I put it to the test
For weeks now, readers have been asking about the CronusMAX Plus. With its grand claims of using “almost any controller on any console,” a lot of people wanted to know if it worked, especially given the pricey $50 price tag for what essentially amounted to a fancy dongle.
After some initial issues, it ended up taking me by surprise at how well it worked.
The first step is to connect the device to your PC, and load the latest firmware using the proprietary Cronus Pro software. It took me a little while to figure out why the dongle wasn’t being recognized, as it needed to be plugged in by way of the side port on the device, not the obvious USB end output end. I also had to fiddle with the cables a few times before my PC recognized it, but after that it was smooth sailing. To really make use of the Cronus though, you’ll have to research beyond the instruction manual and look into custom scripts and loadouts. With experience building PCs and fiddling around with hardware for over two decades, it’s not so bad for me, but that prospect may turn off some people. For the rest of you, the fact that most of the work is done automatically by way of hardware emulation is a plus.
The first thing I did was plug it into my PS4, and attach an Xbox One Elite Controller. In seconds, after connecting a Dualshock 4 to the device to authenticate (read: trick) the session, I swapped in the Elite, and I was booting up Destiny. When using a wired connection, it’s amazing how great the latency is — it’s just like using a DS4 natively. Additionally, the Xbox Guide button triggers the PS Button prompts just fine. I had no trouble raiding in King’s Fall Hard Mode with the controller, and none of my teammates even noticed the switch until I told them at the very end of the session. Note that if your controller times out you’ll have to re-authenticate, but you can turn this option off in the PS4’s system menu. You can also circumvent this issue by using a cheap USB hub.
Moving onto other platforms, it works well for PC too. During my tests with the DualShock 4 and Wii U Pro Controller (Xbox is built into Windows so it doesn’t require the Cronus anyway) everything was recognized, and I didn’t have to authenticate like I did with the PS4. Unfortunately, wireless support for Xbox remotes requires the additional Gaming Receiver device, which is not widely available, and wireless DualShock 4 support needs a compatible Bluetooth dongle. Xbox One remotes will only work wirelessly on Windows 10 with the official device — for now, at least.
I had slightly more trouble using the Cronus device with the Xbox One, but I managed after a few minutes of messing around. The gist is that you need to change up your settings by way of the firmware, and remove the battery cover on the Xbox One controller, then attach the USB to authenticate. It’s an extra step, but a relatively painless one. Personally, I wouldn’t use any other controller on Microsoft’s newest console as the Elite is my device of choice, but it’s great that it works all the same.
A mouse and keyboard can also be used for other platforms, but there’s a massive caveat — it requires a pass through PC or laptop. If you don’t have a convenient laptop or netbook handy, you’re probably out of luck. For those of you who are looking to primarily use this capability, I recommend picking up the Keymander instead. The V3 does not work on the Wii U, but you can use the Pro Controller, and it also has support for legacy systems like the PS TV (ha), the Xbox 360, and the PS3.
If you own multiple devices and feel like consolidating your controller choices with a few caveats, the CronusMAX Plus V3 is a fine piece of hardware. It takes a bit of digging to really unlock its full potential, but after an afternoon with it, the basic plug-and-play concept isn’t hard to grasp.
[Hardware provided by the manufacturer]
