Customer Ratings & Reviews

Now that I have it I can use it for when I am traveling

I have a Steam deck i play on much more I thought the portability would sway me away from the Deck. It only brought me closer lol

The Backbone for iPhone for Playstation is aesthetically a great looking device, technically a great idea, and fundamentally a controller that can turn your iPhone into a next-level gaming device. In reality, personally, I feel it needs a lot of improvements to be a true 'Playstation' controller for your iPhone. What Backbone have done, is taken their regular controller, made it white and put some nice, glossy Playstation 5 controller-esque buttons on it, and a couple of proprietary PS functions. But fundamentally, the controller is more geared towards an X-Box or Nintendo Switch set up, than it is a Playstation controller. The biggest elephant in the room with PS vs X-Box vs Nintendo Switch controllers is the off-set joysticks. The Playstation is the only one of the 3 controllers that has symmetrical joysticks, on the same plane. So to be a 'true' PS controller, this one needed to step up it's game and have the symmetrical joysticks. I've had every iteration of Playstation from One through Five, and the joysticks have always been level and not offset. And while we're talking about the joysticks, they are tiny. Like tiny, tiny. Very similar to the Nintendo Switch controller joysticks, which are also tiny. As far as the aesthetic feel of a PS5 (or 4/3/2/1) controller, this misses the mark. And to a Playstation (only) gamer, this will feel weird. I do occasionally play on my son's Switch, but complain about those controllers all the time to him too! Yes, I am a Sony fan in this respect, and I am reviewing this Backbone controller, as a Sony product fan. Moving on to the better things, I love how they've captures the glossy/clear buttons of the PS5 controller, it being white ties into that design with the black bumper buttons up top. The other buttons are fine, they do what they need to, the Backbone button would have been more complementary in Blue on the controller, but that's a minor thing. Now in this form factor, you aren't going to have the feedback sensors/motors in a controller like this, I totally get it. But a more substantial click from the bumper buttons would be welcome. The way this controller slides open with a spring loaded mechanism makes it very easy to attach your iPhone, and also comes with an adapter to mount an iPhone 13 as well. But... you have to remove your case, this controller does not work with your case on your iPhone. Minor inconvenience, but worth a note. On the bottom edge, right hand side, there is a USB-C charging port to be able to charge your phone while using it, no cable is included tho. On the left hand side there is a 3.5mm jack for hooking up some wired headphones if you so choose. Once you plug your iPhone in, you are prompted to download the Backbone app, set up an account, and even though you get 1 year of Backbone membership with the controller, you are forced to set up a recurring payment with Backbone through Apple, in order to even begin using the controller. Being forced to do that ($50/year), while understandable as Backbone want to make money, was annoying when just trying to get on and try/use the controller. Playing Games: I found the controller to have little lag, depending on the game, which was nice, and games like Gran Turismo 7 played nice and smoothly with the controller. I had some good fun racing around the tracks. The functionality was there, little to no lag, smooth turning, accelerating and brake was all to be found. You can also capture and record clips just like you would on a PS5 controller, with a dedicated button. Moving on to my go-to game, Call of Duty (Cold War in this instance) things got a little different. In a fast paced and frenetic online game, the controller was simply too jerky in it's joystick motion to remain accurate and on target, I tried all sorts of different options, holding the controller slightly differently, and while you could control the game, the sense of urgency required wasn't there and I was habitually second to the trigger. Ultimately ended up quitting out of the game due to the awkward joysticks and feeling like I was always playing second fiddle to the other players. For context, I am not an Elite Gamer, nor am I novice to Call of Duty, I've been playing online consistently since Call of Duty 3. Overall, I really wanted to like this product. It's a quality product, and it's well screwed together, it feels sturdy and durable, it's connectivity is good, little to no latency on smoother games, but frantic, high speed games it struggled, in my experience. The aesthetics are nice too, it looks good. But overall, the joystick layout (and size of them - too small) really make this NOT a dedicated PS controller substitute, and for that reason alone, makes me not want to pick it up. And being forced to sign up for the $50/year subscription right out of the gate, before even testing the product was annoying as well.

It wont fit a iphone 14 without the adapter (comes free in the box. If not in the box they will mail one out to you for free.) It works great. Can play all compatible games easily. My only gripe is with its subscription based app. With a subscription you can access all your games and game recordings or screenshots in a single location instead of having to go through your phone. It also lets you screen record with a press of a single button and lets your stream onto your twitch as well. But without the pricy ($39.99/year) you cant do any of that.

My first impression is the controller is unique in it might let me play games on the go. But the first thing it asks is I sign up for yet another subscription. Not happy with that. It does come with a one year free offer, but wants my credit card. That aside, the controller can accommodate almost any iPhone. It comes with a rubber adapter. Nice and all, but I have to remove my otter box protective cover to fit it in as the power to the joystick comes from my phone. That's a problem everytime I go to use the device. I do like the pass through charging port on the bottom of the handle. Good for keeping the fun going and recharging the phone. Also on the other bottom edge is a headphone jack for private game play. Great when your in public and don't want to disturb others around you. The controls are responsive though the relative size of the paddles and buttons a bit small. Maybe not great for long sessions or those with larger hands. Everything is where one would expect it to be on the Backbone. You will need to download a few apps to get full use of the controller. And the subscription is something also required for console and PC connectivity.

Its really great for controllers if you want to stream to your mobile device it definetly has the feel of quality. Some caveats it doesnt work with alot of thick cases so if your the type to lock your phone in an otterbox your gonna have to take it out everytime. Additionally it doesnt work well with the iphone camera bump on the pro models so they had to put in a little rubber piece to account for it. Additionally it comes with a subscription plan not to play with the controller but it locks some stuff behind a 30 dollar a year plan but very specific use cases like using the controller as an external on ipad and their own proprietary homescreen.

Felt well built and worked well under optimal connection situations, however lag caused me to return it. Nothing wrong with the controller but the connection to PlayStation even on my iPhone 14+ with 300mb internet still experienced lag

It’s good device for remote play PS/XBX but the fact that they want you pay for subscription just so you can play on iPad etc.. and need make sure you have MiFi router as well and a extender for cable need use for iPad or to other devices, but if just want it for phone play remote play PS/XBX don’t need none of it

I had one of these controllers for about a year and barely used it the lag was terrible and i wasnt crazy anout paying for another yearly subscription and mostly used the ps remote app once i upgraded my iphone coildnt use it so i bought the new PS portal remote which is much better

Overall this is a good controller. Just wish it fit a phone with a case on. I used this with a 13 pro and have an Apple Leather case. The case is fairly thin but the controller does not fit with the case on. having to take it on and off is a dealbreaker for me. Other than that buttons feel good and I really like how it basically turns my phone into a PSP and the Playstation branding to match the PS5 is nice. The joysticks are a little low so I had to take a break every few minutes to stretch my hands. If the case thing isn’t an issue or you’re lucky enough to have a second iPhone it’s a good controller

It wasn't exactly as advertised. It never connected to my PlayStation unless the PlayStation was right in front of me and set where it could not even enter sleep mode when in use. Even with excellent wifi, the connection was glitchy and I returned it after two days.

I bought this one with high expectations, and although it serves its purpose, gaming with this device is hard. The size of it makes it very uncomfortable to hold without your hands getting cramped. Much cheaper and same functions than the new device PS just put out.

Its great but its very frustrating how it doesn’t support having a case on my phone in any way. Also I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and theres just barely enough room for it to fit

Kind of laggy connection but fits well on the phone and works on several games.

I like this but i like the one with the screen better

Used with iPhone 12 pro max. The controller fits my phone but the camera bump is in the way. The controller comes with an adapter for the iPhone 13 pro, which I haven’t attempted to use yet. IMO this should not be an issue considering these iPhones have been available for over 2 years. Why not improve the form of the controller vs. including an adapter that I have to keep track of? Also, the joysticks are very short-throw, why? And, why is the controller so smooth? Why not add grip?

Feels like a solid controller but it's not compatible with the iPhone 13 because the cameras are in the way. There's an adapter, but by the time they can deliver it, the return window will close. The adapter based on photos doesn't seem to really make it fit well. Probably going to take it back a day after getting it. Also there's a yearly subscription. Do not buy if you have an iPhone 13 or newer.

The product is pretty good however it will not take my iPhone 13 Pro Max without taking off the case and the tempered glass camera protector. The protector is attached with adhesive and I just pull it off and stick it back on each use. The right buttons actuation force is pretty high in my opinion and very loud and clicky. My thumbs were starting to feel fatigue after a while and I had to remap the 'A' and 'B' buttons to the shoulders. The shoulders and the D-pad are light and comfortable without any clickyness. I would probably go with the Razer alternative or wait and see the v2 Backbone if you have the funds.

It’s really sleek and feels a lot like holding a PS5 controller. My only gripe is that every now and then the D-Pad signal goes crazy and automatically triggers itself rapidly and repeatedly. It can make selecting things a bit of a chore. When it’s not freaking out, it’s great but I wouldn’t recommend it for intense multiplayer content.

The Backbone One Playstation Edition is an excellent concept for high tech gaming on the go, but theres a catch. If you don't have the proper internet to stream from Remote Play or any other gaming services, your mobile gaming stream is severely hindered. I bought the Backbone because I travel a lot for work and saw countless adds, so I bought it. Tried a lot of tweaks to make it work and was wondering why I was lagging in my own home. My internet speed wasn't up to par in order to stream it from my console to my phone. I'm giving this a 3/5 because I believe that with faster internet the Backbone will actually work and be a useful tool.