early to tell, or is it something you’re eager to snag?
