In other words, it'll give you some juice, but don't expect to get a full charge out of it. That said, a shared 1800mAh battery isn't going to provide a lot of juice for most modern phones, which typically have internal batteries that are much larger than what's provided in the Hero. This is a massive improvement over the Pocket, which unfortunately used AAA batteries to power the controller. The Hero Power is packing an 1800mAh battery under its undersized shell, which serves as both the controller's primary power source and a means of charging your phone while you play. Still, they feel weird and are just too mushy for my taste.
I don't really like the way they feel, but I'm still glad they're along for the ride since they were missing on last year's controller. My one complaint about the buttons is actually with the L2/R2 triggers: they feel more spongy than springy, which is an odd sensation. Overall the Hero feels a lot more grown up than last year's model, which is nice. Rounding out the button differences here, the Hero's XYBA keys are slightly larger and more tactile, so they feel better. The Hero also has two sets of shoulder buttons now, as opposed to the single set on the Pocket. Start and select have been moved to either side of the arm that holds the phone, which feels far more natural. Directly below the left joystick is now a D-Pad, instead of that weird cluster of buttons with start, select, and the MOGA keys. Fun fact: I like doing controller reviews just so I can use the word "clicky."įor example, the joysticks are now raised and clickable (like a joystick should be), instead of the strange recessed joystick on the Pocket. The button configuration on the Hero is also drastically different than last year's model, in that it not only has more buttons, but the existing ones have also been improved to be larger and more clicky. It's not so much larger than it becomes difficult to carry, however â it's still very much a pocket-sized, on-the-go controller. The first noticeable difference is the size â the Hero is longer, thicker, and wider than the Pocket, which gives it a more comfortable feel when playing.
Before we get to that, though, let's take a look at what the Hero offers, and exactly what's different from last year's model. As much progress that's been made, however, there's still some work to be done. All of the annoyances with last year's model â like the need for replaceable batteries, the non-clicky joysticks, and lack of a D-pad â have been fixed. The Hero Power is basically re-vamped version of the MOGA Pocket (the original MOGA), and holy crap it is so much better.