Seeing this console reminds me of an educational laptop for elementary students from many years ago, which had a crank, and you had to crank it to power it up. So at first I thought you'd have to crank it to power this console up.
@@jacobeii no it didn't - it's the olpc: a low budget netbook that was mostly given to underserved parts of the world back around 2012; it did have a normal adapter, but the crank add on was a available for those without reliable electricity
@@irontobias Thing was brilliant. If I remember correctly, didn't it extend wifi networks is connected to? So that it became a wifi router for other units near it?
@@nerdy8675309 yep; I picked one up at a goodwill a few years back in the kids toy section... The screen can also dim to an unlit monochrome, basically e-reader to preserve battery too
This is super adorable, and I would love one, but the problem is that you could get a backlit Gameboy Color for less than half the price, and probably more games to choose from. I admire the developers' design and dedication to support indie gaming, but the price tag is going to be a difficult obstacle.
Not having a backlight might extend its battery life but honestly my kindle paperwhite has a decent enough battery with the backlight so I'm not sure what the expense was here.
@@MidoriMushrooms e-ink displays aren't very battery hungry because they actually do literally use kind of an ink to display text/images, so there's not much draining the energy other than the backlight.
true, i could only see this being used for people who have already bought everything else in gaming, cause just to play a few black and white games, your money could be in better use on many other products
@@MidoriMushrooms I think it's the build. The Playdate appears to be very robust, while devices such as the Game Boy line had only decent QA and occasionally had display inconsistencies between units, and the DS/3DS/Switch lines all have notoriously poor QA between the DS' frail hinges, 3DS' extreme LCD inconsistencies between TN/VA/IPS panels, and early Switch units warping from normal operating heat.
The crank is cool & I love that fact they've put the SDK out there for everyone, that's dope. Shame about the price, lighting & wait time for anyone newly interested, but I might have to keep an eye on what crazy stuff people come up with using the software
The SDK is actually really cool to fiddle with, I've seen a gameboy emulator made, a Doom port made and much more. I feel like people can do great things with this, I'm making a Morrowind port and it's been stressful yet rewarding. (Love your content dude!)
I appreciate that Panic let’s the devs decide if they want to use the crank and that they can opt out and use just the buttons. A lot of times when you see a “gimmick” console they tend to force the games to use said gimmick.
What I love about it is the tiny amount of buttons. It encourage creative workarounds and creative uses of the crank without making it impractical to only use the buttons.
@@Yolwoocle The small games are possible on any other system - some of them even on a 2KB Atari 2600 cart, many not having to go further than an NES or Gameboy cartridge, absolutely none of them having to go past mid 2000s Flash. The "quirkiness," that's 100% subjective, and depending on what you consider "quirky," is ALSO possible on any other system.
If it had an optional backlight, maybe. But that's a high price for a system you can only play next to a lamp. The point of the system is that it's for when you're on the go. There's reasons why we are nostalgic for the GameBoy, but the screen wasn't one of them.
I remember so many times as a kid having a gameboy on a family trip in the car and trying to play it and contorting my body to the weirdest angles trying to catch any light i could coming into the car so I could see the screen especially in the evenings trying to catch the light off of streetlamps... it was ridiculous
IF YOU ADD A BACKLIGHT IT WILL NO LONGER BE READABLE BY OUTSIDE LIGHT!!! Ask for a frontlight instead im worried they will destroy the only device i will EVER be able to play outside.
@@melody3741 I mean if they add a backlight version, it's not going to magically break the one you already have? What are you talking about? They can make a v2.0 with a backlight
Honestly, I'm surprised by the complaint for the sharp memory display. I've done some development for the displays (you can buy them at adafruit) and even in a dark room lit only by a monitor they are SUPER reflective, and high contrast. At one point Sharp even made a mirror-like finish for smaller versions of the display tech. It's one of those technologies that I wish would take off more - the low power consumption of the display combined with the high refresh rate would make eink readers nearly obsolete at larger sizes. It's a much more pleasant experience than the original gameboy, at least. I wonder if Playdate could release a simple clip-on light to make night-play more comfortable?
In a dark room,Looking at some big icons and text is much easier than playing games with a much more busy screen which many of the games rely on dithering for extra details.
Ehhh... I don't think eInk readers are going anywhere. The displays work on a completely different principle and the battery life is, quite literally, unparalleled. They're just the best displays for simply displaying words on a screen and nothing more. The refresh rate being abysmal is a non-issue and just makes the battery last even longer.
@@vedal1358 it’s so weird that this person is trying to compare the reflective scfeeen to e paper with regard to battery life. My cheap $40 ereader has nearly 48 hours worth of battery life with regular use. No other display can do that on such a cheap battery
Personally I don’t mind the lack of a backlit display, none of my Gameboys are modded with backlit displays so it’s par the course for me. It’s a charming little device though, the games look quick to pick up but engaging and the fact they made the dev software open source is genius. I’d very much like to get one of these some day!
I think the issue with it not being backlit is how most of the games use the crank so not only do you have to angle the device into the light but you have to find a way for the crank to be comfortable
That screen is nothing like on an e reader they are 100% different technologies, its actually called a transflective LCD or a Memory LCD. it requires no power to refresh the screen meaning that a static image like a clock will draw near to no power at all. an e reader has trouble refreshing the display to a new images, that's why the flash before you turn the page on a kindle. This is more in line with a traditional LCD. do not confuse the two because on person that hates the poor refresh rate of the e reader screen will confuse it with this one and be less likely to look into it. compare an e-paper kindle and this screen side by side and see for yourself. i don't want bad first impressions with this device it seems promising.
This feels like the reverse-PICO8. rather than replicate old limitations on new hardware, they're replicating the feel of old hardware on new tech. It's really neat. A steep price tag for sure, but a cool gadget for enthusiasts.
For people who are ethusiats of such thing, i do wonder if they ever tried sex, like even once Because they seem like the kind of people who would have a wife that abhors having sex with them, and their passion is getting all of the consoles to play all of the vidyagames
That EDGE article fascinated me, there are some great developers involved and the "season" of games looks really impressive. But... I wasn't able to pre-order and I can't really justify the entry price. A shame, because it looks so cute!
If they just added a front light source like the old GBA SP (which could be toggled on/off) then I would had been more than happy. I do like the idea and new innovation.
@@jackwilson5542 that's the analogue pocket where people spend more time taking pics of games running on it than actually playing them. The ultimate hipster chic.
I want to buy one and I am a gamer, but I want it to be a bit bigger in size because playing something that small will make my fingers and hands cramped up. I really want one of those, hopefully, they make it a bigger size with more colors.
@@importaku The Analogue Pocket at least has some practical use for it, especially if you have massive handheld libraries already and want to play them all on one device. This thing has people going "Ohhh it comes with 24 games, that totally justifies the price!" when most of the games are the equivalent of free Flash games from early-mid 2000s Newgrounds.
No worries mate, add on front LED lighting devices are probably on the way. Would have been cool to use the crank to recharge the batteries when no power around
IIRC Panic addressed that; there's simply no space for the necessary hardware to recharge. The crank would probably be less fluid as well. Down the road Panic plans to release a bedside cube, same color, to which the PD adheres via magnets, which will recharge it. The dock also has room for pens (yellow pen included) and, I think, it may also have a speaker.
@@frosty925 The power consumption is extremely low , I have a powerful flashlight that can work only with a crank. That’s why I think it’s possible and that you are wrong.
I was CONVINCED that it was just a cute emulation handheld that used a crank to power the battery (like on of those flashlights we ALL used to have; you know what am talking about :P). But man was I happy to be wrong! This is a wonderful idea! I think that they could have designed a sort of detachable handle to secure your thumb when using the crank, thus solving the main issue you had, but since this device seems to be a success, I'm sure someone will 3D print such an handle on Etsy or something. I wanted to buy one, but $200 with the case, and no shipping before 2023 if I was to pre order it right now, it's a VERY hard sell... I'm sure I'll get one one day though. A backlit version 2.0 maybe?
For me, I feel like the lack of a lit screen is a pro for reusability. I struggle with burnout a lot, so being forced to put it down for another alternative at times may prevent me from losing interest in it. Don't know if anyone else feels the same though
The screen is 100% baffling, but it seems like a fun enough piece of kit otherwise. Having a spinner style control on a system is genuinely pretty cool. But seriously, the screen.
Back in the days just following its announcement, I disregarded it because of the nature of its 1-bit screen, exclusively-indie library, and especially the $180 price tag. ... But now in 2022, the indie library has become a selling point, and most importantly for me: it's a pocket gaming machine, one with worthwhile new games. As good as the Switch is, it isn't a pocket console (and neither is the Switch Lite), and as a result, it hasn't gotten a shred of the playtime out of me that handhelds like the GB, GBA, DS, and 3DS got. My Switch and my 2017 gaming PC havent reached as much playtime in my 5 years with them as even past home consoles like my SNES, N64, GC, Wii, and Wii U each did in their respective lifecycles, simply because of adult responsibilities creeping up and making meaningful gaming sessions an impossibility. The Playdate is the first *new* gaming device that I could see myself putting decent playtime into, despite the drastic reduction in overall free time I've had over the past half decade.
When I first saw this console I was hoping you could also use the crank to charge the console in situations where there was no electricity available, still think that would be a great selling point and feature. Also I think it should at least have a toggleable backlight on the screen. Like the concept but hardware wise it could use some revisions. For me the main turnoffs are the extremely limited sized game library, they should have at least also put some emulators on the device and also the price tag. For 30 bucks extra I have a brand new nintendo switch lite and if I want to go retro I would go with a backlit gameboy wich would probably be even cheaper.
Unfortunately the reason that wouldn’t work is the same reason we no longer have crank and shake flashlights, pacemakers. Additionally it would probably fuck with the smoothness of the crank. I truly wish that this was a possibility but I know it won’t be
I love the throwback feel to this handheld. I'm also curious about the capabilities of this handheld, such as emulators, and how extensive the community will be for developing games for this. Imagine what kind of RPG's we could see.. I'm definitely interested.
There are already 49 community games and apps listed on the Playdate community wiki, many of which launched before the system itself. And yeah, there's a Game Boy emulator already.
Does this have a fishing game on it? If not, that is CRIMINAL, with that awesome little spinning crank. To double as a fishing rod reel. A fishing game for obvious reasons would be epic on this! Maybe they already did that. I don’t know the game lineup. 🤷♂️
It’s too bad the ergonomics are pretty poor and there’s no backlighting 🫤 I like the concept and I think it’s cool looking but it definitely needs a revision.
Well a backlight would kill one of the good things about this... battery life, always on display. I kind of agree to a point. It's not a cheap device. There should be an OPTION for a backlight for those who want it.
this seems like an amazing device for gamers that love to be out doors. I've kept this Original GBA and haven't added a new screen so I can play for a half hour or so in the sun. even modern cell phones screens still suck in direct sunlight
Yeah but none of these games will have the staying power of GBA games. They all look like neat little toys that would be fun for 30 seconds to 5 minutes at a time but not more than that.
@@KingRidley If the drip feed of games works as depicted, that's good as well. long gameplay sessions under sunlight aren't very comfortable, I like a 30 ish minutes at a time at best, I would likely play in 15-20 minute bursts. hopefully a handful of games have nice progression I can go back to for those exceptions
I'm amazed that the crank doesn't charge the system (or at least it wasn't mentioned). That's the first thing I thought of when I saw it I thought it was just a way to charge it, it's awesome that it's much more than that and is unique in how it's a new way to play games but it seems like a shame still that it can't be used to charge.
No blacklight but it has the benefit of the screen being better in sunlight than your typical ips. Think a kindle vs a cell phone. A back light would be cool but this type of screen definitely has its utility
It's a Sharp Memory LCD and it is based around reflecting light and being energy efficient. It looks like any backlight was not planned from the start and the best idea I have for this tech is front-lit display with LEDs like an old Nokia phone. The papers from Sharp don't say anything about backlight either, but maybe I missed it.
oh, the crank is a control. when i first saw it i thought it meant the device was powered by winding it up. one day i hope to see someone make a clockwork computer or at least one that is powered by simply winding it with no need to plug it in. now THAT would be cool
This really is a unique device. I love the way it looks. And you pointed out the main cocerns that consumers may face. Maybe they and add a downloadable settings update that will allow you to choose the A,B buttons if we feel uncomfortable and that could solve it. I can see so much work has gone into this device,and its for a specific kind of customer. This is a one of a kind device with movements like this and I love that. Its very cool. Thanks for an awesome review🔥🔥👌
So apparently this thing is made in my country and for some reason, not sold in my country cause apparently Playdate doesn’t want to ship this thing back from their Californian warehouse all the way back to where this thing was made All in all, i dont think id be buying it cause it just doesn’t seem like it’ll last in the long run. The crank thing, despite being the selling point, just looks like a gimmick to me idk, maybe i could be wrong and other developers are going to make more games for this somehow
A lot of people ridicule this device and call it another OUYA, but they are missing the whole point. Restrictions spark creativity. You can take something like a Switch or a Steam Deck and make any game you want. But this means that many developers, even of indie games, take a beaten path. As much as I love my boomer shooters, metroidvanias and so on, I also want more variety and exploration of gaming in quirky, creative ways. I think that the only mass produced handheld in history that has really nailed this vibe was original DS (and Lite, obviously). It was massively underpowered next to PSP, but thanks to that limitation, plus two screens and stylus, it got a huge number of creative games based around unique concepts. Playstation Vita is still my main handheld videogame device and has been since its release. I just love it. But I would lie if I would tell you that I am playing anything "deep" while being on the move. When I have spare ten minutes I end up launching something like Olli Olli, Downwell or Luftrausers, not Persona 4 Golden, Wipeout 2048 or Killzone Mercenary. I love the concept of Playdate. My biggest issue with it is the price. It simply does not make sense for me to drop this kind of money on it now. Well, maybe in the future, if the community will support it with some must have indies. Second problem is lack of backlight. I often play my handheld consoles in low light conditions, so it is a letdown.
The way the OS works... the way the system runs... it reminds me so much of the long gone Pebble watches. The animations and every aspect of the menus are so carefully crafted for a satisfying experience, the device has so much charm poured into it!
The problem is paying even half the asking price feels like way too much for this device. The real deal breaker is that non backlit black and white screen for sure.
Well thats your opinion and I believe over 40k people would disagree with you 😅. This is not a gameboy, the backlight is not a deal breaker in anyway as the screen is crisp and reflective. As Jeffable here pointed out you're getting 24 games. At 2-3 dollars a pop that's around 70 dollars worth of content putting the price of the unit itself around 100 dollars which I think is super reasonable.
@@ggary04 But it's like buying a console gaming lot on Ebay with a bunch of games. There's no guarantee you'll like all the games that come with it, so you're basically gambling your money away. Atleast with actual physical games found in a lot, you could resell them. The PlayDate is all digital.
@@ZeroShaneBob Well it's not a gamble for me at all, I really like about 14-15 games coming in the first season and then there are a handful of games I'm anticipating down the road. By the way the playdate will be selling for a pretty penny until they manage to get most of the pre orders filled, infact people were trying to sell them for around 4 to 5 hundred. The only reason those sales didn't go through was because Panic was shutting it down.
The price is a turnoff, hopefully a Playdate 2 or Pro fixes the ergonomics and give us a backlight you can turn on or off and two extra buttons, start and select buttons and shoulder buttons.
I ordered my PlayDate a few days ago, I’m 46 and this thing just made sense to me. I love my Switch OLED but there’s something about the Play Date that seems special.
The screen and the form-factor make it seem really good for outdoor use. Bringing this plus a laptop to the park, getting your work for the day finished, then playing through the season's games seems like it'd be fun. The games are free too, which helps make up for the up-front cost imo
It's unfortunate that the cost to make the Playdate is what they should be selling it for. Something like this needs to be in impulse buy territory in order for it to be really successful. As it stands, I'm sure it'll be popular among collectors and portable console enthusiasts. But that obviously isn't a big enough market.
I think something like the Arduboy FX fits more in that category. $55, super tiny, backlit screen, has a bunch of games, and you can even play them all online without the device. It's screen is really small and it doesn't have a crank though.
I can immediately say this is one of the most artisticaly concept handhelds, so its not expensive, in a year the game library should be insanely high considering the good SDK and online tools people have... i sense there will be here a modern classic that might just create a niche of its own.
This is the very definition of a "quirky" device. If a hipster says they're into retro games this is exactly what he would buy, super expensive, dumb, "I'm quirkee" device.. What a joke..
It’s a niche curiosity, nothing more. When others do retro, they come with modern lifestyle improvements (such as a back lit screen). This literally goes back to handhelds of the 90’s which reminds me of the Neo Geo Pocket Colour and the original Gameboy Advance, however, even then people were requesting a back lit screen which Nintendo delivered with the next revision of the Advance.
I thought this type of handheld looked so familiar and I couldn't put my finger on it but finding out Teenage Engineering helped make it is what it was. I have several Pocket Operators they're so good
Small clarification because I didn't see it in the top comments: Neither the Playdate, nor its SDK are not open source. The SDK being open source would imply that developers could modify and redistribute the SDK itself, which isn't the case. That being said, it is 100% free to develop for (and a ton of fun too!) and you can sell games made with it without any involvement from Panic (as many people already have!). The SDK even comes with a simulator, which while nowhere near as fun as working with the hardware itself, does mean that developers without access to the hardware can work on projects (for free) without needing it. Highly recommend giving dev a go if that interests you!
Not exactly the same as a thumbstick, the crank can only go in a circular motion whereas a thumbstick can go straight left, right, up, down and diagonal etc
Even for an added price, they need to have a backlight available version. I like keeping my room fairly dark, so it's something I wouldn't be able to play. Otherwise, it looks pretty cool and "retro" feel to the games. It would be something worth buying if it had the backlight.
I really enjoy the concept of the Playdate. It's a fun and unique idea for a handheld gaming device. It's just unfortunate that it fits into such a niche market. The Funkey S has a similar problem in the sense that it's a very good handheld that only markets itself off of a gimmick. The gimmick with the Funkey S being it's size and the Playdate's gimmicks are the crank and unique games. If they could market this device to a broader audience they could definitely afford to drop the price. But then they'd need to ramp up production to meet demand and logistics is a complete nightmare.
I from the 80s - so my first hand held consoles were lcd games like the orange nintendo/donkey kong with dual display, or others. Then we had the first game boy. To me the play date appears like an homage to that time which I personally really love.
I want one, I love this exact sort of novelty. But not at this cost. It almost costs as much as an Analogue Pocket and that's too much to pay for something vastly inferior to it.
It's not inferior, it's just not comparable. Totally different ideas with different purposes. One comes with 24 games, the other doesn't. One is an homage to classic handheld gaming, the other is meant to replace handheld gaming hardware. One has an intentionally lo fi display, the other has a cutting edge ultra high resolution display. One connects to the internet, the other doesn't. Totally different ideas. They're not competing devices.
@@madelinehoyle1059 everything is comparable, especially 2 devices of the same type (portable gaming handhelds). And yes, it's extremely inferior. Those 24 games, I'd rather pay less for the device and not get any of them, then make my own games. And choose which of those games to pay for later. Analogue Pocket lets me do that since it lets me make games for it too. They are competing devices, I had enough money for one of them. I choose the vastly superior one. The one so superior that it's likely going to be the last handheld I buy for years. As for the hardware comparisons you just made (despite telling me not to) that's just proving which one is superior. A crank and wifi can be added to the Analogue Pocket, as other input/output devices have been added to Gameboy carts before, even through the link cable port. To emphasize this, I have a device that adds a crank to the 3DS, and another to the Switch.
@@NeoTechni saying "two things are not comparable" doesn't mean they can't *literally* be compared, the meaning of the phrase is that two things are so different that comparing them does not yield much value. This is of course subjective, and it is my subjective opinion. This is like comparing an indie film to Avengers Endgame. Both might cost you $10 at the ticketing booth, but the content of those films will be so vastly different that comparing say for example the storylines, the actors, the cinematography, etc., may not be very enlightening. Contrast that to comparing indie films by the same director, or another director in the same art movement. Fundamentally, Playdate is in a different "art movement" so to speak from Analogue Pocket. I personally love both of these "movements" as an obscure handheld collector with a passion for early Game Boy games, so I ordered both. I do not yet have either, but I have no doubt I will love both for completely different reasons.
@@NeoTechni one last thought. "Those 24 games, I'd rather pay less for the device and not get any of them, then make my own games. And choose which of those games to pay for later." The whole user experience design philosophy of Playdate is that of a "surprise box". That is why people with their Playdate on order are encouraged not to look at spoilers for the 24 games to be released. Each week two new games will be ready to play, and each comes with new play ideas. This isn't a gaming console, it's a concept piece to enjoy. Being able to purchase it without the games negates the whole idea of the product.
@@madelinehoyle1059 "two things are so different that comparing them does not yield much value. " and my point was, yes they are similar enough to be compared. AGAIN, this is comparing 2 portable gaming systems. You're not going to convince me otherwise. "The whole user experience design philosophy of Playdate is that of a "surprise box". " That's not what I want. And it's not what they want either since they let reviewers play all 24 games already.
I really felt what you described with cranking moving and shaking the console. In the beginning I had that a lot and had a hard time maintaining control. However, not sure what happened really, I might have gotten used to the motion, nowadays it does not happen. I virtually never push against the console or pull it when cranking.
I would love to have it NGL. Being open source and game design being free, all while using a crank as a new control input is unique. Good way to save battery life on my phone to and honestly would love to play some simple games like the DS times I had in the past.
This is a neat concept, but I don't feel like it could ever be anything more than a novelty item. It can't run games from any other platform, so unless the entire world somehow decides they just HAVE to have a gaming device with a crank on it, barely anyone will ever bother to make games for it. The decision to use a gameboy-like screen with no backlight was clearly intended to help with battery life, but it will be a roadblock to gaining the necessary size of community to make this device worth buying
1:40 when I asked why there was no backlight and the screen was reflective, the Playdate Twitter team was very defensive and tore into me a bit and presumably pre-orderers joined in. That really bummed me out. At this price point it should have a matte screen and a Paperwhite style backlight.
"...and because the playdate is open source..." I'd figure they would keep it closed source, time to figure out where the network functions are stored in memory. edit: apparently that was a lie
The black and white visuals give it a sort of retro, Macintosh SE vibe to them. And, if this was backlit, I would be all over this. But today, at my age, I just don't have the time to faff around trying to get the best light to see the screen. And because of this, you can't play it sat in bed, you would need a bed-side lamp, or similar, just to play the thing. Perhaps, some modders will come up with their own backlit solutions, but there might be a V2.0 version, after lots of customer feedback.
Just go outside and play once in a while, or in the balcony, or in just about any regular room during the day. The screen is more like an e-ink display as opposed to the old Gameboy LCD's, Extremely high contrast with super reflective silver background, we've seen these displays on their pocket sound generators. People who use quality e-ink displays don't complain, or you know, people who read actual paper books. Backlit would make it look like any cheap LCD out there, OLED would come close in the same punchyness with the blacks, but still wouldn't have that same unique silver look and it would heavily affect the battery life having a backlit display considering the size of the handheld. Different display tech is just cool, I'm all for improvements for non lit display tech, like Technology Connections said in his e-ink video, I would love for there to be a non backlit computer monitor that's just as visible as printed paper. The tech isn't there for there to be fast color displays yet sadly. I agree that it's too expensive though despite their efforts, but that display is one of the upsides of it. Unique look and makes you play something in places you usually don't. There's a ton of other devices you can use when it's too dark, but when the surroundings aren't dark, then it's time to bring this sucker out, the contrast and viewability steamrolls any backlit screen in natural ambient light conditions. Only reason I'm on the fence about it is that I want to see more games and support first, software is what sells the hardware, and it's while good, it doesn't sell me on it yet.
This thing reminds me of the Ouya in some ways: ambitious, tiny, and open to create for, hope it does better though. Side note: Wonder if putting loops for your free fingers to go through on the back would help stabilize it comfortably while cranking and leave your thumb free to use the D-pad simultaneously. Lol that or a strong magnet that sticks to your hand with a strap or glove like a magnetic phone mount.
@@Floydthefuckbag At $180, pretty sure this one is also overpriced. Almost as same price as switch lite makes it hard to recommend to others. However I do hope it find its success. I might buy 1 just for collection.
Yeah I want one. As someone who likes to collect the weird gaming stuff, this seems like a cute little handheld that makes up the high price in its potent charm.
especially the size and form factor it has, they should've made it a bit bigger with a backlight and a bigger screen then maybe it would've flown off the shelves.
Perhaps instead of a back light, they can provide and external light (similar to a book light) that is designed to be compact and easily attach to the device.
This gives me an idea. A peripheral case for the Playdate that perhaps adds a fold-out flat thigh on the left side, and a light that could have its own separate battery would improve a lot of problems the Playdate currently suffers from. It really is a shame that it has such glaring flaws out of the box, but I feel like a solution could be simple.
The handheld looks awesome, I have a great idea for ergonomics... Looks like there is enough space on the back to attach a 'phone grip' pad. One of the little circles ones. Your welcome
I don’t have a problem with the price but it seems like they really missed the mark with it. Every comment section is filled with people complaining about the price.