8BitDo is releasing a peripheral device that will be ancillary to Xbox Series X|S’s media functionality.
For gamers, the label 8BitDo is a brand that is most popular for its third-party controllers. Be it a traditional gamepad wires, without wires, or even the adapters to establish a connection between a controller and a device. It even has a wireless mouse and speakers, too, as deviations from its staple offerings. If there is one thing that this Chinese brand is good at, it’s establishing connections between two devices through its products.
8BitDo’s latest creation, however, is a little different. While, yes, it still has that solid wireless connectivity capability, the purpose this time is not gaming. But rather as a controller for the Xbox One and Series X|S’s user-interface outside gaming. Dubbed the Media Remote, it comes in two variants—the longer black and the shorter white.
Light Variant
Coming in a more compact style, the white Media Remote features all the buttons a remote has. That is, buttons for play, pause, stop, channel, volume, directional buttons, etc. Plus, it also has the same buttons found in any Xbox controller. Meaning, buttons which come with a face label A/B/X/Y. The purpose of which is fairly obvious—to mimic the same familiarity of the Xbox controller, but in an altogether diverse form factor.
Being a mostly-white color remote, it has a similar look to the Xbox Series S. Making the use of the remote applicable regardless of the lighting, it also comes pre-built with backlight capability, perfectly complementing a dark ambient setting. The white variant comes at a price tag of $25.
Dark Variant
Meanwhile, at a slightly cheaper $20, consumers can also get the lengthier black Media Remote. Unlike its color-absent counterpart, this version of the controller features a significantly wider gap between buttons. Of which, partly explains the longer dimension of the remote. Design-wise, buyers get all the same button placements as the white rendition of the same device, plus numeric inputs for switching channels. It also is pre-built for efficient use in the dark for its backlight capability. Ironically, consumers are paying less for more capability with this iteration of the same product.
Speaking of 8BitDo controllers, the company just released a follow-up controller to the SN30 Pro+ with the SN30 Pro 2 this year. It essentially improves upon 8BitDo’s best controller, making itself the current best in the company’s controller catalog.
Image used courtesy of 8BitDo