Unofficial Xbox One Chatpad Now On Sale

Caveat emptor

by Ken Barnes Mon 12th Jan 2015

For those of us who used to communicate via Xbox Live using the Official Xbox 360 Chatpad, the switch to Xbox One has caused the occasional problem when it comes to typing stuff in, simply because an official Xbox One chatpad hasn't been made available as yet. Of course, you could always switch to SmartGlass on your phone or tablet and use that instead, but not everyone has that option.

So, up steps peripheral manufacturer New Dream who, in the US at least, have released an unofficial chatpad for Xbox One.

Retailing for around the $20 mark, the chatpad attaches to the Xbox One controller in the same way that the old Xbox 360 one used to, but communicates with the console via a dongle which you plug in to one of your system's USB ports. The downside to the whole shooting match, is that once the chatpad is in place, you can't plug your headphones in, due to the lack of a pass-thru port.

Then again, if you're loving communicating via the chatpad, that may not be a problem.

The New Dream Chatpad is currently for sale at Amazon.com, but the buyer ratings seem to be a little bit on the low side...

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1
mitcHELLspawn
Mon 12th Jan 2015

I've been waiting for one of these forever now! I loved my chat pad for the 360... I just kept it connected to my controller at all times. I liked the additional weight it gave to the controller. It sucks that you have to use up one of your usb ports for this one, and you can't use your headset...

Hopefully an official one comes out soon and addresses these problems. I use my smartphone/smart glass when I have to type large amounts but it would definitely be more convenient to just have my chat pad back! I could type so damn fast with that thing lol

2
stylon
Mon 12th Jan 2015

Bit of a fail all round for me... wouldn't be able to use headphones without removal, wouldn't fit in my charging stand without removal and I wouldn't want to clog up a valuable USB port with a dongle given I only have one free which I use to attach variable portable media devices. Will stick with smartglass for time being...

3
Rezalack
Mon 12th Jan 2015

This would be great for future mmo's that come to Xbox One.. as well as pretty much any other online game that supports text chat, IE: Smite.

I'd be tempted to get this at a decent price and if I knew I'd be using it a lot. As of right now I can't see myself ever using it seeing as I barely ever message anyone and if I do it's a very small and to the point message, lol.