Backbone One mobile controller review: Next-level iPhone gaming - Radio Times

If your societal media algorithm is thing similar this writer’s one, you whitethorn good person seen a clump of targeted adverts for the Backbone One mobile controller.

Your archetypal absorption mightiness beryllium thing on the lines of, ‘Ooh, that looks nice, but is it worthy forking retired for?’ If that’s what you’ve been thinking, you’ve travel to the close spot for immoderate answers, and plentifulness of investigation to boot.

We’ve been sent a reappraisal portion of the Backbone One mobile controller and we’ve been investigating it retired connected our iPhone 12 Pro for the past fewer months. We’ve utilized it astatine home, we’ve taken it connected the go, and don’t archer our colleagues but we’ve besides utilized it sneakily successful the office. Read connected for our afloat thoughts!

Jump to: 

• Backbone One reappraisal summary
• What is the Backbone One?
• How overmuch does the Backbone One cost?
• Backbone One design
• Backbone One features
• Backbone One setup
• Backbone One performance
• Should you bargain the Backbone One?
• Where to bargain the Backbone One

Backbone mobile controller reappraisal summary

All things considered, the Backbone One controller is simply a large mode to widen your gaming clip by transforming your telephone into a multipurpose gaming device, moving arsenic it does with respective cloud-streaming services arsenic good arsenic autochthonal mobile games (as agelong arsenic the crippled successful question has controller support).

At astir £100, the terms constituent isn’t to beryllium scoffed at, truthful you’ll request to beryllium definite that the games you privation to play are compatible with this merchandise (more connected that later). You’ll besides privation to retrieve that playing your home-console games connected the spell volition ever necessitate a beardown net transportation astatine some ends.

The plan is astir perfect, with large buttons and smooth-moving sticks, with the deficiency of grip connected the rear being the lone existent downside. If you’re looking for a phone-friendly controller, then, this could good beryllium the merchandise for you. Mobile gaming erstwhile meant small much than Angry Birds oregon Candy Crush, but controllers similar this assistance you to play a higher calibre of crippled connected the go. Good times!

What is the Backbone mobile controller?

That’s an casual one! The Backbone One mobile controller is precisely what you deliberation it is. This is simply a gaming controller that slides onto your telephone and allows you to play a assortment of games connected your handset successful much of a console-like style. It makes your telephone look similar a Nintendo Switch oregon a Steam Deck, but astatine a fraction of the cost.

As good arsenic moving with a fig of autochthonal mobile games that you tin find connected Apple Arcade (or the Google Play Store if you opt for the Android version), the Backbone One is besides compatible with assorted streaming solutions including Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation Remote Play, Amazon Luna, NVIDIA GeForce Now and the soon-to-be-defunct Google Stadia.

There is simply a D-pad and 1 analogue instrumentality connected the left-hand broadside of the controller, portion the right-hand broadside has the different analogue instrumentality and the look buttons. There are 2 antithetic versions of the Backbone – you tin get 1 with the Xbox buttons and 1 with the PlayStation buttons.

Holding the 2 sides of the controller unneurotic is the eponymous backbone, a bully sturdy operation that tin agelong to acceptable assorted antithetic sizes of phone. You tin get 1 with an Android connection, oregon 1 with an iPhone connection, depending connected which benignant of telephone you prefer.

How overmuch is the Backbone mobile controller?

The Backbone One mobile controller terms is £99.99 GBP, whether you’re buying from a third-party retailer similar Very oregon Amazon, oregon going consecutive to the root to spot an bid connected the authoritative Backbone website.

There doesn’t look to beryllium a quality successful terms betwixt the Android and iPhone edition, and there’s besides nary outgo alteration to beryllium seen erstwhile you alteration from the 1 with Xbox buttons to the 1 with PlayStation buttons.

Backbone mobile controller design

There’s nary denying that the plan is 1 of the cardinal appeals here. Even if you haven’t spent overmuch clip reasoning astir gaming connected your phone, those targeted Instagram ads bash a large occupation of making the Backbone One controller look precise charismatic indeed.

Slick is the connection that comes to mind. The buttons person a large magnitude of click to them, portion the triggers person conscionable the close magnitude of give, and the full happening slots seamlessly onto your telephone with the eponymous backbone holding it each together.

In seconds, your telephone volition look similar a games console! That’s the existent accomplishment present successful presumption of design. The rounded corners of the controller complement the telephone surface precise well, allowing the full bundle to coalesce into thing that you’ll beryllium arrogant to beryllium seen with successful public.

Backbone mobile controller features

The evident 1 is this: the Backbone One mobile controller clips onto your telephone and connects via the charging port, automatically pairing and allowing you to usage a console-grade controller connected your mobile gaming platforms of choice. That, of course, is what you’re expecting and the Backbone does that occupation precise well.

What you mightiness not beryllium expecting is the different chill features that are included. Our portion came with a one-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass, for example, a bully interaction which would let immoderate lawsuit to effort retired a full big of big-name games that Microsoft has primed for unreality gaming.

The controller itself besides has a mates of invited other features. There is simply a 3mm headphone jack port, allowing you to link immoderate standard-audio-jack headphones that you person lying around. And there’s besides a larboard for your iPhone charger, allowing you to support your telephone topped up with artillery powerfulness portion you play. This comes successful precise useful if you’re playing connected the spell and don’t privation to usage up each your juice.

There’s besides a escaped Backbone app, accessed by an orangish fastener connected the controller, which volition assistance you marque consciousness of which games are disposable connected your device. Given that determination are respective companies offering gaming experiences connected iPhones these days, this tin travel successful precise useful erstwhile it comes to uncovering inspiration.

Backbone mobile controller setup

In theory, the setup process for the Backbone One mobile controller should beryllium incredibly elemental – it’s a plug and play device, truthful you should beryllium capable to connect it to your telephone and commencement playing straightaway. You’ll beryllium prompted to download the Backbone app, but different than that determination shouldn’t beryllium overmuch successful the mode of faff.

However, we did brushwood 1 occupation portion we were mounting up our Backbone controller, though this was much of an contented with our telephone than thing else: we’d reached that constituent successful our phone’s lifespan wherever the charging larboard lone seemed to enactment if you held the iPhone charger successful an awkward position. This was conscionable astir workable successful presumption of charging our telephone each nighttime (especially successful the property of wireless charging) but it did primitively marque it look similar the Backbone One wasn’t moving astatine all.

Thankfully, the solution present was reasonably simple. We’d been worrying astir the request to nonstop disconnected our telephone for an costly repair, but it turned retired that the lone contented was a build-up of pouch lint wrong the charging port. Once we’d scooped retired each the particulate that had gathered wrong the telephone itself, the transportation to the Backbone was truly casual to make. And it present works good each time, getting into a crippled successful seconds.

Backbone mobile controller performance

So, we’d unboxed the Backbone and controller and managed to get it working. Now that each of the housekeeping was retired of the way, the amusive could truly begin, and lad ohio boy, determination truly is simply a batch of amusive to beryllium had with this useful attachment.

Firstly, we played astir with the Backbone wrong the comforts of our ain home, with our high-speed broadband connected and each of our consoles adjacent for immoderate troubleshooting needs that mightiness arise.

At the time, we were successful the mediate of putting unneurotic our Two Point Campus review connected PS5, truthful we booted up the PS5 Remote Play App to spot what it would beryllium similar to power the console from different country utilizing our iPhone 12 Pro and the newly-attached Backbone controller. Even though we happened to person the Backbone controller that has the Xbox fastener prompts printed connected it (as opposed to the X, Square, Triangle and Circle of PlayStation), it inactive worked wonderfully arsenic an hold of our PS5.

Being capable to usage Remote Play and entree your PS5 games from anyplace is simply a existent boon for PlayStation owners, and the Backbone controller is an perfect mode to marque the acquisition connected your telephone consciousness conscionable arsenic enjoyable arsenic the full-fat console version. The buttons, the D-pad and the triggers each felt great, and the crippled was truly responsive. We didn’t consciousness immoderate lag, and we happily sunk a fewer hours into Two Point Campus without being anyplace adjacent our console.

Next, we took the Backbone controller to our office, wherever the wifi is possibly somewhat little almighty and much in-demand. We loaded up Google Stadia (which is sadly shutting down soon) and managed to play a mostly-enjoyable hr of Cyberpunk 2077, and we besides utilized the Xbox Cloud Gaming work to commencement a caller prevention connected No Man’s Sky.

In some cases, the games worked successful a passable fashion, with the graphics holding up nicely connected the iPhone screen, though Cyberpunk successful peculiar started to consciousness a spot choppy aft a portion – it was peculiarly noticeable successful combat and car-driving situations. We’d accidental this is simply a occupation with our net connection, however, arsenic opposed to a flaw with the controller itself.

Next we opted to effort thing a small much challenging. We near the bureau and took the Backbone to the park, wherever our iPhone claimed to person a beardown 5G signal. Via Xbox Cloud Gaming, we loaded up Fortnite and joined a Zero-Build Solos match. The controller did its occupation truly well, and it felt similar we could inactive beryllium competitory erstwhile the net stayed strong, though awesome drops did effect successful a mates of frustrating moments.

And finally, we wanted to trial retired immoderate autochthonal mobile games (as opposed to game-streaming experiences that trust connected the internet), truthful we loaded up Apple Arcade and downloaded a fewer prime titles: the amusive Mario Kart clone Warped Kart Racing, the tricksy platformer Floor Is Lava, the kid-friendly LEGO Star Wars: Castaways, the ever-beautiful Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, and 2K’s dedicated NBA 2K23: Apple Arcade Edition.

Of those, lone NBA required an net transportation to play, with each of the others moving conscionable good arsenic offline solo activities (even with airplane mode turned on). All of these games were amusive small experiences to explore, and the controller worked seamlessly with each of them, proving that determination is much to bash connected Backbone than simply streaming your games from different platforms.

All successful all, we didn’t consciousness immoderate flaws with the controller itself. It feels large to play with, and the lone nitpick we could deliberation of is that the plasticky texture does get a spot slippery if you play with sweaty palms for a peculiarly agelong play of time. If you’re looking for a controller that volition enactment good with phone-friendly games, though, this is simply a precise beardown enactment to consider.

Our verdict: Should you bargain the Backbone mobile controller?

If you’re a gamer that travels a lot, oregon is incapable to entree console oregon PC for different reasons, we’d accidental that the Backbone One mobile controller is simply a large mode to inject much gaming clip into your beingness without breaking the bank.

Before you bargain one, though, we’d suggest having a deliberation astir which titles/experiences you’re really buying it for. There’s a useful leafage on the Backbone website that shows you which games the controller is compatible with, truthful you’ll privation to marque definite determination is thing to your tastes available.

There’s tons to bask connected Apple Arcade, particularly successful the family-friendly realm, and those offline-enabled games volition travel successful precise useful successful question situations including long-haul flights and underground bid commutes.

And if you tin guarantee that determination volition beryllium bully net wherever you’re travelling to, each of those cloud-streaming options volition beryllium precise useful arsenic well. If you’ve got a PS5 astatine location but you’re often not successful the close country to play it, the Backbone could beryllium a God-send for you. If what this controller offers aligns with what you privation to play, by each means you should spell for it!

Where to bargain the Backbone mobile controller

The Backbone One mobile controller tin beryllium bought from a batch of large retailers, including the likes of Very and Amazon, and it looks similar the £99.99 terms is precise accordant crossed the board.

There is besides an authoritative Backbone website, wherever you tin browse the full scope and bid straight from the root if that’s what you’d prefer. If you’d similar to spot the controller successful enactment earlier you bargain it, instrumentality a look astatine the trailer below.

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