Turn An Old Phone Into A Brilliant Handheld Xbox - Forbes

Which of america hasn’t got an aged smartphone sat successful a table drawer? For a humble outlay, that telephone could beryllium turned into a superb handheld Xbox console, letting you play hundreds of games without needing a full-blown Xbox.

Here’s however to crook an aged telephone into a handheld Xbox console that costs a fraction of the terms of a Steam Deck oregon Nintendo Switch.

What you’ll need

• An iPhone oregon an Android smartphone with a USB-C connection
• A dedicated controller – I urge the Razer Kishi V2, which has versions for iPhone and Android, but spot beneath for much accusation connected controllers
• A subscription to Microsoft Game Pass console edition, which costs $9.99 per month

How it works

With a controller specified arsenic the Razer Kishi V2 (pictured above), the telephone slides successful betwixt the 2 sides of the controller. The Kishi has astir each of the buttons you would find connected a modular Xbox controller, including the triggers and enarthrosis buttons. The lone happening missing is haptic feedback.

There’s thing to halt you utilizing your existent telephone for this project, by the way. The telephone slides easy successful and retired of the Kishi controller, allowing you to usage the telephone usually erstwhile you’re finished gaming.

However, I similar to usage an aged telephone for respective reasons. First, it means a telephone telephone can’t interrupt a gaming session, particularly if you’re playing an online game. It means you don’t deplete the artillery connected your main telephone with a agelong gaming session. And it means you don’t person to support sliding the controller and immoderate telephone lawsuit connected and off. But if you don’t person an old/compatible smartphone available, your existent telephone tin bash this too.

If you’re utilizing an aged phone, I suggest you mill reset the telephone and commencement afresh, truthful you don’t person app notifications and different worldly bogging the handset down. When you’ve refreshed the phone, instal the Xbox Game Pass app from either the iPhone App Store oregon Google Play Store.

Once you’ve got the app installed and signed up for an Xbox Game Pass account, you’ll beryllium capable to watercourse immoderate of the hundreds of Xbox titles that are disposable for unreality gaming. There’s a immense scope of games available, ranging from Fortnite to Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite to High connected Life, Disney Dreamlight Valley to Dishonoured 2. There’s genuinely thing for everyone connected there, though you whitethorn find immoderate games enactment amended connected the smaller handheld surface than others. I’ll travel backmost to this later.

For optimum streaming performance, link implicit Wi-Fi, alternatively than cellular. If you person the prime connected your network, link to either the 5GHz oregon 6GHz Wi-Fi set for the fastest performance. If you person to link to a cellular network, you’ll astir apt request a 5G oregon beardown 4G transportation to get playable performance.

I’ve spent hours streaming games connected my aged Samsung Galaxy M31 telephone this week, and it’s been a near-flawless experience. OK, you don’t get the offline play options that a Steam Deck oregon Nintendo Switch affords you, but neither bash you person the large upfront hardware cost, and the scope of games disposable to watercourse is huge. Trust me, you won’t get bored.

Controller options

The Razer Kishi V2 ($99) is an fantabulous controller. It’s comfy to hold, grips the telephone securely, and the triggers are peculiarly good weighted for a mobile controller. Note there’s a USB-C socket connected the bottommost broadside of the right-hand controller, if you request to apical up the phone’s artillery portion you’re playing, though this doesn’t person capable passthrough powerfulness for accelerated charging connected my phone, which is disappointing.

There are different options, though. The Backbone One has a precise akin plan to the Razer Kishi, and that controller includes a headphone socket, which means you’re not reliant connected (sometimes laggy) Bluetooth headphones if you don’t privation to irritate others with crippled sound bleeding retired of the phone.

Alternatively, you tin link beauteous overmuch immoderate wireless games controller to your mobile telephone via Bluetooth. Recent Xbox and PlayStation controllers are Bluetooth compatible, and you tin bargain a inexpensive clip for the apical of the controller truthful that you tin equine your telephone connected apical of it, specified arsenic this 1 from Orzly. I’ve tried this attack before, and didn’t find it enormously satisfying, but your mileage whitethorn vary. And it’s a batch cheaper than buying a dedicated mobile controller.

Which Xbox games enactment good connected mobile?

Console games are mostly designed for the large screen, and not each games construe brilliantly to the overmuch smaller mobile screen.

For example, first-person shooter games specified arsenic Fortnite, wherever you mightiness person to sprout astatine a tiny people successful the distance, are often hard to play connected handhelds. Not to notation the information that unreality streaming tin present other lag, which isn’t perfect for competitory online shooters.

In my experience, games that enactment good connected handhelds are the much sedate games, specified arsenic the turn-based RPG Chained Echoes, oregon Stardew Valley, oregon the brilliantly archetypal escapade game, As Dusk Falls.

That’s not to accidental enactment games can’t enactment connected mobile. I’ve had bully amusive thrashing astir the tracks successful Forza, for example, but I bask those games much connected the large screen.