Google’s ‘Claw’ phone mount may damage Stadia controllers

One of Google’s accessories for its recently launched Google’s Stadia game streaming service might be more trouble than it’s worth.

Raymond Wong, a tech journalist who reviewed Stadia for Inverse, noted on Twitter that Google’s ‘Power Support Claw’ for mounting a phone to a Stadia controller might actually damage the gamepad upon attachment or removal.

It’s not even a good piece of plastic. Attaching and detaching it will scratch your controller

— Ray Wong (@raywongy) November 20, 2019

Since streaming massive games to smartphones is one of Stadia’s marquee features, the Claw is designed to make that easier, at least with Google’s proprietary Stadia controller. The controller connects to the same Wi-Fi network as the phone to reduce latency with button inputs.

It’s worth noting that 9t05Google originally mentioned that Google actually acknowledged the potential for scratching in a message on the Google Store. According to the outlet, the message states that the mount “may mark the Stadia Controller during installation and removal.” However, the message doesn’t appear there now, at least not on the Canadian Google Store page.

While not yet up for sale, the Claw was included in the Stadia reviewer’s kit, which MobileSyrup received. For what it’s worth, the Claw hasn’t yet scratched my Stadia controller. That said, I haven’t used the mount too much, so your mileage may vary.

The Claw will cost $19.99 and be sold exclusively on the Google Store.

Meanwhile, only the Pixel phones are compatible with Stadia, although Google promises support for other handsets in the future.

Stadia is now available in Canada and the only way to play it for now is the $169 CAD Premiere Edition, which includes three months of Stadia Pro (required to stream in 4K), a Chromecast Ultra and Stadia controller.