Controller Accessories: SquidGrip Review 

Get a grip!

by Arthur Kotsopoulos

©2012 Arthur Kotsopoulos

I’ve got almost a dozen various 360 controllers sitting in my room due to having a nasty habit of needing to have a new one with a different color or design whenever they’re released. However, I’ve never dipped my toe into buying third-party controllers such as Razer or Madcatz because the official 360 controller did the job 100% of the time for me.

I’m not one to buy new thumbsticks to extend my 360 degree spin, or different triggers because anyone who’s seen me play shooters knows I have a mean trigger finger.

When a good friend asked me if I wanted to review SquidGrips for my 360 I thought that it was worth a try to at least see what IS on the market available for players.

After looking up the product, I was surprised to see these are just a pair of adhesive grips that stick onto the sides of your controllers to improve grip and reduce sweating.

SquidGrips for the moment come in black (although I do wish in the future they could have various colours such as red, blue, purple etc..) and they look pleasing on almost any coloured controller.

They do have standard black badges, but you can buy custom ones off the SquidGrip website that do have various colours for a very minimal fee.

Installation

Installing the SquidGrips to your controller is relatively easy. As long as you follow the instructions booklet provided, you won’t get the left and the right grips mixed up. If you do then you’ll have to carefully remove the grip to place it on the correct side.

After installing the grips I did notice that you are required to firmly press on it, that way the grip latches on every inch of the controller so no parts are sticking out.

If you followed the icon-driven instructions then you shouldn’t have any problem with any buttons being covered or thumb-sticks not freely moving as they should.

Comfort

SquidGrip adds little to no added bulk to your controller and all buttons as well as thumb-sticks are easily accessible.

From the moment you first get your hands wrapped around them, you will notice an added level of comfort on the controller allowing you to grasp them as you would without hurting the palm of your hand from holding them too tight.

Regardless of the sweat you may produce (and let me tell you, I’ve seen people sweat), SquidGrip absorbs the sweat and allows you to continue playing without the controller slipping from your hands or needing to wipe them in the worst scenarios.

These grips work marvelously for extended periods of play, so if you’re into competitive sports or just having a marathon night with some friends it’s always handy to have these laying around or on your controller.

They didn’t seem to cause any other problems for me and due to me having calluses on my palm, I didn’t feel any pressure on them with SquidGrip. There’s an initial moment of when you grab the controller where you feel that cushion effect and it’s marvelous.

Durability

During my time using these grips I’ve found that any form of dust that may come into contact with the tips or sides, the adhesive that allows them to stick to the controller weakens.

I played three sessions of Darksiders 2 over the weekend for roughly eight hours each session and found this to be the case.

You don’t notice it until you put the controller down and don’t use it for a while. To fix it you just press down and presto! The grips are as good as new.

Whilst this is a quick fix it doesn’t last for long which is unfortunate, so make sure that if you do have these grips and you don’t play with that specific controller come back to it every day or so and wipe it clean of dust.

As these are my first pair of SquidGrips, the dust problem may just be a one off thing. If you drop the controller on the carpet then be prepared to pull off any unwanted hairs or feathers IF the tips aren’t stuck to the controller properly.

Conclusion

Despite the minor annoyance of the tips losing their adhesive nature, I couldn’t find any other fault with SquidGrips and thoroughly enjoyed them.

They are comfortable and when battling in the upper tier rounds in the Crucible on Darksiders 2, the tension started growing and the sweat was flowing but my grip was still firm.

The color preference is merely cosmetic and add no extra benefits, if in the future there are other colors to accommodate the custom badges I’ll be a happy chap, red is my favorite color and red on grey would look superb.

If you’re looking for a cost effective way to add extra grip onto your controllers and don’t want to fork out the big bucks to buy a third party controller then SquidGrips are the way to go.

Head over to SquidGrip.com to purchase your pair now.

“8.5/10

©2012 Arthur Kotsopoulos

Filed under: Console gaming, Hardware News, Hardware Reviews, Xbox 360 Tagged: | Controller, Darksiders II, Razer, squid grip, squid grips, SquidGrip