My bed is covered with game controllers — as is the repurposed shoe organizer hanging off a tension bar that holds the ones I’ve actually put away. (It’s been an interesting work-from-home couple of years.) So when I say that the Backbone One controller, which comes in Xbox (black) and PlayStation (white) versions, is one of my favorites, there’s your context.
This controller and its competitors usually cost around $100, and while the seasonal price for the Backbone One seems to have dropped to $75, Amazon’s got it for $10 off that for Cyber Monday.
The Backbone One attaches to your iPhone via the Lightning port, which is far better than connecting over Bluetooth if you’re sensitive to latency, and it leaves Bluetooth for your audio connection. And you can now magic it to connect to any iOS device with a Lightning port. The switches and triggers feel responsive and the software is great for social players. And because it’s powered by your iPhone, you don’t need to recharge it separately. It can accommodate some of the thinner cases, but not all, so keep that in mind.
I like the feel of Razer’s nearly identical competitor, the Kishi V2, more in some ways — it uses Razer’s optomechanical switches — but at $35 less, the Backbone One is a no-brainer. Even at $25 less. The company’s Android model is in preorder for delivery by Christmas, but sadly at its original $100 price.
