Gamepad Moto Mod will go on sale August 25

Pre-orders for Motorola's Moto GamePad Mod went live at the end of last month, at a price of US$79.99 but without a set release date. That date is now known, and it's August 25. Customers can expect to get their hands on their clip-on controller in exactly two weeks, barring any unforeseen delay.

As mentioned in a previous article, the GamePad pretty much turns your Moto Z phone, including the new Moto Z2 Force, into a bona-fide portable Android console. It features most of the buttons you would expect from a traditional gamepad, including twin analog sticks, a d-pad, four face buttons (think the A,B,X,Y buttons on an Xbox controller), four shoulder buttons or triggers, and two menu buttons.

The GamePad doesn't just provide a more natural way to game on your phone. It also serves as a secondary battery, in this case one rated at 1,035 mAh. According to Verizon, using the GamePad Mod adds up to 8 extra hours of juice to your device. Of course, you won't get anywhere close to that while binging on intensive games, but any extra bit of battery life is useful when playing, especially for protracted periods of time.

If you noticed the name Verizon in the previous paragraph, it's because they are the exclusive vendor of this Mod. You won't be able to buy it anywhere else. The GamePad is one of two mods exclusive to Verizon, the other being the red JBL Soundboost 2 speaker Mod. Other mods will be available from a variety of different carriers and retailers.

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