Skip to main content

Your pocket-busting phablets are also too big for Fallout 4’s official Pip-Boy

fallout 4 pip boy phablets pipboy
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The post-apocalyptic future doesn’t have room for your enormous phablets. Bethesda announced more details about The Pip-Boy Edition of Fallout 4, revealed recently along side the game at E3, including details about what models of smartphones will be compatible.

The wrist-mounted replica of the Fallout series’ iconic accessory will include foam inserts that specifically accommodate iPhone 4/4S, 5/5S and 6; and the Samsung Galaxy 4 and 5. There will also be a customizable insert that “should be able to fit most other popular smartphone devices.”  That does not extend, however, to larger devices in the so-called “phablet” category of enormous phone/tablet hybrids like the iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The developer’s reasoning is that it “wanted to stay faithful to the dimensions of the in-game model.”

Players with bigger phones or tablets will still be able to use the Pip-Boy app, of course. They will just have to jury-rig something if they want the full, wrist-mounted experience. Fans have been making their own functional Pip-Boys for years, so industrious players have plenty of precedent to draw upon if they want to build their own hardware, made much easier now that there will be an officially-supported app to cover the software.

The RobCo Pip-Boy has been a standard part of every Fallout game since the series began in 1997. The consistent branding of in-game companies like RobCo, Vault-Tec, and Nuka-Cola is a big part of the Fallout series’ most enduring charms. Anticipating the rise of smartphones and now smartwatches, the Pip-Boy is a wrist-mounted computer that allows the player to manage their stats and inventory, track quests, and see where they are on the map (although how this functions, assuming that GPS satellites have been disabled or destroyed in the nuclear firestorm, is beyond me). These are all standard UI functions for a role-playing game, but the genius of Fallout, especially once it transitioned to a first-person perspective in Fallout 3, is to make them all diegetic within the game’s fiction. Fallout 4 breaking that out into a fully supported, second-screen experience is the next logical step now that real world technology has caught up with the game’s ’50s-tinged science fiction.

Fallout 4 comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 10, 2015. The Pip-Boy Edition is currently sold out in North American retailers, but more may become available in the intervening months as Bethesda struggles to meet demand.

Editors' Recommendations

Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
Nintendo Switch vs. PlayStation Portal: which portable device is best?
playstation portal review remote player vs switch oled

Handheld gaming has come back in a big way this past generation. Nintendo formerly held the crown as the king of the dedicated handheld market with its unfathomably successful DS line, which would eventually combine into a home console with the equally impressive Switch. PlayStation attempted to get into this market with the PSP and PS Vita but appeared to bow out of that competition when the latter failed to achieve much success. However, the new PlayStation Portal device could provide players with an alternative to Nintendo's aging system.

If you're debating between the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Portal, here's a full breakdown of how the two devices stack up.
Nintendo Switch Vs. PlayStation Portal specs
When it comes to specs, let's start with the easy comparisons.

Read more
Best Buy deals: Save on laptops, TVs, appliances, and more
best buy shuts down insignia line smart home products store 2 768x768

One of the best places to shop for almost anything involving electronics says so right in its name: Best Buy. The retail giant has a ton of departments with some of today’s most popular devices, components, and appliances for sale. It also offers a lot of these at a discount, which is certainly what we’re seeing right now. Some of the best TV deals, best tablet deals, best laptop deals, and best phone deals can currently be found at Best Buy, and those are just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve tracked down all of the best deals you can shop at Best Buy right now, so read onward for some gift ideas for yourself or a loved one and for some great ways to save.
Best Buy TV deals

There may be no better place to purchase one of the best TVs than Best Buy. There is almost always some huge savings to find on TVs at Best Buy, and that’s certainly the case right now. You’ll find deals top TV brands like Sony, Samsung, and LG, and more budget-friendly brands like TCL and Hisense are in play, too.

Read more
Best PS5 SSD deals: Add more storage to your PS5 from $80
A 2TB WD Black

If you've snapped up one of the better PS5 deals around at the moment, it's a smart move to also buy one of the best SSDs for PS5 so you can easily expand your PlayStation 5's storage. While the internal storage will get you started, as you install more games and download more titles from the PSN store, the more you'll find yourself limited for space. That's why we've sought out all the best PS5 SSD deals around right now. Below, we've listed the best PS5 SSDs so you won't have to worry about any compatibility issues or installing a heatsink for yourself. Different sizes and price ranges are available here so you'll easily find the right one for your situation.
Our favorite PS5 SSD deal

It wasn't that long ago that you'd have to pay well over $100 to get a SSD for your PS5 and often, it'd be slower than the pricier alternatives. These days, you can buy a Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD with heatsink for just $80 from Best Buy, thereby saving $40 off the regular price of $120. The SSD offers speedy performance while also having its own nickel coated high end controller to help deliver effective thermal control. It means it won't overheat and performance won't be compromised. Being a PCIe Gen 4 SSD, you get twice the data transfer speed of PCIe Gen 3 which is useful. Offering maximum read speeds of 7,000 megabytes per second, it's a good upgrade to go alongside your existing hard drive with 1TB offering plenty of extra space at a shrewd price.

Read more