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Nov 02, 2024

nerdytec Couchmaster Cycon3 Review

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Couch gaming, while not the best setup for competitive games, is an excellent way to relax and enjoy your favorite games on a big screen TV. For more serious couch gamers, the nerdytec Couchmaster Cycon3 can be an excellent lap desk setup that blends the comfort of gaming on the couch with a functional and spacious desk for your peripherals, mainly your keyboard and mouse. The Cycon3 is the latest iteration in the Couchmaster series, and it brings a few new features compared to its predecessor.

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Essentially a desk with two cushions, the Cycon3 provides a convenient way for gamers to have a platform for their mouse and keyboard with a single cable powering everything. But does the price justify the feature set? Game Rant has been using the Cycon3 for over a week and here’s what we found.

The nerdytec Couchmaster Cycon3 is the latest iteration of the couch gaming accessory that includes a desk and two cushions. The desk is large enough to accommodate a full-size keyboard and a standard sized mouse pad. It comes with RGB lighting that can be controlled via the touch buttons on the front. There are large compartments to manage and hide all the cables for a single cable power connection.

The nerdytec Couchmaster Cycon3 ships in a fairly large box that includes the Cycon3 desk, two cushions, and everything else you need to get started. Nothing fancy with the packaging, but once you pull the desk out, the gamer-aesthetic becomes apparent. It’s great that a cloth mouse pad is included in the package, and it seems a lot more useful than the included mouse pocket. More on that later.

The Cycon3 has two main parts: the support board or desk and the two support cushions. The desk has the same shape and design aesthetic as the Cycon2 but with a few upgrades. It measures 32.2 inches in length and 13 inches in width. Its plastic construction doesn’t scream premium but helps keep the desk light. The parts where your wrist would rest on the desk have vegan leather for improved comfort.

A lightbar runs almost the entire length of the desk. It separates the easy-to-access USB ports (1x USB Type-A and 1x USB Type-C) from the control panel for the light bar.

At the back of the desk are two large compartments covered with panels that are screwed in. These compartments are where the cables are connected and managed. Because of the mostly plastic construction, the panels bulge outwards if the cables are not routed strategically. This could have been solved with an extra screw to hold the panel down. The cables also add to the weight of the desk, and it is noticeable.

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Back to the front, the control panel allows for changing the different LED modes, brightness, speed, and turning the light bar on or off. These are not actual buttons that press in but capacitive buttons that only require a tap. There is also a color selection bar that you can slide your finger over to change the colors of the LED strip, which is a neat touch (no pun intended).

The Cycon3 desk alone is not enough to enable a solid couch gaming experience. The package includes two memory foam cushions that lay flat on either side, supporting the desk. They measure 23.6x7.9x6.3 inches and have a zip that lets you remove the cushion cover for easy cleaning. These arm rest cushions have a suede look and are soft enough to be comfortable but rigid enough to support the desk without deforming. On the exposed side of both cushions is a set of pockets that can store your mouse, cables, and other small accessories.

Other than the extra screw to hold the panels in place tighter, there are no complaints about the build quality of the Cycon3 or the comfort of the cushions.

The setup may seem fairly simple and straightforward for a desk and two cushions, but the Cycon3 is much more than that. It is a hub for your peripherals and, therefore, requires power, which adds a few extra steps to the process. Fortunately, the instruction manual does a decent job of explaining the steps.

Turning the desk over reveals two large panels that are held in place with two screws each. Taking these panels off reveals an assortment of USB ports, four USB Type-A 3.0 ports to be precise, and this allows you to connect your keyboard, mouse, and other accessories. One of the USB ports on either side needs to be connected to the 2.6 ft USB connection cable which carries a USB male connector and a DC-in. The other end of this cable plugs into the 16 ft USB extension cable that ends in a DC-in port and a USB port. This is how you power the desk with the included power adapter. The two compartments are large enough to route and hide the cables with openings on either side of the desk for the cable to exit out of.

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Once the power cables are connected and in place, the remaining USB ports can be used to connect the mouse and keyboard, and their cables can be routed in the compartments as well. What’s great is that two cutouts at the top of the desk allow for the keyboard and mouse cables to come through. Finally, you can get situated on the couch ready to game.

Both the USB extension cable and the cable for the power adapter are quite long, so reaching a power socket is no issue. Fortunately, there is only one cable to manage between the couch and the TV.

Why sacrifice skill for comfort? This is one perspective of looking at an accessory such as a couch master/ lap desk/ lap board. It allows you to have a keyboard and mouse just like on a desk, so you can technically be about as accurate as you would be at your gaming desk (or close enough). With the bonus of sitting on a comfortable couch in front of a massive TV, the Couchmaster Cycon3 from nerdytec is the perfect middle-ground between gaming at a desk close to a monitor and sinking into the couch in front of the TV.

During our week with the Cycon3, we found that it does exactly what it claims to do: deliver a comfortable couch gaming experience. The desk is wide enough for a full-size keyboard and the included mousepad, but we found that using a TKL or 65% keyboard was more ergonomic and comfortable when gaming. Some lower sensitivity users may find the width of the mousepad to be on the short side and while you can use a larger mousepad covering up some of the lights, the hole that the mouse cable comes out from will still be an obstruction. However, you would want to stick with the included mousepad, as it comes with a sheet of precisely cut double-sided tape that can be stuck to the bottom to keep it in place on the desk, semi-permanently.

In no way does that take away from the experience of enjoying hours of Halo: CE multiplayer, Splitgate, and GTA Online with family and friends. The cushions are the right height and softness to rest your arms on and the vegan leather wrist rest, while not the most comfortable, is better than nothing. The Cycon3 is a comfortable setup while sitting on the couch or having your feet up on an ottoman.

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The cushions are long enough to give you sufficient adjustment for how far the desk should be. They are light enough to move out of the way with little effort. The desk, on the other hand, can feel a bit heavy with the keyboard, mouse, and all the cables. Having some slack on the cable is ideal to avoid pulling anything when getting up. Despite how large the desk is, it is fairly easy to get in and out of the couch-gaming position.

nerdytec states there are other uses for the Cycon3 besides being on the couch, and we did experiment a little. The desk and cushions can be set up on the bed, which is exactly what we did. Using the Cycon3 as a laptop table, we found that it doesn’t work as well in that orientation as it does on the couch. But that will depend on the individual user and their setup. Regardless, having to move the desk and a cushion to get out every time makes getting out of bed difficult, in more ways than one. Just the desk can be used on other surfaces as well, including your gaming/ office chair, so there’s definitely more than one use case for this couch master.

The mouse pocket or pouch included with the Cycon3 is supposed to be attached to the front of the desk with Velcro tape, but it was somewhat redundant owing to the pockets on the cushions. The mouse pocket will dangle if the desk is lifted off the cushions.

Coming to the RGB LED panel or, as nerdytec calls it, the Horizonlight Bar, you can switch between a few different effects or use the touch bar to choose a single color. You also get easy access to other controls such as the speed and brightness. While the lights get fairly bright even in a well-lit room, the purpose of having lights in the first place is still up for debate. We preferred leaving them turned off, especially when gaming at night, as they became more distracting than appealing.

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The two USB ports are a handy addition, and they are perfect for charging both a phone and a controller. The USB Type-C port supports 18W charging, which is relatively slow by modern smartphone charging standards but sufficient for this use case.

One missed opportunity is some kind of phone holder or stand integrated somewhere on the desk. Whether an external clip or a groove on the desk, a phone holder would have further improved the functionality of the Cycon3.

How much would you pay for a couch master? Since there aren’t too many options like this on the market, it is hard to establish an accurate price range. The Cycon3 is priced at $199, which may be hard for some shoppers to justify. But then again, there isn’t anything this comprehensive and feature-rich for couch gaming. Interestingly, the Cycon3 is about the same price as the Cycon2, also still available but lacks the RGB lighting and the USB Type-C port. The Cycon3 is available for purchase via Amazon or the official website.

It is no doubt a much more advanced setup compared to the likes of the Corsair Lapdog and the Razer Turret, which were just big enough to house a keyboard and mouse. They don’t include cushions, a USB hub, or RGB lighting. Moreover, they were also pretty expensive at launch, with the Corsair Lapdog asking about $120 for just the Lapdog which could only fit a couple Corsair keyboards, making it pointless for any other keyboard and at the same time, increasing the overall cost. With the keyboard, the Corsair Lapdog would go over the $200 mark. On the other hand, the Razer Turret launched at $250, but it included a wireless keyboard and mouse.

The nerdytec Couchmaster Cycon3 is the latest iteration of the couch gaming accessory that includes a desk and two cushions. The desk is large enough to accommodate a full-size keyboard and a standard sized mouse pad. It comes with RGB lighting that can be controlled via the touch buttons on the front. There are large compartments to manage and hide all the cables for a single cable power connection.

There aren’t too many options on the market that can do exactly what the nerdytec Couchmaster Cycon3 can do, but here are some that come close, and they all happen to be from nerdytec:

nerdytec Couchmaster Cycon2

Predecessor

Buy it here!

nerdytec Couchmaster Lapboard2

Desk only

Buy it here!

nerdytec Couchmaster CYBOSS

Cheaper option

Buy it here!

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Couch co-op games are local cooperative video games that are designed to be played by multiple players, generally at the same time, and on the same display screen.

Co-op or cooperative games are a type of multiplayer game. These entail working with teammates to achieve a common goal rather than fighting with opponents for the same prize.

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