Page 4 - Conclusion
Turtle Beach has made several good gamepads in the past and the Recon Cloud Controller builds on this foundation. Starting from the beginning, the Recon Cloud Controller is made well with a similar frame and quality to its OEM counterparts. The buttons feel tight and thumbsticks move smoothly, while triggers and paddles are satisfying to press. The circular D-pad provides a place to rest your thumb and can be used for diagonal presses. The back and underside buttons are textured well to help easily identify inputs while the grippy arms also help keep the controller in your hands for longer periods of gaming. Furthermore, its audio solution with its on-the-fly adjustments ensures you can make changes without any downtime. Its performance in game was also superb with no areas of concern. The vibration motors felt solid in its rumble. The biggest change with the Recon Cloud was the addition of its mobile support and wireless capabilities. This means we have a phone holder to secure your device physically and the controller supports Bluetooth connections. This works generally well with good range, but there are also a few notable drawbacks in this operation mode. For one, its actual tested battery life of 6.5 hours was not even close to the quoted 30 hours. Secondly, you will not have any of the audio enhancements or vibration. Thirdly, having a phone attached makes the Turtle Beach Recon Cloud top heavy, which leads to wrist strain and fatigue. Finally, the lack of wireless support for either Xbox consoles or iOS devices is disappointing. Overall, I am glad to see a wireless version of Turtle Beach's excellent gamepads, but the execution today has its flaws. At the time of the review, this controller retails for around $100 USD, which is expected given the improved feature set. If Turtle Beach were to improve on their execution of its wireless capabilities and use case, I think we would have a true winner in our hands.
Turtle Beach provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.2/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The Turtle Beach Recon Cloud Controller is a solid gamepad that could use refinement in its wireless execution.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
