Verdict
The Backbone One ( 2023 ) is a elusive revisal of the original , but it remain the safe and most flexible mobile accountant in the business – now with improved computer hardware compatibility .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Theoriginal Backbone Onewas and continues to be one of the safe mobile gaming restrainer on the market place , but it ’s getting on a bit now . It was beginning to front a minuscule outdated and inflexible , at least from a hardware compatibility viewpoint .
Cue the Backbone One ( 2023 ) , with a little but meaningful list of improvements that promise to reach the controller out to the entire current generation of smartphones .
Together with the subsequent arrival of a consecrate PlayStation version , and a telephone number of advance to its clever cyclosis - focussed software , we think now would be the everlasting time to revisit the Backbone One . Is it still the pick of the mobile gaming crop ?
At the same Mary Leontyne Price of £ 99.99 , it still is n’t anyone ’s idea of chintzy . But in a world where the PlayStation Portal costs £ 200 , can it now be considered good economic value ?
Design
The Backbone One ( 2023 ) has n’t changed much from the design of the original , which is absolutely fine . The first - multiplication product was arguably the best mobile plot controller on the market place , so a subtle revision is all that was postulate .
This is still a elementary controller with a contemporary console layout that amplify and clamps onto your smartphone , gripping either side in a landscape orientation . The concluding amalgamation looks somewhat like a smaller Nintendo Switch , but with the only item of meaningful connection being the USB - hundred larboard on the right - script controller section .
Yes , in a post - iPhone 15world , Backbone has gone all - in on USB - C. This current model is compatible with Apple ’s latest smartphones out of the box , though sr. USB - hundred owners can also get in on the act via a software update .
Improved compatibility is the master ground for this revised model ’s macrocosm . Besides that USB - C larboard , the revised simulation has also slimly extended the bridge extension to make fitting larger earphone that piddling chip more well-fixed – though it ’s still a morsel of a fiddle until you get the bent .
I would have like Backbone to have incorporate some sort of open curl and a gradual contraction system , as it always feels like I ’m a slip away from a dingdong phone frame ( though this fear has n’t yet manifested itself in reality ) .
Also newfangled is the improver of swappable magnetised adapters . These cagy piddling snap - on rubberize mounts come in two flavours , and help contain a wider compass of phones . They too are a little fiddly to root out of their climbing , but I hypothesise that ’s preferable to being too easy to get rid of .
MyiPhone 15 lucre like a boxing glove in good order out of the corner . I found that neither magnetic curing fitted thePixel 8 , with the left clasp sticking on the stumpy television camera module before it could clamp onto the edge . My solution was to take the magnetised grips out exclusively and use the Pixel 8 case , which worked nicely .
This is the PlayStation Edition of the Backbone One ( 2023 ) , but Backbone ’s title that it ’s “ Inspired by the spirit and look of the PS DualSense ” seems fanciful . It ’s a elementary cosmetic decal switch , with a blanched and black finish and the signature tune PlayStation button names swapping in for the Xbox layout of the original .
You still get a 3.5 millimetre earpiece jack and a USB - C larboard on the bottom of the left and ripe handles severally . The latter is there strictly for passthrough charging of your phone , as the Backbone One ( 2023 ) does n’t require any baron of its own .
Performance and gaming experience
Besides the aforesaid compatibility - based update , the only other physical changes here relate to the physical control . The 2nd gen controller D - pad and cheek buttons have been update for additional preciseness .
Not that I would necessarily have remark had Backbone not drawn attention to the fact . But yes , upon closer inspection and direct compare with the first Backbone One , the D - digs seems to offer a more marked edge , while the button have a less tightly bounce clickiness to them .
fundamentally , though , we ’re looking at much the same gambling experience that the original Backbone One provided . This is n’t a knocking . It ’s still the best bespoke roving game controller I ’ve ever used .
It come down to the calibre of the build and tightness of the tolerance on the button , as well as the quality and weight of the analog spliff . The rear berm push button have just the right-hand level of spring and travel , enable fine control whilst stay sufficiently compact and mobile .
The true litmus test test here is play a console conversion like Wreckfest or Resident Evil Village , both of which I was able to cull up and play with virtually no adjustment period . There was none of that weird sense of gulf that lesser accountant can sire , where it can often feel like you ’re playing through a stratum of control version .
In term of general execution , I go through none of the occasional connexion trouble that our original recap highlighted . Backbone has hone it product over the class with successive software – and now hardware – update , to the point where it ’s just about as dependable a package as they come .
Software
The Backbone One is not , nor has it ever been , simply a mobile plot controller . While it ’s caliber as a forcible puppet is significant , it ’s also a software service , or even a program .
Backbone ’s sales pitch is to bring the disjointed worldly concern of wandering play under one umbrella . Pressing that orangish Backbone button will jump you into the Backbone app ( once you ’ve downloaded it of course ) , which serves as a extremely dressed window onto all of the available service and installed mobile games that are usable to you .
The cross - hatched layout of this controller is reminiscent of the last couple of PlayStation UIs , which feels peculiarly fitting with this PlayStation Edition of the Backbone One .
As well as a lean of preinstalled games and services , there are magazine publisher - like incision with satiny auto - playing video recording intros to highlight new games you might require to try out .
This being the PlayStation Edition , this includesPS Remote Play . Once you ’ve installed the Remote Play app , your geminate smartphone essentially turns into a PlayStation Portal , streaming PlayStation 5 and 4 games from your cabinet to your cover .
Any knack - ups here are related to the PS Remote looseness experience , and the general nature of game streaming . I wo n’t comment on thing like rotational latency and snatch rate here .
What matters is how those PlayStation games translate through the Backbone One ’s controls , and the answer is very well indeed . evidently it does n’t pit the PlayStation tactile property of pairing an prescribed controller , but then you do get the latent period - lessening welfare of a direct USB - C connection here .
Despite the PlayStation stigmatization , you’re able to also make full use of Xbox Cloud Gaming on here – though if that ’s your primary streaming service , you ’ll in all likelihood prefer for the regular Backbone One version anyway , if only for those mirrored button layouts . There ’s also a section on the Backbone UI for GeForce Now , if personal computer gaming is more your bag .
Elsewhere , the Backbone One ( 2023 ) ’s software works intemperately to make even mobile games better . For example , Genshin Impact – which does n’t support controllers on Android – apply Backbone ’s canny TouchSync software program to mechanically represent its trace controls , giving you three red-hot - swappable configuration choice .
I was startled at how seamlessly and fluidly this worked , in a flash turning Genshin Impact on Android into a silky cabinet military action - RPG .
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Should you buy it?
There is no wandering game restrainer with such classy , solid , and console - esque control .
At £ 99.99/$99.99 , you postulate to be darn certain you need a physical controller for your mobile phone .
Final Thoughts
The Backbone One remains arguably the okay mobile gaming appurtenance on the market . It offers the dear set of physical controls around , while Backbone ’s software crop wonders to bring all of the disparate fashion of toy games on your phone together under one slick UI .
Very little has change with this second generation , and there was perhaps more that could have been done to better the mental process of fit out it to your phone . But its physical compatibility is beneficial than ever , and its core offering was already pretty immaculate .
At £ 100/$100 , it might be a little expensive , but if you ’re serious about high - terminal mobile gaming or secret plan cyclosis , the Backbone One will justify its price over the come year .
Trusted Score
How we test
We try out all our machine thoroughly over an prolonged period of sentence . We use industry - standard trial run to equate features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to brush up a product .
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FAQs
It depends on the phone , but remove the magnetized adapters should allow you to use a lot of cover version .
Yes , the Backbone One will work with all phones with USB - C porthole .
The Backbone One controller has USB - C larboard , enabling you to charge your earpiece as you roleplay .
Full Specs
