This tiny gaming controller is surprisingly good, and it costs just $20

I started using mobile controllers over the course of the last year with my phones. The ability to dock your phone or tablet to a mobile controller and play games is pretty great, but as much as I like GameSir's G8 Plus, it's not very portable — you can't take it around in your pocket.

That's where CRKD's Atom comes in. This is easily the smallest controller I ever used, and while I initially thought it was gimmicky, that isn't the case now that I used the product for a month. Even though it's astonishingly tiny, it actually feels great to hold and use, and the diminutive size makes it effortless to take anywhere. The best part is that it costs just $20 on Amazon.

The controller has a D-pad, four action buttons, and you even get four shoulder-mounted triggers. Connecting it to your phone over Bluetooth is about as straightforward as it gets; just press down the CRKD logo and it goes into pairing mode (the device shows up as Pro Controller). As it is a regular Bluetooth controller, you can use it with your phone, tablet, PC, Switch, and your TV.

Considering the size of the Atom, I used it predominantly with my phone. I played hours of Balatro using this controller, and it held up great; the D-pad and buttons have good feedback, and even the shoulder triggers have decent tactility — something I didn't think would be the case.

I also like the color scheme of the controller; I got the Glacier Blue model, and it has a see-through design that showcases the internals, including the switches behind the triggers. There are eight colors in total, so you get a decent amount of customizability in that area.

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The controller is made out of plastic, and build quality is great; my 19-month-old loves taking this controller and mashing the buttons, and she occasionally throws it around. After a month of extensive use, the Atom is still going strong. The only thing I'll mention in this regard is that if you're going to hook the Atom to a keyring, it will pick up scratches. Outside of that, there are no problems with the design or build quality of the controller, and having used it with the Honor Magic 7 Pro and Vivo X200 Pro, I didn't see any issues while gaming.

Obviously, you're limited in the games that you can play with the controller as you don't get any thumbsticks. That said, it did a decent job in retro titles as well, but there were instances where buttons wouldn't register, and there's no way to manually program buttons in titles like you get with most mobile gaming controllers.

The Atom lasts over eight hours on a charge, and it charges via USB-C. There's no fast charging, so the controller takes nearly two hours to charge the battery. Given the intended use case, battery life isn't a limitation on the device.

Overall, the Atom is pretty decent if you want a controller you can take anywhere. I thought it was too small to be usable, but that thankfully isn't the case, and the build quality and tactility of the buttons is much better than I imagined. This is a good choice if you need an affordable controller you can just carry around in your pocket.