Nerdytec CYCON 2

Written by John Yan on 4/20/2021 for PC  

A lot of us game on the couch these days. For those who use a mouse and a keyboard, it can be kind of difficult to get a nice surface to set those up on comfortably. I mean, I’ve used a folding tray stand and put some chairs in front of my TV when trying to use my big screen TV to play some PC games. But what if you have a nice couch you want to use instead? Well, Nerdytec has some products that might satisfy your need to game with a keyboard and mouse from the couch and they were nice enough to send the Couchmaster CYCON 2 for me to test out.

The Nerdytec Couchmaster CYCON 2 comes pretty much complete out of the box and consists of two arm cushions, a lapboard, a built-in USB hub, a five meter USB/power cable, a mouse bag, a mouse pad that has 3M adhesive on the back, a power adapter, and some velcro.

Setup was pretty darn simple. Place the two arm cushions on either side of you and then place the board on top. That’s it. Initially, I was disappointed that the board didn’t attach to the cushions, but then the more I thought about it, I think Nerdytec made the right decision here not to have it that way. You have a lot of flexibility moving the board to where you want as well as placing the cushions in different positions. And if you need to get up quickly, you can just move the board out of the way without any hassle. So, in the end, the decision to keep it floating on top of the arm cushions seems like the better way to go with this.

One might think that the board would slide around if it wasn’t anchored down to the cushions. It seems there’s enough friction between the two that prevents it from sliding. You don’t have to worry whether the board will move when you’re playing games or typing away.

The enlarged board offers plenty of space for your mouse and keyboard. Measuring 32.28 inches in length and 13 inches in depth, the board area had a lot of room to not only house a full-sized keyboard, but a mousepad and mouse. I used a ten keyless keyboard for my setup to give me even more space, but there’s nothing here to prevent you from using a full-size keyboard and not feel cramped.

On the board are two textured areas that you can rest your forearms on. The texture seems to help keep my arms from sliding and they were more comfortable than resting on the hard plastic that the board is made of.

In the top center are two USB ports, one that’s designed for charging. The CYCON2 features a six-port USB hub, which is great to let you plug in your peripherals whether it be a mouse, keyboard, gaming controller, phone, or whatever else you have that’s USB. I have a few USB headphones from Creative Labs and I’m able to communicate with my friends with it plugged into the hub. While you have two ports exposed at the top, the other four USB ports are hidden inside the board where the areas are accessible by two plates that are magnetically attached so you can easily get access to them when you want.

There’s cable routing underneath and two holes in top so if you plug items into the internal hub plugs, you’ll have a few areas to make the setup nice and neat with cabling. The back magnetica panels can be screwed in if you want a more permanent solution, but I preferred keeping the panels free and utilize the capable magnets to keep the panels in place.

I tried out the charging port with my Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and while it charged at a good rate, the CYCON 2 doesn’t support Adaptive Charging. Still, it showed I was going to go from 70% to full in about 45 minutes, which is solid in my opinion. Having the ability to charge your phone with the CYCON 2 is a nice feature and it delivers enough juice to make it charge at a reasonable rate.

On one side you plug in a USB and power cable combo that lets you power the charging port and attach the hub to your PC. The short cable gets routed to an opening in the side of the lapboard where you can then attach a very, very, very long USB extension cable. The other end breaks out into a USB connector and a barrel plug. You can then plug in another very, very, very long power adapter. Nerdytec does give you plenty of cable length in case your computer is very far away, but you have to be careful depending on your setup of people or pets walking in and around you as they may trip on the cable. The breakout area of the cable is a good idea as there’s a good chance that if someone or something does trip on the cable, it’ll come apart where they are connected near the board. But, if you want to utilize the USB hub, you’ll have to deal with long wires.

Height-wise, the side cushions put the main board at a very comfortable height so I didn’t feel fatigue trying to use the keyboard and mouse. Each side cushion has a length of 23.62 inches, a height of 6.3 inches, and a width of 7.87 inches. They have a nice, soft, suede-like touch to them and, additionally, the inside contains memory foam, so resting your arms on them are nice and comfy.

For cleaning, you can unzip the covers from the cushions and wash them in the washing machine, making it nice and easy to clean. I like the convenience of being able to easily remove the coverings because if you’re clumsy like me or have kids, you know these things can build up a lot of dirt. I’m happy Nerdytec thought of this and decided to let you easily pull them off to clean when needed.

One one side of the cushions houses some pockets to let you hold whatever you want. Need to keep some pens handy or maybe your phone? Just place them in the pockets. One’s a mesh pocket while the other is a solid fabric. If you want more pockets, you can add some yourself. Included with the CYCON 2 is a mouse bag that you can attach to your board with some velcro tape. The instructions show you which side of the board you can put it on, but you’re not limited to those areas. Just don’t put any velcro on the cushions as the materials aren’t designed for that.

If your couch has two arm rests near, you don’t even have to use the cushions if you don’t want to. Just place the board on top and you’ve got your surface to game on. My couch setup, though, has a cup holder and storage console on one side that’s lower than my arm rest on the other side. That made the board sit at an awkward angle rendering it useless. But on the love seat side of my couch, the CYCON 2 worked great as there was plenty of room for the cushions and board to sit. Another place you can use this well is in bed. I have a king size adjustable bed, so once I raise the head area I’m able to setup the CYCON 2 and play while lying comfortably back. Talk about comfortable gaming with the mouse and keyboard!

As a gamer who has his PC as well as his consoles in the living room connected to a large screen TV, the Nerdytec CYCON 2 does help me play my games that rely on a keyboard and mouse more comfortably. With the included USB hub and charging capability, I only need one cable coming from the PC now to where I sit in order to use my wired mouse and keyboard while charging my phone when playing and talking to my friends on my USB headset.

The quality seems good and the board seems solidly built. Of course, you’ll need the room on your couch or bed to set it all up. But if you have the space for it, I think it’s a nice option for keyboard and mouse gaming. Or, you can even use a laptop on it as well, which makes it even more versatile. Coming in at $169.99 it is a tad expensive, but you get a good quality setup and it’s expandable with accessories. Couch PC gaming can be comfortable and Nerdytec’s CYCON 2 does a great job in helping you enjoy it more this way.