Phistone Switch Joycon Gaming Holder

Hardware Type: Grip

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Review:

(Note: This product was received at no cost for review via the Amazon Vine program.)

(Note: Just to avoid confusion, I want to make it clear that this is NOT a product for use with the Nintendo Switch hybrid console. This is a product to use with Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers and your smartphone.)

This is going to be one of my more unusual reviews, I think. And it’s not even just because I am reviewing a product for smartphones when I tend to stick to products for Nintendo platforms. This product made me feel stupid, because it revealed to me something I didn’t know in the eight years the Nintendo Switch has been out – Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons can pair with your smartphone. That’s not something this product does, that’s something that Joy-Cons can do right out of the box. How did I never hear about this?

With this being the case, they seem ideally-situated for use with a smartphone grip made to fit Joy-Con controllers, and that is exactly what the Phistone Switch Joycon Gaming Holder is. Either by clamping on to either side of your phone or tablet, or attaching to a MagSafe spot on the back of your device, Phistone’s grip latches on to your phone, and then you can slide the Joy-cons in to either side just as you would do on a Nintendo Switch console, or in a standard Joy-Con Grip.

All of the devices I have for use with this device don’t have MagSafe, so I wasn’t able to test this feature, but even though this is a highly-touted feature, it isn’t necessary for use. In fact, once I got this device to clamp down on either side of my phone (still in its protective case, no less), it was extremely sturdy and secure – I could turn it upside-down and shake it, and neither the phone nor the Joy-Con controllers jostled loose. It was reasonably comfortable to play too, though the odd shape of the thing made it a tad cumbersome.

Players worried about sliding the Joy-Cons into and out of this device needn’t be concerned, either. The rails used on either side fit the Joy-Cons perfectly, and they slid on and off as smooth as butter. And since this device doesn’t require any direct connection or installation on your phone, the only setup involved is purely physical.

That’s where I ran into problems, actually.

The (presumably spring-powered) extending arms of the device extend out enough to accommodate a mobile tablet, but the tension on this thing is crazy, making it a nightmare to keep open long enough to fit your device inside it. For my phone, I had to extend both sides, which meant I needed both my hands pulling on either side, and then I either needed assistance from someone else to get the phone in, or I needed to get creative and push my phone in using my mouth or something.

What’s more, while this device advertises how devices using it can swivel into different orientations, you will only be able to make use of that feature if your device has MagSafe, or if it’s wide enough to fit in the clamps. My device was neither, so I couldn’t test this feature.

I suppose this review might have been very different if I had a MagSafe phone, but without such a device, I had to make use of the other method of holding my smartphone, and doing so with the Phistone Switch Joycon Gaming Holder just did not feel worth the effort, especially if this is a device you intend to put on and take off every time you go from using your phone as a phone to using your phone for gaming and vice versa. As loose and inelegant as it is, I think you’re probably better off just keeping your Joy-Cons loose and balancing your phone on a table or something.

tl;dr – The Phistone Switch Joycon Gaming Holder allows you to attach your Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons to either side of your smartphone or tablet to use them to play games on that device. It’s a great idea in theory, but in practice it requires that you either have a MagSafe device, or that you struggle with the overly-powerful clamp that’s a pain to put on and take off. Unless you’re MagSafe equipped, you’re better off just using your Joy-Cons loose.

Grade: C-

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