This 56-Gram Phone Controller Fits in Your Pocket and Ships for $49

Phone gaming controllers fail at portability before they fail at anything else. The problem isn’t buttons or latency or compatibility across ecosystems. The problem is that most mobile controllers ask you to carry a secondary device that’s heavier, bulkier, and more annoying than the phone itself. Telescopic grips turn your phone into a brick. Clip-on mounts add enough bulk to kill the convenience that made mobile gaming worth considering in the first place. You want physical controls, but not enough to actually carry them. That gap has kept touchscreen gaming stuck in place for years.

Price: $49
Where to Buy: abxylute 

Abxylute built a controller designed specifically for that gap. The M4 weighs 56 grams, snaps magnetically to your phone, and fits in a jacket pocket without the usual compromises. It cleared its Kickstarter goal in under a minute, collected over $300,000 in backing, and now ships direct from abxylute’s site for $49. The pitch is straightforward: real buttons, zero bulk, no cradle required.

Connection happens over Bluetooth 5.3, and the attachment method depends on your device. iPhones use MagSafe alignment for the magnetic attachment. Android users and older iPhones get an adhesive ring that enables the same snap-on connection without MagSafe built in. Once attached, you rotate the phone into landscape and the M4 holds position without a case, cradle, or clip. Detaching takes half a second with one hand. Abxylute designed this for the twelve minutes before a flight boards, not for a dedicated gaming session at home. It works with iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming through three protocol modes: HID, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.

What Fits Inside Something the Size of a Card Wallet

The button layout follows Nintendo’s arrangement with a D-pad on the left and four face buttons in the ABXY diamond on the right. Shoulder buttons and triggers sit along the top edge. Two flat analog sticks use a sliding-disc design borrowed from the 3DS handheld concept. Smart button combos replace dedicated L3 and R3 buttons, and a Turbo function handles rapid-fire inputs when games require it.

Physics creates the main challenge for anything that mounts to the back of a phone. Abxylute positioned the D-pad and face buttons lower than typical controller placements so they overlap with the phone’s lower edge. This shifts the center of gravity downward and reduces the tipping force that causes top-heavy controllers to feel unstable during play. A machined aluminum ring at the center provides the magnetic mounting point and folds flat at 180 degrees to work as a tabletop kickstand. Battery life sits at 12 hours per charge. The included wrist strap adds a safety tether for moving sessions.

The anti-top-heavy design is abxylute’s attempt to solve the balance issue that has plagued magnetic phone accessories since MagSafe launched. Most snap-on controllers push weight above the phone’s midpoint, which creates a tipping effect that makes the whole assembly feel like it’s about to fall backward out of your hands. Shifting the buttons lower counteracts that by bringing the controller’s mass closer to where your palms naturally sit. The difference shows up immediately when you pick it up, because the weight distribution doesn’t fight your grip the way other magnetic controllers do.

Six Retro Colors and a Backorder Problem

The color lineup pulls directly from 1990s gaming hardware. NGC Indigo references the GameCube’s signature purple-blue. Atomic Purple is the transparent shell that dominated the Game Boy Color era and shows internal components through the plastic. Cosmic Orange, Phantom Black, Retro White, and Halo Green round out the options. The translucent variants tap into a design trend that peaked between 1997 and 2000 and has been cycling back through gaming hardware for the past two years.

Demand has outpaced supply on specific colors. Phantom Black and Atomic Purple are backordered with shipments expected by mid-March. Halo Green ships in March as well. NGC Indigo, Cosmic Orange, and Retro White remain in stock and ship within 24 hours from abxylute’s online store. Multi-unit packs of two, three, or four controllers are available if you want different colors, with a checkout note field for specifying which colors per unit. Abxylute also offers bundles that pair the M4 with a neck strap, protection bag, or the company’s One Pro adapter for wired connections.

Pricing and Who This Targets

The M4 lists at $49 on abxylute’s store, discounted from a $52 retail price. That sits below the Backbone One at $69.99 and the GameSir G8 Galileo at $79.99, both of which use physical mounts instead of magnetic attachment and weigh more. The magnetic approach removes port-specific compatibility constraints that lock competing controllers to either USB-C or Lightning exclusively.

Bluetooth rather than a physical port means one controller works across MagSafe iPhones, Android devices with the included magnetic ring, and console or PC connections without swapping adapters. Cross-platform support spans five ecosystems: iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. The M4 isn’t limited to phone-only duty the way port-dependent controllers are.

The target is people who play mobile games in short bursts and stopped carrying a controller because nothing available fit in a pocket without compromise. Commuters who reach for retro emulators during idle moments will recognize the use case. The Nintendo-style layout maps directly to classic game libraries and the growing catalog of retro titles available through subscription services and emulation apps. Platform coverage means the M4 follows you across devices instead of sitting idle between phone sessions.

Price: $49
Where to Buy: abxylute 

Orders are open now at abxylute.com with in-stock colors shipping within 24 hours. Backordered colors arrive by mid-March. All six options are priced at $49, and bundles with accessories are available at checkout.