In this video, I check out the Aubika Rechargeable Controller Grips for the Meta Quest 2.
You can buy these grips for $35.99 +5% coupon Amazon US ➡️ https://amzn.to/3OUDYNa or for £39.99 +10% voucher from Amazon UK ➡️ https://amzn.to/3OUcjvL and €45.99 from Amazon DE ➡️ https://amzn.to/3Vs4Nuu.
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These lengthened silicone grips feature an internal rechargeable design that replaces your existing controller battery with their own recharging pack, and to charge them, you simply recharge them by plugging in a dual USB charging cable into the bottom of each extended grip handle. They also feature an adjustable silicone knuckle strap that offers long-term comfort and grip.
In the box you get a paper user manual, a USB-C splitter charging cable, two integrated controller rechargeable battery packs, and there are the silicone grips themselves.
Features & Design
The grip itself had been extended by an additional 5.61cm or 2.21 inches, which doesn’t seem like much but it’s enough to bulk up the lower part of the controller handle for extra grip – if you like that. It tapers off a lot so they don’t stand out as much as the longer grips from Kiwi design do.
This extra length is to house the USB-C charging ports that are located at the end of each grip. Further up the grip, there is a passthrough hole and cable that’s attached to the knuckle strap. This is a similar design to the Kiwi grips however these also taper towards the top and are fixed to a riveted buckle at the top of the grip.
The rear of the grip material feels like a good robust silicone material, with a cut-out hole for the controller’s face buttons and stick, along with the trigger and grip buttons. All this wraps around the top of the controller and fastens with two bunny ear tabs back onto the grip, which has been made narrower so that it doesn’t block the two front sensors on either side of the trigger button.
Installation
Installing the grip is fairly easy. You first need to remove the existing batteries, wrist strap, and battery cover from your Touch controllers. Then select the appropriate battery pack and inserted it into the battery compartment of the controller. Once this is done, you then lower the whole controller into the correct grip and pushing it down further clicks them into place.
One issue I did face when putting the grips on was that it was very tricky to get the side grip button on the controller to fit correctly through the cut-out hole in the side of the grip. The hole is cut so precisely, that there are only a few millimetres around the grip button to allow it to freely move out of the hole in the grip. I eventually managed to get it not to stick, but it was after a lot of pushing the silicone around the button so that the silicone sits right and doesn’t interfere with the button.
There is also a small plastic ridge inside the grip on the outside side that you need to take good care that it passes underneath the sensor ring and it doesn’t stick out.
Charging
Once installed these grips look and feel great. To charge their battery packs inside them, you simply insert the single USB-C end of the charging cable into a powered wall adapter and each end of the dual split cable goes into the USB-C port at the bottom of each grip. A small red LED light flashes through the silicone material of the grip to let you know they are charging and they turn solid red when charging is complete.
My Impressions
These Rechargeable Controller Grips from Aubika come in two colours, and retail for $34.20 with coupon from Amazon US, £36 with voucher from Amazon U.K., and €43.99 from Amazon DE, and you can check these links learn more about them and to buy yourself a pair.
I tried these grips out on a number of VR titles to mostly make sure that the silicone around the grip button didn’t slide down during use and stop the button from working. This would only happen in games that use this button often, games like Beat Saber don’t use them so you wouldn’t feel the effect of them there. But I tried them on Half-Life Alyx and the silicone didn’t move enough to stop the grip button from working.
I usually find the extra length to really bulk up the grip, but these don’t do that as much as the Kiwi grips did, so that is a big plus for these grips. The length is only really to house the USB charging port, but that small extension is enough to change the feel slightly over the stock handles and other grips that just simply cover them.
Both batteries came with a decent level of charge in them, so you can play with them straight out of the box. Thanks to how efficient these Touch controllers are, I have yet to have these controllers run flat on me, so I can’t comment on their total battery life. But with each 1000mAh battery pack inside them, they should last just as long as standard regular batteries or rechargeables of a similar power level.
Charging them was easy and just as convenient as plugging in your headset to charge, and you can also use this cable to charge your headset too, so you don’t necessarily need to have two cables plugged into a wall socket. I can also see Aubika doing a docking station accessory for these grips alongside charging the headset, which would be good to see.
I found the knuckle straps were supportive enough on the back of my hands. I find a PU leather or fabric strap has less friction than silicone, so sliding these silicone straps on can take a little extra adjustment each time you put them on. The sliding adjustment button holes onto the cord worked well enough and I didn’t find them slipping or getting any looser. I would be cautious of how long this cord lasts over time though. But if you set the tension and leave it alone, they should last longer than if you were constantly adjusting them and wearing the cord out.
Overall, if you are interested in a pair of long controller grips with charging capability, these grips from Aubika are worth putting on your shortlist.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:33 – Unboxing
1:54 – Installation
2.54 – Charging
3:19 – My impressions
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