8bitDo Micro Controller: a 6/10 controller, but a 9/10 creative peripheral

Meet the teeniest tiniest "controller" you never knew you needed in your creator's tool kit.

As a controller the 8BitDo Micro Controller is... lacking. It's decent enough for basic waiting room retro gaming on a phone or tablet, a solid choice for Pokemon or Harvest Moon, but once you hit a more intense game like a Mario or Kirby title it's adorably tiny size becomes it's biggest drawback. At roughly 4" x 2" it lives up to it's name, but the space between buttons is micro sized too. Accidentally mashing down on the d-pad is a constant cause of death in MarioLand 2 so this thing's safety rated for low speed cozy retro games only. For PC or console games you should just stick with your standard controller.

Where the Micro Controller does shine is it's "secondary" function, it can be used as a peripheral that's been pretty amazing for creative work. It has two modes; "gamepad" and "keyboard." In "keyboard" mode all 16 buttons are programable through 8bitDo's "Ultimate Software" application on phone, tablet, PC, and Mac. You have tons of freedom over hotkey setup, and you can keep saved layouts to switch between as needed. It was a great companion for Fresco, and I found it exceptionally useful when video editing. Holding it like a remote control in your non-dominant hand mostly let's you leave your keyboard behind in FCPX or CapCut. Between the Micro and a trackpad I was able to forgo my desk chair's ergonomics and enjoy that cozy scrunched up position that'll hurt my back later.

My biggest takeaway is that 8BitDo should drop the word "controller" from the name. To me that felt like its secondary function. I's an incredibly strong 9/10 as a peripheral device but only 6/10 as a controller due to the limitations of its size. At $24.99 it's price is a major redeeming factor for the "retro cozy" camp, however I'd most recommend it to any digital creator looking to streamline their process, and for that use case it's price is a steal.

Review by Mika Reed

@MikaReedWrites | MikaReedWrites@gmail.com

Photos courtesy of 8BitDo.com