There’s no denying that the Analogue Pocket has been a huge success, it’s the handheld everyone wants, and for good reason, it’s crafted with perfection and plays a wide range of cartridges alongside flawless FPGA emulation.
For readers who have been around for some time now, you may remember that we reviewed the original PWRUP Grip, an independently made grip designed to make the Analogue Pocket more comfortable for longer periods of time, created in early 2023.
The team behind it made a respectable first version and sold over 2,000 units worldwide, allowing them to work on the second iteration that tweaks some of the areas that their community advised on, and that’s what I have here today.
The PWRUP Grip 2.0 is certainly an upgrade from the previous version, featuring a sleeker design, better plastic, a metal backplate but unfortunately an upgraded price tag comes with it too.
What’s New?
Meet the PWRUP Grip 2.0, a refined version of their original grip catered to slide in your handheld with style, adding grips to each side with continued access to your ports and slots.
A lot has changed with the latest iteration, many improvements has happened and it’s great to see that the team are taking reviewers comments seriously. A comparison image from the back gives you a better look at what has changed.
Firstly, the grips themselves are much bigger and are far more comfortable because of it, the foam padding now wraps around the entirety of the grip, including the bottom too, leaving no finger… ungripped?
The foam padding isn’t the most premium admittedly, and because it’s thin it’s easy for scuffs, scrapes and cuts to become permanent. My recommendation here would be to use a fake leather of some kind, this will feel much more premium and is a far more durable material. After testing mine for just a week I am already seeing cuts in the foam which makes the grip look cheap or heavily used.
I understand why they use this type of foam material, because it’s cheap and likely flexible enough to cover the whole grip, but because every other area is well designed and feels strong in the hand it frustrates me that this is the only area that stops this product from being superb.
I critique this material so aggressively because it feels like it’s came straight from a Kinder Egg toy and they have also increased the price of the grip from $49.99 to $59.99 which puts this grip in an entirely new category compared to their first one.
At the top of the grips the plastic is now curved, allowing a space for your fingers to rest comfortably, previously this was not the case. Between those curved finger rests you will now find a metal backplate which was originally plastic before.
This is a great premium touch and is branded nicely. This metal plate gives the grip a lot more sturdiness adding a premium touch to the grip that was needed. The metal is attached to the plastic grips via screws which will be covered with foam on retail units unlike our sample here.
These screws are located on the inside, and at first I was worried that they would protured and damage the Pocket, but they are dipped into the plastic slightly so that it doesn’t touch your device.
The handheld sits on a foam padding which helps slide your Analogue Pocket in and out with ease, this placement is much stiffer than before, I remember vividly being able to shrug the handheld out of the original version, but it’s very hard to do so on the 2.0 edition.
It’s still possible with enough force, but I am now comfortable with how the Pocket sits inside this grip, there’s very little worry that it will slide it, unless you really go to throw it like a boomerang…
The PWRUP team could have added two little retractable knobs that clip into the battery screw holes for extra security if customers want it to be even more secure, if that’s the case then I can imagine those would be added in a third iteration, but they’re not needed in my opinion.
The front of the grip features four small arms that are also covered in foam, these keep your device tucked in nicely, and guide your Pocket into place.
Because it’s made of plastic and a little bit of metal the PWRUP Grip 2.0 is incredibly light, adding very little weight to your Analogue Pocket. I have also tested their carry case too, it’s cheap and adds a bit of extra padding for when you’re transporting both the grip and the handheled.
Overall Opinion
This is a great upgrade from the previous grip and I respect the PWRUP team for taking their community comments seriously, so much so that they’re designing a whole new product. I mentioned in my previous review that PWRUP cut corners on their last design, those corners have now been refined.
This feels like a real product now instead of a 3D printed project produced in a basement. It’s modern design fits well with the device, adding a new level of playability to the handheld which certainly helps long gaming sessions.
If this was priced at $49.99 like the original I would have highly recommended this to anyone that owns an Analogue Pocket, but the new price of $54.99 pushes this slightly away from a “unconscious” purchase, even if it is an extra $5.
Because of that I just can’t let that foam material fly, it needs to be changed and it’s the only major negative of the whole product in my opinion.
I highly respect the team behind this product, it’s obvious they are taking this seriously, and its come a long way in just over a year. I am excited to see what else they do in the space, because there’s certainly other devices that deserve the PWRUP treatment, for example the PlayDate, but before they do that, one more iteration could make this grip a must buy.
