Last November, Backbone, a premium telescopic mobile game controller manufacturer, made its awesome accessory available to Android users after a long time where it was only compatible with iPhones. Shortly before that announcement, the company collaborated with Sony to create an iPhone-centric PlayStation-themed version of that same controller.
Unfortunately for anyone with and Android device, this beautiful piece of hardware was once again restricted from them. Well, I have great news for you – not anymore! Sitting at the standard $99.99 USD, you can pick up this white Backbone One telescopic gamepad for your Pixel or Samsung phone, as well as any other handset that has USB-C with Android 8.0+ as an operating system.
Instead of your typical A,B,X,Y face buttons, it sports a near 1-to-1 Sony PlayStation 5 Dual Sense controller layout with triangle, square, circle and cross buttons. Virtually every other aspect of it remains unchanged from the previous black colored iteration the company released on its own.
Transform your Android phone into the ultimate gaming console. Snap in your phone and play any game or service that supports controllers, including Xbox Cloud Gaming, or even stream directly from your Xbox or PC. No tedious setup. Fast charge via a pass-through USB-C port and listen with wired headphones using the 3.5mm audio port. Uncover a new world of premium gaming in seconds.
As always, Backbone is offering a free 1-month trial of Google Play Pass which gives you access to over 800 games for you and your family group, but I’ve already stated in the past why Google lost me as a customer for this service. As of right now, it’s done nothing to win me back, and I expected nothing less!
Still, if you’d like to give it a go, then be my guest – it is free for a month, after all! The Backbone One has a headphone jack built-in (something you see less and less often these days), low-latency input thanks to the Type-C port, pass-through charging, and collapses while not in use to fit in your travel bag.
There is a Backbone app that helps you discover gamepad-compatible games, but I’ve been playing so much PlayStation Remote Play that I nearly forgot Android games existed this year. Let me know in the comments if you own a Backbone, or if you’re as crazy as me and invested in another handheld game console like the Logitech G Cloud.