{"id":1558,"date":"2025-10-29T22:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/this-magnetic-controller-brings-game-boy-style-controls-to-your-smartphone\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T22:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:37:08","slug":"this-magnetic-controller-brings-game-boy-style-controls-to-your-smartphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/this-magnetic-controller-brings-game-boy-style-controls-to-your-smartphone\/","title":{"rendered":"This magnetic controller brings Game Boy-style controls to your smartphone"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A person holds the Abxylute M4 Snap-On controller while playing a game on a smartphone.\" data-caption=\"Abxylute\u2019s M4 Snap-On phone controller trades clamps for magnets. | Image: Abxylute\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: Abxylute\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/abxylute1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" \/><figcaption>\n\tAbxylute\u2019s M4 Snap-On phone controller trades clamps for magnets. | Image: Abxylute\t<\/figcaption><\/p><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Abxylute, a company known for its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/report\/763957\/abxylute-will-actually-sell-intel-and-tencents-gigantic-glasses-free-3d-handheld\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/report\/763957\/abxylute-will-actually-sell-intel-and-tencents-gigantic-glasses-free-3d-handheld\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Android-based handhelds<\/a>, has announced a new compact mobile controller for smartphones. Unlike controllers from companies like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/games\/661382\/the-new-backbone-pro-could-be-the-one-controller-for-all-your-gaming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Backbone<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2024\/10\/25\/24279435\/8bitdo-ultimate-mobile-gaming-controller-android-hall-effect\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">8BitDo<\/a> that use an expanding mechanism to clamp onto phones, <a href=\"https:\/\/abxylute.com\/products\/abxylute-snap-on-mobile-gamepad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abxylute\u2019s smaller and lighter M4 Snap-On controller<\/a> uses a Q-shaped mount to magnetically attach to mobile devices that are compatible with Apple\u2019s MagSafe or the Qi2 standard, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/analysis\/762711\/pixel-10-qi2-magnets-pixelsense\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">now includes Google\u2019s Pixel 10 series<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Like clamp-on controllers, Abxylute\u2019s new game pad is designed to be used with phones in a horizontal orientation, but it positions the controls beneath the screen, instead of splitting them up on either side. Those controls include a D-pad, ABXY action buttons, a pair of shoulder buttons, two tiny joysticks, and additional navigation buttons including quick access to a home screen.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/abxylute2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" alt=\"The Abxylute M4 Snap-On controller pictured in three color options.\" title=\"The Abxylute M4 Snap-On controller pictured in three color options.\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"&lt;em&gt;When the M4 Snap-On\u2019s Kickstarter launches in early November the controller will be available in gray, orange, and translucent black color options.&lt;\/em&gt; | Image: Abxylute\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: Abxylute\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Abxylute says the controller\u2019s rechargeable battery will be good for up to 13 hours of use, and that magnetic mount can be removed entirely if you want to use the M4 as a standalone wireless controller with other devices. Exactly which devices and consoles the M4 will be compatible with aren\u2019t known yet, but more details will be revealed when the company launches a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/1932181238\/m4-snap-on-magnetic-phone-controller-for-anytime-pocket-play\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign<\/a> in early November. Pricing for the earliest backers is expected to be as low as $39, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.notebookcheck.net\/Abxylute-s-Snap-on-Controller-to-launch-on-Kickstarter-for-39-and-be-available-in-orange.1148691.0.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to <em>Notebookcheck<\/em><\/a>, but <em>The Verge<\/em> has reached out to Abxylute to confirm what pricing will be for those who\u2019d rather wait until general availability, and will update this story accordingly.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abxylute\u2019s M4 Snap-On phone controller trades clamps for magnets. | Image: Abxylute Abxylute, a company known for its Android-based handhelds, [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}