Nerdytec Couchmaster Cycon 2 – A first test!

I love playing games on my Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, but – as embarrassing as it is – I don’t always feel as comfortable on the controller as I do on the gaming laptop with mouse and keyboard. Especially not with shooters. I have now found a solution for this with the Couchmaster Cycon 2 sofa accessory.

Nerdytec Couchmaster Gaming Games Home Office

Finally, I can leave behind the shame of having to bite the dust with knotted fingers: I now simply gamble with mouse and keyboard on PS5 and Xbox. The only “problem” – where to put the mouse and keyboard on the sofa? – I solved with the Couchmaster Cycon 2 from nerdytec.

When the pandemic drove up PC and component prices, I decided to buy the new console generation, consisting of PS5 and Xbox Series X. Actually, that’s an excuse, because I’ve always bought new consoles. But this time the motivation was really that I wanted to delay buying the next gaming PC or notebook. I love playing on consoles, but anything to do with first-person perspective and shooters makes me despair of the controller. As a PC gamer, I am then exactly the poorly aiming console gamer that Viva La Dirt League so aptly makes fun of in “Trying to aim with a controller”.

Nerdytec Couchmaster Gaming Games Home Office

But that’s water under the bridge: I also play with mouse and keyboard on my consoles, at least in the games that offer this option. And that is sooo nice! I could have done that a long time ago, but I just didn’t feel like putting a table in front of the sofa as a base or doing any other weird conversions. After all, a living room is a living room and as a now family man, you can’t just put an alcove like that in the main room, the centre of social interaction. Or maybe you can?

Nerdytec Couchmaster Gaming Games Home Office

There are various ways to solve playing with mouse and keyboard on the sofa. Tables in front of it, keyboards with a small mouse balcony for the lap – all very half-hearted and also not effective in terms of hits and kills. And then there has been the Couchmaster for what feels like an eternity: two comfortable cushions with a tabletop lying across them with integrated cable routing and USB ports etc.; basically, the gaming furniture is a high-tech sofa gaming version of the breakfast table for the bed.

The black Couchmaster Cycon 2 I use has a USB 3 hub built in and offers 6 USB ports for peripherals – 4 hidden in the table and 2 on top of the tabletop. I first connected a work keyboard and a gaming mouse. The USB cable that runs out as a connection to the respective gaming device, i.e. PC, laptop or console, is 5 metres long. The power supply for the USB hub also runs through here. If, for example, smartphones or tablets are to be charged quickly via the Couchmaster, a separate power supply unit is used.

Nerdytec Couchmaster Gaming Games Home Office

Connecting to the PS5 was easy: the USB-C cable (large plug) fits into the USB ports on the back of the console. After logging in with my PSN username, I was asked which user the automatically recognised keyboard and mouse should be assigned to. I start Fortnite and can immediately make the first settings with the mouse. After a first game, it quickly turned out that the mouse reacts too sensitively. Reducing the mouse sensitivity in the Fortnite settings solved this problem. The Youtuber Alvi, for example, gives good tips on the settings.

Now it’s really fun and I can run, jump and shoot through the game as usual: On the PS5, Fortnite plays with mouse and keyboard almost like on the PC. With very good graphics, lots of settings options and no noticeable sacrifices. And it’s very relaxed on the sofa. My sofa has an adjustable backrest, which contributes to a good sitting position with the Couchmaster.

However: as a PC gamer, I also like to sit directly in front of the much faster game screen. Unfortunately, our OLED TV doesn’t have a 120 Hz mode yet. But at least I can now play my Steam, GOG and Epic games collection, depending on my mood and the title, either on the gaming chair and the crisp, fast 144-Hertz monitor or, thanks to the Couchmaster Cycon 2, comfortably on the sofa on the very large screen. Without having to do without a mouse and keyboard. And by the way, my temporary Mancave is so cosy that it could rather become a castle for the whole family – and, if necessary, disappear completely in a flash.

Conclusion: Very cool for my purposes!

Product video:

 

* This article already appeared at the end of last year – slightly modified – on our lifestyle blog “hypesRus.com