Photos and Features
The Cooler Master Storm Controller has been influenced by one of the best controllers, the Xbox 360 Controller. It has a similar shape only with a flatter area between the grips at the bottom like the newer Xbox controllers. The two triggers are offset with the direction pad in the bottom left corner and it has four main buttons as well as the four triggers. The main buttons have the Xbox letter labels but they aren’t color-coded, Cooler Master has instead gone with their purple styling for the buttons and the undersides of both analog triggers. The top of the triggers have rubber grips. The direction pad has a hybrid design that has the raised up/down/side directions but you can also push on the lower pads to get your angles. It has the standard menu buttons as well as a Bluetooth button for connecting and switching between up to four devices. One spot is always reserved for an Android device, but you can connect wirelessly to PC, IOS, and Android. The Cooler Master logo in the middle which by default lights up in purple to match the purple theme but also can show other colors to indicate what device you are currently connected to.
Both side views of the Storm Controller continue showing how close the controller’s shape is to the Xbox 360 controller. That includes both joysticks having a tilt to the front. Then at the top, the top triggers are similar in shape but the bottom triggers are a little smaller and don’t touch with the top triggers. The top triggers have mouse-style switches behind them and the lower triggers are analog with a full range of triggering. Cooler Master has also continued the purple theme here but the paint finish for the trigger is a lot closer to a bright pink than the purple. The top edge also has the Storm Controller’s charging port which is a Type-C connection right in the middle there. Unlike the Xbox controller, the Storm Controller doesn’t have an audio jack or any other connection down at the bottom in between the grips.
The back of the Storm Controller has a slightly textured plastic on both of the grips. Then in the center section, it has a glossier plastic. The center also has the information section which has the model and FCC information as well as your serial number in case you have to take advantage of the 1-year warranty.
I did also get the Storm Controller on the scale to get an idea of where it landed there. The Xbox 360 controller that its shape is similar to comes in at 365 grams but the Storm Controller is noticeably lighter at 220 grams and you can tell right away when you hold it.
For charging using the built-in Type-C charging port the Storm Controller does come with a USB charging cable. This has a traditional Type-A connection on one end and a Type-C on the other end. The cable isn’t sleeved and doesn’t have anything special going on. Because the Storm Controller can work when plugged in I would have loved to see this have the same cord type that Cooler Master uses on the MM710 mouse which is lightweight and extremely flexible.
The Phone Cradle that Cooler Master included looks similar to a majority of the phone cradles out on the market. It comes folded up to fit it inside of the box but you have three main components. You have the phone portion which is spring-loaded and has rubber grips on both ends to hold your phone. You have the controller clip that is shaped to perfectly fit the Cooler Master Storm Controller, and then a dogbone-shaped potion that sits in between the two. This dogbone gives the cradle all of its adjustability. The controller clip side has a cutout in the back in the shape of the Cooler Master logo as well as a cutout up top to account for the controller charging port.
The cradle clips on the Storm Controller easily and once clipped on you can flip the phone clip out to adjust where you want it. The dogbone adjustment will even allow you to run the phone all the way down over top of the controller's joysticks if you want but most people will want it up and out of the way I would imagine. The spring-loaded phone clamp has a lot of stretch to it and didn’t have any trouble fitting my Samsung S21 Ultra which is on the bigger end for phones even with the case. In fact, there was plenty of extra room beyond that.
