The Swiss army knife of controllers
Have you ever wished you could only use a single controller for all you gaming needs? Well that wish almost got granted, but do not despair, Backbone is pretty close with the Backbone One mobile controller.
There are 4 varieties of the controller, the Xbox black version or the PlayStation 5 DualSense white version. both theses designs have the buttons matching. So far that explains only two of them. Next you have to select what type of smartphone to use it with Android or iOS. Yes, a smartphone. The controller cradles your smartphone which becomes the screen, pretty much like the Nintendo Switch. So far people are saying, that is not that great. “I already have a Switch, why would I get this gadget?” On the same controller you can remote play games from you PlayStation and Xbox and your Steam account. You can also play games like Diablo Immortal or Call of Duty Mobile.
Honestly the only issue I have with the system as there is no access to your to stream games from your PS Plus account or Xbox Cloud, at least you are able to play game from your Google Stadia account, which makes this controller fully mobile as you can play from anywhere. With the charging port and the audio jack, there is no need to take out your smartphone to recharge it.
For review purpose, the Backbone One was tested with an iPhone 13, tested remote play with Xbox and PlayStation. I noticed that even in remote play I was not able to stream games. Locally installed games on the consoles or computer ran fine. These could only be run while on the same Wi-Fi network. Apps store games, mobile games and Stadia games ran perfectly even on the road.
Should you be interested in getting one check out Backbone