is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid.
After collaborating with 8BitDo on a gamepad two years ago, Genki launched the first controller the company designed from the ground up today. With an unorthodox design that positions its thumbsticks and buttons above a large 2.9-inch LCD screen, the Manta looks a lot chunkier than competing controllers. But what really sets it apart is a deeper focus on customizability with numerous settings that can be adjusted using the controller’s screen plus buttons and thumbsticks that can be tailored to each player’s preferences.
The Genki Manta is launching today through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. The earliest backers can preorder the controller discounted to $189, while full retail pricing is expected to be $279. This is the company’s ninth crowdfunded device so while there’s always some risk with backing a Kickstarter, Genki has an excellent track record of delivering products this way.
While companies like Anbernic already have controllers with integrated screens, the Manta offers an especially deep level of customization through a settings interface powered by a dedicated Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller. Players can configure and switch between multiple console, game, and user profiles, adjust thumbstick response and dead zones, increase the intensity of the haptic feedback, remap buttons, and record, edit, and combine multiple button presses to create custom macros.
The Manta is one of the first controllers with what Genki calls “tristage triggers.” Many higher-end controllers already offer two switchable trigger modes that adjust the travel distance for racing or FPS games, but the Manta features a third in-between option the company claims is optimized for the “fastest repeated presses.” The controller’s face buttons are analog, too, and you can choose exactly how deep each button needs to travel before a press is detected to increase or decrease each one’s sensitivity.
Other features include linear magnetic ram motors in the grips that direct haptic feedback into your hands, drift-resistant tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) thumbsticks with adjustable tension, a 2,600mAh user-replaceable battery, and six additional remappable buttons located on the back and shoulders. The Manta even has a dedicated button for switching to a keyboard and mouse mode so you can navigate a browser without having to reach for another device. It can be used wirelessly over Bluetooth, but if latency is a concern, you can switch to using an included 2.4GHz dongle or connect directly to a console with a USB-C cable.
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