Many people who game on a PC own 2 things that do roughly the exact same task at various times: a mouse for the desk and a gamepad for the couch. They live side by side, sometimes getting in each other’s way, and neither one is going anywhere. Pixelpaw Labs, a hardware startup from Bangalore,
India, believes that plan is wasteful and has developed something to show it. The Phase is a wireless mouse that physically separates down the middle into two independent halves. Snapped together, it sits on a desk and works like a normal mouse. Pull it apart, and each half reveals a joystick, sets off, a D-pad on the left side, and face buttons on the right, a split gamepad that was hiding in plain sight the whole time.
Designer: Pixelpaw Labs
That missing scroll wheel is not an oversight. Fitting a conventional wheel in the center of the body would have made the split system difficult, so Pixelpaw replaced it with a capacitive touch strip along the top of the left button. Flicking a finger throughout it scrolls through documents and web pages, with a move function that lets the momentum coast rather than stop suddenly. It’s a compromise that works around a genuine geometric restriction.
As a mouse, the Phase is competitive on paper. A 16,000 DPI optical sensing unit pairs with a 1,000 Hz polling rate when connected through the included 2.4 GHz USB dongle. Bluetooth LE is readily available for benefit and multi-device pairing throughout as much as 3 gadgets, though the polling rate drops to 125 Hz because mode, a space that matters in fast-paced PC games.
As much as 18 adjustable buttons are mappable through the Pixelplay buddy app, and a Layer button doubles each button’s function capacity without including physical complexity. Battery life is rated at 72 hours per charge over USB-C, which is sufficient to outlive dedicated video gaming sessions on either side of its personality.
< img src="https://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2026/03/this-wireless-mouse-splits-in-half-to-reveal-a-hidden-game-controller/pixelpaw-phase-mouse-game-controller-05.jpg"alt=" "width="1280" height ="960 "/ >< img src="// www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201280%20960%22%3E%3C/svg%3E" data-src="https://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2026/03/this-wireless-mouse-splits-in-half-to-reveal-a-hidden-game-controller/pixelpaw-phase-mouse-game-controller-05.jpg"alt ="" width ="1280 "height ="960"/ > The controller halves use mechanical tactile switches, which is more than most mobile video gaming clip-ons bother with. Pixelpaw likewise has an accessory called the Phasegrip, a bracket that holds the two apart halves apart with a mobile phone mounted in the center, turning the setup into a portable console for mobile gaming. The Phase works across PC, Android, iOS, iPadOS, and ChromeOS, so switching in between gadgets does not need switching hardware.
Whatever shown so far is pre-production, and the company has actually been in advance that the last surface finish will differ. That’s a significant caveat for an item whose physical fit and feel will determine whether the idea in fact holds up. Whether they’ll be able to deliver this Holy Grail of PC gaming, however, is the genuine concern that can only be answered in time.
< img src="https://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2026/03/this-wireless-mouse-splits-in-half-to-reveal-a-hidden-game-controller/pixelpaw-phase-mouse-game-controller-08.jpg" alt ="" width="1280" height="960"/ > < img src ="// www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201280%20960%22%3E%3C/svg%3E" data-src="https://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2026/03/this-wireless-mouse-splits-in-half-to-reveal-a-hidden-game-controller/pixelpaw-phase-mouse-game-controller-08.jpg" alt ="" width="1280" height="960"/ >