Honor doesn't have a dedicated "gaming phone" in their lineup, but as we've demonstrated in the past, they may not need one. The company was at Gamescom 2019 today and they made a few gaming-related announcements. The coolest announcement was the Honor GamePad that plugs into the USB Type-C port and can charge your device while gaming.

The Honor GamePad is, obviously, a controller for smartphones. It connects to the phone via the USB Type-C cable, but that's only for charging. The game controlling is done over Bluetooth. The physical connection allows the GamePad's 400mAh battery to keep your phone charged up during intense gaming sessions. It can also draw power from the phone if need be.

The controller itself has 4 D-pad buttons, a joystick, shoulder button, and one extra button. The buttons can be customized for games, but that is dependant on the settings in the game itself. Honor didn't specify if the GamePad is only for certain phones, but the size appears to be adjustable so it should support most smartphones out there. Honor also didn't share pricing or availability other than saying it will sell the accessory in Western Europe this year.

It's interesting to see Honor focus so much on gaming without having a dedicated "gaming phone." Devices like the ROG Phone II and Red Magic 3 are geared heavily towards gamers, but that also limits the potential audience. Honor is taking a more general approach which gets great gaming performance in the hands of more people. What do you think of the Honor GamePad? Is this something you would use?


An earlier version of this article mistakenly stated the GamePad had a 4,000mAh battery. This was immediately corrected after publication, however, we regret this error.