KontrolFreek FPS Freek Phantom Review

As the gaming industry grows so does professional gaming, because of that it's no surprise that gamers, from the most hardcore to the casual one, always look for ways to get the upper hand over their opponents. The FPS Freek Phantom that we'll be reviewing today is the latest of an extremely large family of KontrolFreek products that aim to deliver gamers a wider range of motion to their analog sticks and because of that also increase their overall accuracy.

There's little to see inside the puny little casing that encloses the Phantoms, besides the two sturdy looking and beautifully designed sticks, there's only a small piece of paper with the Phantom and KontrolFreek logos, the paper also has a few indentations that hold the Freeks in place. Very minimalist to say the least but it certainly does the job, proof of that is the mint condition in which they arrived after having traveled a ton of miles/kilometers.

Much like the SquidGrips we reviewed earlier this year (Link), the Freeks not only improve a controller gaming performance but also its looks. These thumbsticks come in a nice white and are inspired by "Infinity Ward’s latest iteration", Call of Duty: Ghosts. The laser etched design looks really detailed, especially when you consider the small sized "canvas", according to KontrolFreek this "rugged" motif also contributes to the thumbsticks overall grip, but more on that later.

Looks are great and everything, but they only get you so far when it comes to gaming accessories, what really matters is the actual performance and in that department unfortunately the Phantoms are a mixed bag.

But let's talk about the positives first, the promised 40% extra range of motion really works, aiming, overall accuracy and precision are aided by the little thumbsticks, shortly after "equipping" your controller with the Freeks you will be dishing out more headshots than ever before.

The Phantoms do indeed add a nice amount of height to your controller joysticks, that means that your thumbs will usually be able to just sit there very comfortably, the fact that the thumbsticks are concave also aids in the comfort department.

Finally let's talk about the negative aspect of the thumbsticks, grip. I can't really point out why did the FPS Freek Phantom disappoint in that area, maybe it's the rubber that they're made of or maybe it's the Call of Duty design that doesn't work, whatever the reason may be, the fact is that I found my fingers slipping and sliding all over the place when gaming. I actually got a few friends to test them out, just to be sure it wasn't my imagination or something, they all came back with the same answer, they're really cool but the grip leaves a bit to be desired.

Final Thoughts

KontrolFreek has been delivering a lot of quality products in the last few years, the FPS Freek Phantom is probably one of the best when it comes to visual design, unfortunately it's a bit of a let down when it comes to the actual gaming performance. While the increased height really helps out with precision and comfort, the grip is not the best, because of that you end up slipping and sliding a lot when sudden joystick movements are required.

If you're serious about getting KontrolFreek products, I would recommend that you look at some of their other options on the market before opting for the FPS Freek Phantom.

The Good
-Comfortable
-Increases precision and accuracy
-Very good looking design

The Bad
-Lack of grip

Thanks to KontrolFreek for providing the review sample