Review- I play games on my phone almost every day. Although I sometimes get cramps after a long game, I never thought about “I wish I could cool my phone more so that I could get Higher frame rates”, but I’m here to test devices designed to do this. Gamesir sent their new F8 Pro Snowgon mobile cooling handle and a bunch of small accessories for trial. I tried its pace, and it did exactly what it was designed for: cooling mobile devices and providing a more ergonomic grip.
What is it?
The Gamesir F8 Pro Snowgon mobile cooling handle is a mobile phone handle with a power cooling pad on the back, designed to cool the device during games to provide higher performance.
What’s in the box?
- Gamesir F8 Pro Snowgon mobile cooling handle
- USB-A to USB-C power cord
- manual
- Sticker
Hardware specifications
- Mobile device compatibility: The length of all devices is 100-173 mm, and the maximum thickness is about 11 mm, including the case.
- Power connection: USB-C
- Power input: 5V/2A
- Battery: None
- Packing size: 176 x 108 x 82 mm
- Weight: 145g
Design and features
The Gamesir F8 Pro Snowgon mobile cooling handle looks similar to a modern game console controller, and can be expanded to fit and hold the handshake, as shown in the picture above.
There is a convenient stand on the back. The device is mostly plastic, but it feels good, with almost no bends and no squeaks.
Sufficient ventilation holes help to cool the airflow of the device.
At the bottom of the middle is the USB-C power port. The device can be used as an ergonomic grasping aid without a power source, but when you plug it into the cooling unit, it starts up and makes the center pad very cold. In one minute, I saw that the average temperature of the entire mat was 45°F/7°C, and as long as it was energized, it would remain at that temperature indefinitely.
The handle can hold mobile phones up to about 11 mm thick on the top and bottom (including the case).
Out of the box is an additional capacitive “joystick” that rotates and grabs the screen through a clever hinge design, giving it some flexibility in its position on the screen.
When the phone is not plugged in, the Gamesir F8 Pro Snowgon mobile cooling handle is about the same size as an Xbox or Playstation controller (maybe only slightly wider).
The on/off switch shown here turns on the cooling unit and the RGB lights (you cannot disable the lights but use cooling and vice versa).
Performance
I tested the Gamesir F8 Pro Snowgon mobile cooling handle with my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G (one of the largest mainstream phones on the market). It is very suitable (more on this later). In a dark room, the light is very dazzling and circulates between colors. But there is no way to change the speed/pattern/color.
After turning on the device, I noticed that it immediately became very cold (approximately 45° F / 7°C in a minute). This is not just a simple cooling fan, but a complex combination of a fan with a variety of materials and a “cooling chip”. This is a graphics showing the settings of Gamesir:
I am not a thermal expert, but they found this system to be very simple.
One problem with my (big speaker) device is the oversized camera hump, which prevents the back of the phone from being completely flush with the cooling pad. Even with this problem, I have seen a significant difference in thermal performance (so if it is as flush as most other phones, it should be better).
I ran the 3dMark benchmark test with and without the Gamesir F8 Pro Snowgon mobile cooling handle and found that the temperature dropped by about 33%. This is consistent for short-term fever (common in mobile games) and continuous stress testing. However, as you can see in the frame rate above, whether a game or application utilizes the cooling capacity is very frustrating. I found that most games on Android 11 are not affected-although the phone temperature is much lower, the frame rate remains the same, so besides the heat, there are definitely other limitations that will reduce performance.
Next, I want to solve practical use and ergonomics issues, as well as some additional accessories (purchased separately from Gamesir), which are included in the review). First of all, I cannot get the thumbstick to work well in any game I have tried, I have tried a lot. I’m not sure if it’s the size of the phone I’m using, or something else, but I eventually popped it out (it’s easy to remove) and replaced it with just my thumb.
The ergonomic design is very good, even for my hands that are larger than the average person. During the long game, I held the phone more comfortably, and my hand pain was not that severe after the game. I can see that I often use it just for a more comfortable grip, even if the power cooling function is not turned on.
Gamesir also includes their F2 Firestick and a pair of F5 Falcon mini controllers for my review. Both devices are clipped around the phone and provide you with a physical shoulder button for you to click, which presses a capacitive lever onto the screen to simulate a finger press. In theory, this allows you to quickly tap things on the top or side of the screen with higher speed and accuracy, and I find them very effective in any game that has supplementary control buttons on the top or side of the screen. F2 Firestick also adds a fast shooting macro mode, which can simulate you repeatedly pressing the button multiple times. This can be customized, and the default 9 presses are “random” to prevent anti-cheat software from detecting that you are using it. I can see that this is useful in games like Player Unknown Battleground, or similar things, you can use single-shot weapons as automatic weapons. The biggest disadvantage of F2 for me is that it requires a USB micro power supply to operate. I prefer F5 Falcon mini controllers as shoulder buttons because they do not have a power supply. All of these devices are firmly fixed in place and don’t cover much of the screen except for the buttons you want them to press.
what do I like
- Comfortable grip
- Effective cooling
What will i change
- The included joystick will not work in any game-your mileage may vary depending on the phone model
- Includes a USB-C to C cable for power supply from the mobile phone
Final thoughts
When I opened the box of the Gamesir F8 Pro Snowgon mobile cooling handle, I was not sure what I expected, but after hours of use, it has a place in my daily mobile game solution. If you need something that provides a comfortable grip and significantly cools the device, then look no further. However, if you are just looking for a grip solution, I’m sure there are cheaper options without fancy cooling and RGB lights (although the device is much cheaper than the technology I expected).
Price: 39.99 USD
Where to buy: Mr. Game and Amazon
F2 Firestick L1/R1 trigger: $9.99 @ Mr. Game
F5 Falcon Mini Mobile Game Controller: $19.99 @ Mr. Game
source: The sample for this review is made by Mr. Game
