GameSirX2s Bluetooth Mobile Gaming Controller for iPhone/Android, Phone Controller with 500mAh Battery, Hall Effect Sticks & Analog Trigger, for CODM, Zenless Zone Zero, Delta Emulator, Cloud Gaming

Feels great and responds well. Battery life seems just fine too. Recommended if you want something that’s port agnostic.

When I was shopping for a controller for my phone this time, I knew exactly what I wanted. I have a Backbone. I got one for my iPhone 11 that has the lightning connector. When I upgraded to my iPhone 15 Pro Max, it didn’t occur to me right away I wouldn’t be able to use my Backbone. Not that it matters, I honestly never liked that thing much. So two main criteria were essential when I started shopping for a new controller for my iPhone. It had to be Bluetooth, because I hate having to remove my case to use the controller. Also, I didn’t want to spend a fortune like I did on the Backbone. If I can get an Xbox controller for $60, there’s absolutely no reason I should have to spend $80-$100 for a low quality, low effort controller for a phone. The GameSir X2s is pretty much the same as a Backbone, only, I believe, better. The one thing I really hated about the Backbone is the analog sticks. The analog’s on the Backbone are terrible. On the X2s, the analog’s aren’t full size, they’re miniature compared to a full size Xbox or PlayStation controller. But they work great. I have learned from going from the original Steam Deck to the OLED Steam Deck, that it’s the analogs that make or break a mobile gaming controller. The OLED has full size analog sticks and it’s worlds better for it. This doesn’t have the full size analogs, but I was trying to make a point about their importance.The D pad actually works and feels very nice to use. I play a lot of old school NES and Sega Genesis games on my phone, so I use the D pad a lot. Call them retro games if you want. I’m not that old, the games from my childhood shouldn’t be retro, it’s too soon!All the other buttons look and feel good. The only complaint I have is the shoulder buttons, the bumpers if you’re using Xbox terminology, they could be better. I wish they clicked louder or had more resistance, a stronger return spring. They do click, but they’re so quiet that I couldn’t even hear them clicking at work, so I thought they didn’t click at all. The triggers are fantastic, especially compared to the Backbone. This has very nice triggers. One of the great things about this controller is it comes with two sets of analog grip covers. One thing I think most people don’t consider is that once you wear out your analog sticks, that’s pretty much the end of that controller for most people. Even if everything still works, if they’re worn completely away, the controller is virtually ruined. Which is precisely why I always use analog grip covers. With the Backbone, I had to spend even more money to buy those separately, so that was a very welcome and pleasantly surprising to see.It didn’t occur to me until I had the X2s out of the box that my phone might not fit with the case on it. Guess I should have known better. I have the iPhone 15 Pro Max with an Otterbox defender case on it. It’s just barely too big to fit. The way the X2s cradles your phone is by using spring tension and foam pads. On the right side, it has a much thicker foam pad. I thought at first it might be a harder rubber like material, but no, it’s foam. Which is a good thing for me. I’m the type of person that I’ll modify something if there’s something I don’t like about it. Well in this case, fortunately, it was a relatively simple fix. The foam cuts very easily with a razor blade. So I took an Exacto-Knife and cut it most of the way back, then under cut it so I could remove it in one piece. I’ll add pics so you can see what I did. So, after that, yes, my phone did fit with the case on it. However, there was one thing that concerned me about what I saw after removing that foam piece. I could see that there were openings in the foam that remained, where you could clearly see some kind of tape had been used, that in my opinion, was there to act as a seal against moisture. If the manufacturer thought it was important enough to seal that area off, I would do the same. So I took my hot glue tool, and spread a thin layer of hot glue over top of those surfaces to keep water out of there. The one major downside to what I had to do was i completely voided my warranty. So hopefully this thing holds up.Opening up the X2s as wide as it will possibly go before it bottoms out, it tends to sit at a little bit of an angle when it’s holding the phone like that. It’s not a problem, it still holds the phone securely. I think my hot glue also aids in its holding power.One of the things I liked about the X2s is it has a turbo function. Well I haven’t figured that out just yet. It’s nowhere in the manual, and yes I read the manual. It’s a good thing I read the manual, because the first time I turned it on, it wouldn’t work. It was connected via Bluetooth, but none of the buttons registered. So I downloaded the app. Oddly enough the app doesn’t have many ratings, but it worked perfectly for what I needed it for, firmware update, which it didn’t need, and to confirm all the buttons were working, which it has that feature. So the app was telling me I was connected, but not connected. So I read the manual and discovered that to connect to an iPhone, you have to hold the pair button and B, and the status LED will turn blue, telling you that you’re in PS4 mode, which lets your iPhone see the X2s as a PS4 controller. So pretty much anything a PlayStation controller will work for, this controller will work for. iOS emulators, it works fine for those. AAA games on the iOS, works for those. Random games off the App Store, it works fine. I have yet to find a game, that supports controllers, it won’t work for.So far I can’t comment on battery life. I charged it day one, and I’ve probably got 15+ hours on it so far. The app tells you battery life, says I have 72% remaining. If for whatever reason you want to swap buttons XY to YX and AB to BA, if you prefer SNES layout, you can do that in the app. The app doesn’t do much, would be nice if you could set your turbo functions using the app.It’s got nice rubber grips on the back, which is better design that basic Xbox and PlayStation controllers. If this thing had full size analogs, and stiffer shoulder buttons, I’d say it was the best mobile controller, period. But as is, it’s quite good, and especially for the price. I’m impressed, and I’m not easily impressed. It exceeded my expectations for what I paid, I got it on sale. If you’re thinking about getting a Backbone, don’t, you’re gonna hate it. Get this instead.I checked out their website and got some good info. Natively fits phones 110-168mm. Has 500 mAh battery. What Gamesir says about the turbo function- Yes, Turbo function with 20Hz. You can configure the Turbo function either by pressing the Capture + A/B/X/Y/LB/RB/LT/RT buttons to set the Turbo function or via the GameSir software.You can’t do that in the app as far as I can tell.

Works with my iOS phone and has a very nice feel

This thing doesn’t work on the Delta app. The Bluetooth doesn’t work. It only works when your charger is connected to the controller and your phone. That’s a problem because with the charger connected, it doesn’t fit properly because it’s blocked by the charger plug thing. It sucks. It really sucks.

Comes with nice instructions and an extra set of thumb sticks which is appreciated. I paired it with my Pixel 9 Pro XL. Played some Call of Duty on it. One thing becomes apparent: while the all the buttons feel great, the larger size of the phone makes it difficult to dial in aiming in shooter games. If you want to emulate multiple complex maneuvers in game consecutively, like sprint, slide, jump as you do on a regular console with controller, you may run into trouble. It felt like the controller would slip out of my hand or the phone might accidentally pop out. I feel like you’d have an easier time with a smaller phone.

I like the portability of the product. It's a good size, and the battery lasts a while. The color scheme is also nice, with blue and black. I also like that I do not have to take off my phone case to use the attachment due to the Bluetooth connectivity. The connection is also good, without any lag or disconnection.

I was worried about input lag with a Bluetooth controller but it’s not noticeable at all. Works with thick cases like quad lock.

I really liked it but the analog stick failed after a week, this is the 2nd returned