When I say “Mojhon”, no one will probably think of a well-known Chinese controller manufacturer. As it turns out, this is a brand that was previously called BigBig Won, known for the brilliant Rainbow 2 Pro or Blitz2 models. The first model, Mojhon Aether, released under a new banner – a hit or a miss? Time to check it out!
Packaging
Aether comes to us packed in a tiny cardboard box, on the front of which we will find prints of the controller, and on the back we have a slightly more extensive specification. Inside, apart from the controller and the 2.4 GHz receiver, there is only a cardboard box with a link to the electronic version of the manual, because we do not have a paper version here. Is this an advantage? It is hard to say.
Specification
- Layout: Xbox
- Compatibility: PC, mobile devices, Nintendo Switch
- Connectivity: wired, 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth
- Analogs: K-Silver Jx13 based
- Triggers: Hall effect
- Main switches: membrane under ABXY, mechanical under D-Pad
- Additional switches: 2 remapable on the back
- Gyroscope: no
- Vibration motors: two asymmetric
- Battery capacity: 600 mAh
- Polling rate: 1000 Hz
- Available color versions: white
- Docking station: none
- Price: 29.99$
Specification was made based on information from the manufacturer’s website and my own observations.
Initial impressions and observations
Let’s start with the USB-C cable, which I won’t discuss because it’s not included in the set, or, less likely, I lost it.
The 2.4 GHz receiver included with the Aether model is gray and has an elongated shape. Its only interesting element is the pairing button with an integrated diode.
The controller itself is of standard size. Its shape is closest to the Gale Hall model of the same brand. However, above all, I must praise the high quality of workmanship. The plastic is pleasantly rough, and the almost perfect fit is also worth noting.
Let’s move on to the disappointments, because the Aether was equipped with analogues based on the Jx13 platform from K-Silver. As soon as I saw them (after disassembling the controller into its first parts, which I will discuss later), I was disappointed, because all signs in the sky indicated that we would be dealing with a platform from HallPi, which is better than the Jx13 in every respect. And what if, but unfortunately, analogues do not cope well with wobbling in the center. The knobs themselves are the simplest construction made of plastic, without any form of anti-friction rings. We also do not have a POM ring here. The rubber coating of the tops is identical to other models of the brand, it holds the finger quite well.
The switches for ABXY are closest to those from the Gale Hall model, but the ones implemented here are slightly harder. This is one of my favorite constructions of this type, offering quiet operation, a fairly low travel and pleasant, yet delicate tactile feedback. The D-Pad is structurally very similar to that of the Rainbow 2 Pro model, which is of course an advantage, angular inputs are fabulously simple to make, and additionally stable. However, we do not have the option of hot-swapping the D-Pad for a wheeled one, only the cross one is compatible. True, the overlay itself can be removed, but no wheeled variant fits the model in question.
On the front we have an interesting thing, which is a display, responsible for the entire management of the controller – a concept known from Flydigi Apex 4 and Manba One V2. Technologically, it is closer to Manba, because we do not have the option of managing it from a computer (only a firmware update is available) or any customization.
The triggers in the Aether model are unlike anything else, the jump is quite low, and the spring resistance – moderate. However, I am not a fan of working in angles of attack, at position 0 they are not the worst, but when fully pressed I had the impression that the finger was not holding that stable. The bumpers are quite a simple design, in terms of feel they are closest to the Rainbow 2 Pro. In short, they are very comfortable to use.
At the back, apart from the additional switches, we have nothing. They are almost taken straight from the Rainbow 2 Pro. Due to the slightly different shape of the controller itself, using them is not as comfortable, but it is still very good.
Let’s take a look inside
To get to the inside, we have to unscrew all 6 screws at the back. Once we do that, the interior of the Aether will open up before us. Next, we will have to unscrew another 9 screws holding the PCB, and also get rid of the frame holding the triggers. Unfortunately, as much as I could praise the quality of the shell, I cannot fully do the same for the PCB. The quality of the soldering may not be bad, but no one made an effort to clean it, in many places I found large remnants of crystallized flux.
Synthetic tests
Moving on to latency, Aether does quite well in this regard – on switches we achieve an average of very good ~4 ms at 1000 Hz polling rate, with a 2.4 GHz connection it is about 10 ms with about 900 Hz polling rate, while with BT, which is a pleasant surprise, also plus or minus 10 ms, but already at 175 Hz polling rate. Switch mode also does quite well in terms of latency.
The latency of the Aether analogues in the Prometheus 82 benchmark is unfortunately slightly worse. Here, we achieve 18 ms via cable, which may be caused by the rather slow Hall effect sensors, especially since in the GPDL benchmark this controller went below 10 ms. 2.4 GHz is not better in this respect, because the delay exceeds 25 ms in X-input mode. I don’t even see the point in discussing other modes, because it’s only worse…
Another unpleasant surprise in the Aether model is the analog calibration, because it’s simply weak. The external dead zone is huge, closer to 1 mm than 0.8 mm, which effectively limits the useful analog zone. In addition, you can see that the asymmetry is moving strongly to the left on both analogs, and unfortunately recalibration doesn’t help. Recentering is also not the best, exceeding 3%, which can be a bit annoying. The only minor plus is the analog resolution, but it doesn’t save this controller in any way.
It should also be mentioned that the linearity (or rather lack thereof) on the sensors causes the analog curve to be significantly delayed in relation to physical movement, primarily because we don’t have any compensation for it here. However, it should be remembered that this is a measurement taken “by hand”, so some differences may occur.
The battery life is not extraordinary, during my testing the controller lasted about 10 hours of continuous operation.
Software, or rather the lack thereof
As I mentioned earlier, we do not have dedicated software here – in the application that previously managed older models of the brand, we can only update the firmware. The controller is managed from the screen, which generally works, but unfortunately it is very limited because of this.
Summary of the Mojhon Aether
How much of a disappointment is the Aether model? A small one, but a disappointment nonetheless. The biggest problem is the weak analogues, they do not cope well with centering, the dead zones are too high, and the curve is not compensated at all.
The problem of dead zones can at least be improved with a firmware update, and since it has been reported to the manufacturer, a fix can be expected in some time. Despite everything, the Aether has the potential to become one of the best budget pads, but for now I would hold off and focus my eyes on controllers like the Flydigi Direwolf 3 or 8BitDo Ultimate 2C.
This review was made possible thanks to Mojhon.
✅ Pros
Nice build quality
Awesome main and secondary switches
❌ Cons
Terrible analog calibration
Average analog delays
Few on-screen customization options
Trigger angles could be a bit different
