My New Gift ft Banggood Car Charger & MOCUTE 050 Bluetooth Gamepad

I really wanted to test out this controller because it reminded me of the Moga Hero. What was lacking from first sight was the ability to charge or extend the battery of your device while using the controller. So far I think that Moga has that feature on lock because no one else is doing it. I was curious to see if the size was the same. A few other products I’ve reviewed looked a lot smaller online and then when I got them, they were bigger then I was expecting. I know that there are measurements online and that I should look at them before I order something but I don’t.

OK, I was surprised that this controller was almost identical in size when compared to the Moga Hero. Mocute has done a great job at replicating the overall size of one of the best pocketible controllers on the market. It has the ABXY buttons, dual analogs (with clickable buttons), D-pad, four shoulder buttons and start/select. It also has the power button and a mode button (for mouse and a few other features I don’t use). So the size of the controller in hand is comfortable and all the buttons/sticks were in thumbs reach. The cradle was solid and secured my G4 without fear of my phone slipping out. The overall build of the Mocute-50 seemed solid.

Pairing the Mocute-50 to my phone and tablet was simple, like I said there are various other modes but I only used the “Android Gamepad Mode” in this review. There did not seem to be game deterring lag. All BT controllers have a small amount of acceptable lag and the Mocute-50 did not miss that beat. I did not struggle to bind the keys on all emulators from NES to Dreamcast and even Retroarch. Holding the controller in hand was not a problem. The controller is small but not uncomfortable, no cramps here. For the record both of my device are stock, LG G4 running 6.0 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 running 4.2.2.

The buttons are not stellar; there are a lot of better ABXY buttons on other controllers (especially from Ipega). I would compare these buttons to the set that is on the Beboncool Classic. If you read my review on that one, you’ll know that I hated them. They protrude a little too much from the face of the controller and they are convex like the old Xbox controllers. So on short plays this is not a problem but after 15 to 20 minutes I was feeling the uncomfortable dull pain in my thumb from pressing on these ABXY buttons. Rolling your thumb over the buttons is also a problem, I played some Megaman X and had a rough time jumping and shooting, especially while charging the X buster before jumps. Driving games were unbearable, from excitebike to Driver 2, it was taxing using these ABXY buttons while pressing down for 3-6 minutes at a time.

The analog sticks were well made in my opinion. It’s something that stands out on the Mocute-50 from the Moga Hero is the analogs. They are full sized analog sticks and feel very good, comparible to Xbox 360 in tightness. Only down side to that, it makes the controller less pocketible or more like not pocketible what so ever. The oversensitivity problem similar to the ipega is also present here, where the stick is fully thrown at about60-70 percent from the stopping point but the stick responded well and the sensitivity is really not that bad. The clicking L3/R3 responded well and there seemed to be no other issues using the analogs.

I wish that Moga and other Manufacturers would take note on the layout and execution of the Mocute-50 shoulder bumpers and triggers. Here is another pleasant difference from the Hero. The Mocute-50 has a very similar design to the Hero but they decided to not make their triggers squishy and actually make them respond well to pressure and feel responsive when pressed. I applaud Mocute for making their triggers so well. But there was a problem. I don’t know which side the problem was on because when I ran a controller tester app the shoulder buttons were identified correctly but when playing Modern Combat 5 the R/L were switched. So firing was done from the left and iron sights from the right. Very very weird.

The absolute worst thing about this controller (and really such a shame because I could have looked past other flaws) is the D-pad. Each direction feels like it’s separate for one another and they stick out too far from the face of the controller. If you’re pressing a single direction then there is no problem. The problem presents itself when you’re rolling from forward to down and any other direction. It killed my thumb and I felt like I was going to get a blister after about 10 minutes with various fighting games. Maybe the problem could be remedied if the shortened the amount by which the direction button sticks out from the face of the controller, I don’t know. This was by far the worst D-pad ever and I mean ever! I tried to like this D-pad I really did because I think that the controller looks good and rights some of the wrong from the Moga Hero. Unfortunately I cannot look past the blister inducing D-pad. I literally had to stop playing with this controller after 10 minutes of KOF2000 because I was trying so hard to get my inputs rights (and I was getting the inputs) that the side of my thumbs was red, inflamed, and throbbing. I am ranting on this D-pad because (I’ve said before) I think that a Solid D-pad is essential for retro gaming. Missing inputs or blistering pain because of a bad controller can kill the experience and that was the case with the Mocute-50.

It’s a shame. I wanted this controller to be good; I really really wanted to like this controller. It is just the D-pad that is keeping me from suggesting this controller to anyone. If you were going to get it for dirt cheap and I mean like 10 bucks with shipping, then I’d say get it if you need a controller, if you already have one, want a back-up or if you’re getting this for someone else? Pass on it. The Triggers were great and I could deal with the painful ABXY buttons, the analogs work pretty good but the D-pad is where Mocute dropped the ball and shot this controller into the back of my drawer.