CRKD has revealed the Atom, an adorable keychain controller that might just be the best mini peripheral that I’ve ever tried
Cute and collectable
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Gaming accessory brand CRKD has unveiled the Atom, an incredibly compact controller that would fit perfectly on a keychain. Yesterday I went hands-on with some early production samples at Gamescom and I think that it might just be one of the best mini controllers that I’ve ever tried.
The Atom is available to purchase now and is expected to ship later this month. It comes in a wide range of seriously eye-catching colors. There’s the retro inspired Pal Grey with brightly colored buttons, the CRKD Grey which features cute pink highlights, plus Leaf Green, Hot Pink, Sky Blue, and Yuzu Yellow which are all bright primary colors with delightfully contrasting black elements.
There are also two editions that make use of semi-transparent plastic: Atom Purple and, my personal favorite, Glacier Blue. Each Atom controller costs $19.99 / £19.99 and is compatible with Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile in addition to other Bluetooth devices such as Smart TVs. It features a ten hour battery life and USB-C charging, though I was most impressed by the sheer minuteness of the controller.
They are just 2.7in / 6.8cm long with a width of 1.4in / 3.5cm and a depth of 0.5 / 1.2cm. Pictures don’t really do the controller justice and they would be seriously easy to store in pocket or even keep attached to your keys. Every controller comes packaged with a small removable wrist strap too, which should help prevent it from getting lost when you’re out and about or from flying out of your hands in high octane gaming moments.
I spent some time playing with the Atom, using it for a round ofDisney Speedstormon mobile and a couple of races inMarioKart 8 Deluxeon Nintendo Switch. Though obviously a little affected by its size, the playing experience was still incredibly smooth.
This might not be a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller replacement, but it seems absolutely perfect if you’re after something relatively affordable that looks great and is highly portable while still offering plenty of functionality. Like other CRKD products, the Atom is also fully compatible with the CRKD true Collection System app, which allows owners to register their controllers as collectibles and reveal their unique product numbers and rarity ranks.
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Dash is a technology journalist who covers gaming hardware at TechRadar. Before joining the TechRadar team, he was writing gaming articles for some of the UK’s biggest magazines including PLAY, Edge, PC Gamer, and SFX. Now, when he’s not getting his greasy little mitts on the newest hardware or gaming gadget, he can be found listening to J-pop or feverishly devouring the latest Nintendo Switch otome.
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