If you’ve been following 8BitDo long enough, you’ll know they’ve been producing and selling small controllers for the longest time. From the Zero and Zero 2 to the Micro and Lite controllers. But rather than just sell you a clip to put on your phone to hold a controller, 8BitDo has decided now is the time to release a dedicated controller for your phone. And that’s in the form of the FlipPad.
Originally shown off at CES earlier this year, the 8BitDo FlipPad is a controller that wraps around the base of your phone and turns it into the perfect device for basic emulation needs. With the standard face button and dpad layout you also get L1/R1 and L2/R2 all placed on the front of the device to act as your “shoulder” buttons. And unlike Gamesir’s Pocket Taco; this one is fully wired in thanks to the USB-C connector on the bottom, but that means some devices may not work as well if they have an offset port.
The interesting bit of information thanks to 8BitDo’s webpage for the FlipPad is that they’ve given a proper rating for both openings and closes, as well as for the insertions on the USB-C plug. Both of which are rated for 6,000 and 10,000 respectively. If that longevity matters to you, be sure to take that for what it is.
Weighing just 32 grams with both iOS and Android compatibility, the 8BitDo FlipPad is available for preorder over on their website directly, though I bet it will hit Amazon soon enough. If you’ve got $30, and the patience to wait until July 30th for them to ship, the FlipPad seems like it could be a great alternative to the Pocket Taco, which just launched it’s atomic purple colorway on their website recently.
