Roccat Power-Grid Review
Category : Smartphones
Published by Luca Rocchi on 30.12.13
Power-Grid is an application developed by Roccat that turns your smartphone into a remote control center for your PC, the tool is available for Android and iOS, fully customizable and very easy to use. At the time the application is in beta phase and Roccat has not revealed how long this testing phase will last. Let's see it together!
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Roccat Power-Grid is an open beta app available to the public for free to download. This tool is able to turn any smartphone into a sophisticated and useful remote control for your PC. Power-Grid requires a Microsoft Windows on the host machine and Android or iOS on your smartphone. The host application is available through the following link, while on smartphone you can download it from iTunes or GooglePlay. Power-Grid uses WiFi to connect the smartphone to the PC.
On the following pages, we will analyze Roccat Power-Grid on an Android smartphone.
| Page 1 - Introduction |
| Page 2 - Software: part I |
| Page 3 - Software: part II |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
Software: part I
Once you have paired the devices, you can begin to customize the Roccat's application. Power-Grid is very easy and simple to use, thanks to the use of buttons and sliders.
The tab labeled "default" allows you to enable and disable the grids and to check their functionality. With the tab "create" you can change every single component of the grid, each grid is fully customizable in functionality and design.
Roccat Power-Grid works on any computer since it doesn't require specific Roccat devices. However if you have a mouse or keyboard from Roccat, you can configure various features through the grid "Talk FX Setting".
In the pre-configured grid from Roccat, you can see information related to your system like for instance: CPU usage, number of processes running, memory usage, storage space and network activity.
On Roccat's official website there is a link, that redirects you to a store, where you can download grids created by other users. This is actually quite a neat feature since it can for example turn your smartphone into a remote control for VLC.
Power-Grid is not only a multimedia remote control, but there are also grids compatible with MMORPGs where you will be able to trigger in-game macro sequences.
| Page 1 - Introduction |
| Page 2 - Software: part I |
| Page 3 - Software: part II |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
Software: Part II
To test the application, we installed the app on a rather old Sony Xperia Ray as well as on a brand new Google Nexus 5. In both cases, the application has proven to run smooth. There are no lags even when the smartphone only features a single core SoC. This result is certainly great, it means that you do not need a powerful smartphone to take advantage of the application. Unfortunately with the Google device, after a few hours, we noticed some glitches concerning graphics. In this case we're hoping for an update from Roccat.
During our days of use, we tested various grids. One of most interesting grids is certainly the emulation of the mouse and all other important functions of Windows. Remote grid is definitely, along with the volume, one of the grids we would recommend to remote control your computer.
As for the server, even the smartphone-side application is pretty simple to use and with the same, very well made GUI. There is a total of four configurable grids and the refresh rate is pretty fast. If you want to add more grids you have to pay a small fee to Roccat: 0.89 € for each extra grid, up to a maximum of ten.
| Page 1 - Introduction |
| Page 2 - Software: part I |
| Page 3 - Software: part II |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
We are surprised to see how practical and how easy to use Power-Grid actually is. Other than that it's great to see that Power-Grid doesn't need the latest and greates smartphone to run smooth, it works perfect on old phones too. The GUI is decent and it's highly customizable. If you are a perfectionist and you want all the grids with the same theme of your smartphone, there is an entire tab dedicated to this purpose.If you are looking for a way to control your PC from your sofa without the purchase of additional remote controls, then Roccat Power-Grid is definitely for you, as long as you have WiFi at home. Even for gaming, especially MMORPGs, the features are very interesting and you will be able to trigger macros and actions only by tapping on your smartphone.
Despite being a beta application there are already many additional grids on the Roccat's store, unfortunately if you want set more than four grids you have to pay a small amount (0,89€ for each extra slot). Overall Power-Grid is a tool with great potential and in case of gamers Power-Grid could replace standard remotes since smartphones are now pretty common and Power-Grid works good also with entry-level or old models.
Roccat Power-Grid gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.
| Page 1 - Introduction |
| Page 2 - Software: part I |
| Page 3 - Software: part II |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |