Since Xbox moved their brilliant Game Pass plan to the cloud, mobile gaming has exploded. Granted, many would have been more than happy to use their mobile devices for fast, crisp gaming sessions for a few years, but with Game Pass titles available to play, full console experiences are finally possible on the small screen.
And since that push, a slew of gaming’s biggest accessory makers have jumped on board. Razer was the first with their Kishi for AndroidGameSir has provided gamers with a myriad of options, with the GameSir X3 their most recent, and PowerA has continued to fill the market with a myriad of different controller styles. In our view it is the PowerA MOGA XP7-X Plus which is the best mobile and cloud gaming controller yet, which can literally power up your mobile gaming.
Yes, the MOGA XP7-X Plus is That good.
Part of the appeal is what comes in the package. What you get here is a designed for Xbox mobile controller, one that allows you to play Game Pass titles – as well as most other mobile games – on your Android or Windows 10/11 device of your choice. While that may seem standard, it’s the sheer flexibility that sets this above most others currently available.
It seems about as close to an Xbox controller as you can get; at least of something especially suited to a big old mobile device smashed into the middle of it. Far from the quirkiness of the Razer Kishi and the Nintendo Switch vibes that the GameSir products exude, for many with the untrained eye, this could easily pass as an Xbox controller.
It’s about the same size as a standard Xbox wireless offering, only about a third longer in width to accommodate the fun it brings. But when it comes to knots, everything you could wish for – and a little more – is here. The usual Xbox Nexus button is in the house, as are the View and Menu buttons, a tactile d-pad and some of the best thumbsticks we’ve touched on a mobile controller. The device itself is black in color, but the sticks are detailed in Xbox green, hollow to ensure your thumbs never slip in the heat of battle. Very clickable for the L3 and R3 buttons, with a slight ridge on the top, we can’t get enough of how good these thumbsticks feel.
The usual Xbox orientation of the face buttons is also present, with the ABXY pushers feeling great to the touch. They also stick out nicely from the controller itself, easy to hit when you need them. Furthermore, the bumpers and triggers also feel extremely good and while they have no extra texture, the ergonomics make them ripe for a press. We are even more impressed by the low suspension travel and the very clickable nature of the bumpers in particular.
In addition, the PowerA MOGA XP7-X Plus also comes with two rear-mounted Advanced Gaming buttons, which can be programmed as you see fit. A simple push of a programming button on the bottom of the device, followed by a push of the button of your choice, followed by the advanced gaming button, means you can easily customize the controller to your liking – in just seconds, if you need to, the fly.
All in all, we have absolutely no complaints about how the MPGA XP7-X Plus is set up or how it feels. Maybe a little tacky, it could really pass as a standard Xbox controller.
Of course, for this controller to be of any use, you need to pair it with a device of your choice. Our daily driver is a Google Pixel 6 Pro cell phone, running Android, but we also tested with a Google Pixel 4a, Pixel 4XL and One Plus 8 Pro (albeit the latter in a caseless way). They all fit perfectly into this controller, thanks to the pull-and-slide options to fit – if you have a phone up to 181.1mm wide, you should be fine. We’ve even found that thanks to a few small tabs on the MOGA and some soft grippers inside, this controller holds our products better than any other mobile controller we’ve used before. It’s as if PowerA has really considered what it takes to give the user the very best gaming experience.
Connecting via Bluetooth has been our choice and the delay between pressing the button and the action on the screen was extremely minimal. We spent a few hours playing our Game Pass favorites like PowerWash Simulator and Forza Horizon 5 usually – on our mobile phones with this controller and although it can’t exactly replicate what is delivered through our Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S consoles, the Game Pass cloud play service works well. There’s also the option to switch the controller from Bluetooth to USB, making the most of the cables supplied in the box should you want to connect it to a PC running Windows 10/11. We’ve found this to be a bit more temperamental – oddly enough. Though that may be more due to our inner hatred of Windows.
Working that Bluetooth route and throwing our Pixel into the MOGA was a cinch; continuing to play without too much hassle was easy. Look, the MOGA XP7-X Plus has another trick up its sleeve, which is that the centerpiece of the controller, the plastic plate that sits directly behind the mobile and holds it in place, also doubles with wireless power bank capabilities – 2000 mAh of power when fully charged. Now, this will only be of use if your mobile has wireless charging built in, and then we think it will depend on where the wireless coil is placed in the device itself, but our Pixel 6 Pro luckily signed up for a fee because it delivered the gaming goodness we desire. It’s a brilliant little addition to the XP7-X Plus that helps sell it even more.
Do you think that’s enough? Think again, as PowerA has also included a mobile kickstand with the XP7-X Plus, so anyone who wants to play via tabletop mode can do so. This small piece of plastic fits neatly in the center of the device when not in use and slides out when the time comes. keep the Bluetooth connection to keep the game flowing. We suspect most of the time you’d want your mobile held firmly in the middle of the MOGA for the full cinematic experience, but for when the wireless power bank capabilities don’t make sense and you need to drop some power into your mobile, sticking it on the stand is perfect.
And perfect is almost what PowerA has created with the MOGA XP7-X Plus. Aside from a personal issue regarding the inclusion of a Micro-USB port on the device itself – hello, it’s 2022, we want USB-C everywhere – we’re struggling to find a single issue with the XP7. X Plus .
It’s a brilliantly well designed product, feels great in the hand and comes with some extremely tactile buttons. When you consider that it’s right behind the Designed for Xbox mantra and you add to that the flexibility – mobile in, mobile out, power bank charging, Bluetooth, USB, included kickstand – there’s not much more we could ask for from a mobile and cloud gaming controller.
Bravo Power A. Bravo.
Big thanks to PowerA for providing the MOGA XP7-X Plus Controller for review. If you want to grab a unit for yourself – and you will because it’s great – save PowerA straight away. You can also find it on Amazon.
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