Turtle Beach's Atom gamepad joins the Xbox cloud gaming scene

What you need to know

• Turtle Beach has announced its Atom Controller which will retail for $99.99.
• The controller comes in Yellow, Teal and Red colorways and splits into two, like an atom, get it? 
• The interesting-looking controller will launch for sale on November 14 but is available for pre-order today. 

With the market for cloud gaming rapidly growing, it seems more brands are getting in on the action with their own takes on mobile-compatible controllers. The latest offering comes from Turtle Beach with their Atom Controller. Probably one of the bulkiest controllers we've seen on the market so far, the Atom Controller comes in three colorways — black/yellow, black/teal and black/red. The voluptuous design of this controller seems to be down to its unique selling point in that it splits completely into two. In contrast to the Razer Kishi and Gamesir offerings, the Turtle Beach Atom Controller doesn't feature a backbone mechanism — meaning most phones will fit into the set-up without removing your phone case. 

Turtle Beach is advertising the Atom controller as compatible with Android 8.0 and above, and for use with Xbox Cloud Gaming, GeForce Now and Steam Link. The black and yellow controller has been specifically designed with Xbox in mind though, as it comes with an Xbox Guide button and is bundled with a 1-month subscription for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

While the controller does look rather bulky in comparison to its competitors, Turtle Beach claims the Atom Controller stores compactly and comfortably with a magnetic mechanism to put in your pocket or with the included carrying bag

Connectivity is claimed to be lag-free using low-latency Bluetooth, while the two independent parts of the controller connect to each other using Turtle Beach’s 2.4 GHz wireless. Each piece of the two-part controller is also powered by its own battery, promising 20-hours total battery life juiced by the supplied USB-C cable. Turtle Beach has also advertised a companion app for the Atom Controller to configure additional features, we'll have to wait until we can get our hands on one to see what customization options are available.

With Razer, Gamesir and Backbone all having their own cloud gaming peripherals on the market, it will be interesting to see how the Atom shapes up in both performance and comfort to its competitors. The design itself is truly unique but may split opinion given its bright, garish and chunky appearance. The Razer Kishi V2 is still our top pick for Xbox Cloud Gaming but that can all change as more brands throw their products into the ring. 

All three versions of the Turtle Beach Atom Controller will launch on November 14 2022, but are available for pre-order today. The Black and Yellow colorway is the only version that comes with the Xbox guide button and 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.