Couchmaster Cycon3 review

General comfort, physical disabilities, health problems, airconditioner proximity, chance of dog love, potential snuggles, and ability to snack. This is the list of excuses that comes to mind whenever I realise I am once again gaming on the couch. For controller based games, this isn't such an issue, but for keyboard and mouse based action it's really difficult to get comfy. In the past I've tried to fix this with all sorts of solutions, including building my own coffee table desk raiser, and so I'm both exhilarated and annoyed by how solid the Couchmaster Cycon3 is.

The Cycon3 (Cycon Cubed?) consists of two sturdy rectangle cushions, which hold up a plastic desktop. There are heaps of features like charging, lights, pockets, and power, which help justify the $200 price tag, but they're just icing. The cake here is a stonehenge style assembly of simplicity, and it's enraging how well it works.

The two rectangle cushion slabs sit either side of you, acting as raisers for the desktop space. They're full of memory foam, but you're not supposed to snuggle into them. Instead they make a sturdy yet slightly plush base for both your elbows while gaming, and the rest of your game setup. The flexibility suits a couch much better than something harder. It's a far more solid foundation than I expected. It doesn't shift when you need stability, while still being light enough to move easily.

The cushions are covered in a dark soft fabric that hasn't set off any sensory icks. It also has several pockets sewn into it, which are perfect for holding drinks, snacks, remote controls, vapes, and everything else you need for couch gaming. It's also been handy to stop me from losing that one audio remote down into the couch folds. There's also an additional dedicated mouse pocket that sticks onto the desk portion and overhangs these sturdy pillars. If you need more, Nerdytech also makes accessories like tablet holders, which I wouldn't have trusted before experiencing the robust construction on display here, but now kinda want.

With the desk portion sitting across both slabs, and me in between them all, this is the bulk of the setup done. Without even bothering to plug anything in, I was quite comfortably able to play games on my couch. A simple wireless mouse and keyboard plonked on top was all it took to get what the Couchmaster is going for: comfortable mouse and keyboard couch gaming with minimal compromises.

Though for nearly $200 USD you'd want a bit more than a couple of well positioned cushions.

Thankfully, the desktop portion of the Couchmaster Cycon3 also has a few tricks up its sleeve. On the underside are four large flat screw points that'll grant you access to two cabling sections. One of the ports here is for power and to connect the desk to your PC. All the others are all USB 3.2 Type-A that you can run sneaky cables from to your various peripherals. To add to it, there's an additional one on top of the desk, alongside a USB Type-C fast charging port.

When plugged into your PC you get some pretty impeccable passthrough on devices. I've run a few different keyboards and feel no difference between couchboarding and plugging them straight into my computer. If you've got the desk plugged into power as well then you'll be able to use the full gamut of ports, as well as play with the coloured lightbar. I've been running a wired keyboard, mouse, and a set of headphones while also charging my phone all from the comfort of my little couch fort.

Being enclosed in this gaming fortress is a surprisingly comfortable way to play games. I got through all of the first lot of DLC for Doom Eternal using it without feeling any discomfort or fatigue. I've forced a few other gamers to sit at it too, and they've reported surprising comfort from the setup. The hardest part is when you're all loaded up with gamer gear and you have to sort of awkwardly boomgate yourself out of your cube. No solution is ever perfect, I suppose.

I've also used it with my laptop and iPad and it's been quite a comfortable little couch table. While testing the AverMedia GC30 Elite Go capture card I had both of them on my desktop setup for streaming. I was able to draw on my iPad at a comfy angle and still monitor my stream on the laptop. And yeah, I've eaten a few meals on it now too and haven't had any stains. No matter what awkward activity I want to do on my couch, it seems the Cycon3 wants to help. And it's quite comforting about it the way it's always barricading me up in this activities-couch cubical.

The thing is, couch PC gaming is going to happen, whether we like to admit it or not. Often at the cost of your back, especially with mouse and keyboard setups. The Couchmaster Cycon3 fixes that quite nicely. At $200 it's not cheap, but with how sturdy and well thought out it all is, It doesn't seem unfair. But I can see it's a tough sell. It's the most comfortable I've been while playing mouse and keyboard style on my couch, and I'm still balking at the cost.

I don't know how a pair of cushions and some plastic with passthrough could be worth this much, but when I'm using it I completely forget the numbers. It's almost like sitting in a fancy car; nothing could be worth that money but damn, it sure is nice and comfy, and no I am not comfortable discussing how I got financing. It feels solid, and even a touch bulker than I'd like, but its construction also makes it super simple, easy to setup, and only a little difficult to crawl out from. Add to this all the ports and pockets, and this setup gives you everything you need to do real PC gaming at your couch.