Fellow Gamers! The time of sweaty, slippery hands is over. At least if you’re using a controller for gaming that is. Smartgrip is a young startup company from Hamburg, Germany, and they bring to you a controller grip cover that is washable and made of fabric.
So what’s the deal with Smartgrip?
I’ve been using grip accessories for my controllers before and usually they are made of some kind of texturized plastic or silicone that gets glued up on the actual controller. Some work okay and some others are not so good. Seeing the Smartgrip product by the startup of the same name piqued my interest.
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The product is made of 55% cotton and flexible materials with the goal of providing gamers with good grip but also making sure that there is good airflow. Any moisture that would commonly be produced when gaming with controllers evaporates and exits through the non-covered areas. They also gave the inside of the Smartgrip a special coating, done by a partner company, to make sure the grip cover will remain firmly in its place and not wiggle around as you play. Plus – It looks super cool.
Does it do its job?
I would say it is definitely better than playing without any kind of grip accessory at all and the feeling is better than most that I’ve come across before. There is a bit of contra as it is a bit difficult to put on the controller at first but if you’ve managed to deploy it properly, it remains firmly in its place and gives some nice extra grip and you get sweaty hands no longer, no matter how hard the boss fight might be.
Personally, I use controllers with battery packs and a charging station. Unfortunately, the fabric is a wee bit too thick for the station and therefore I can’t charge the controller just as is. In order to bypass that, I just removed the battery pack from the controller and charged it separately. I would not want to blame Smartgrip for that though, as this is part of my personal setup only. In my books, it definitely does its job well.
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Pricing and versions?
There are currently two types of Smartgrip being the version for the PS4 and the version for the Xbox One. Both versions come in options for different colors too and it’s worth noting that the Xbox One controller is also compatible with PCs and Laptops. The PS4 grip cover currently costs 19.95 EUR (22,25 USD) and the Xbox variant is available for slightly more, due to a more complex production requirement, at 24.95 EUR (27.83 USD).
Summary
Using Smartgrip is a nice and fresh experience. It does not feel off at all. It lives up to the marketing promises and I am sure that they will keep improving this product with great potential even further. It’s a bit hard to set up but so are any glue-on, sticky alternative products. If there was also a solution to make them work with charging stations, they’d be ideal for me. Perhaps we can get that feature in the next product iteration. I will keep an eye on Smartgrip, the gaming startup from Hamburg, in Germany.
YouTube: Smartgrip® | The GRIP 2.0
Photo credit: All material shown is owned by Smartgrip GmbH.
Editorial notice: We have been provided with a test unit of this product and tested it out on an Xbox One Controller. This review has been prepared after three gaming sessions each approximately four hours long. Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. Without additional cost to you, we might earn a commission, if you decide to purchase something.
