Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Backbone One is the first controller accessory I’ve ever had for my phone and I’m excited to share my thoughts about it with all of you. I’ll be using this with my iPhone 12 and reviewing it with several services, but specifically using PlayStation Remote Play. I’ll be posting my overall impressions first in case you don’t want to read the entire thing. My overall experience with the Backbone One was a positive one. Other than it missing a hard case or the ability to fold down for a smaller travel footprint, the device is a completely solid, well-built, and essential accessory for anyone wanting to elevate their mobile gaming. The ability to have actual physical controls for these games is a game changer and makes mobile gaming much more approachable for those used to PC and console gaming. If you’re looking for a premium gaming experience for your iPhone, look no further than the Backbone One. Unboxing/Build Quality: Unboxing the Backbone One makes you feel like you’ve purchased a premium device. The box is made of a soft velvety material and the Backbone is packaged front and center in a minimalistic way. You’ll get the Backbone One, an iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max adapter, and a quick start card, along with safety instructions that you’ll probably never read. The device itself is light but solidly built. Once attached to your phone, it feels solid and like it’s a natural attachment for your iPhone. The buttons and analog sticks feel good, the triggers are also decent, but could use a little more resistance in my opinion. The D-Pad is a little on the mushy side, but overall the controller is built very well and feels solid. Anyone that has played on a PlayStation or Xbox controller will feel right at home with the layout. The only drawback I can see with the Backbone One in comparison with other units is the fact that it doesn’t fold up or come with a carrying case of any sort. Traveling with the Backbone One might be a little bit challenging when not attached to a phone. I have a fear that I may end up breaking the back support of the unit if I were to cram it into a backpack during a flight without a proper hard case. For the price, I think a case should have been included. Functionality/Ease of Use/Gameplay: The Backbone One is super easy to use. You’ll probably have to take the case off your phone to get the Backbone connected, but that’s pretty standard for devices like these. Once you connect it to your phone, you’ll be asked to download the Backbone application from the App Store. Once downloaded you’ll be granted 1 year of Backbone Plus which gives you a bunch of benefits as an owner of the product. None of these limit the ability to use the product but are niceties like access to a streamlined game hub, direct live streaming, and the ability to share gameplay and screenshots easily. You’ll also get some free benefits from places like Discord, Stadia, etc. To test the PlayStation Remote Play functionality, you’ll download the PlayStation Remote Play application from the App Store and sign in to your PlayStation account. After you’ve linked your desired console, in my case a PS5, you’ll see the home screen of your device on your phone and be able to navigate it just as if you were using the native controller in front of your console. The input response, video quality, and smoothness of the games I streamed were all very good. Everything from Demons Souls, to Spider-Man and Uncharted played fantastically via Remote Play on my Wifi 6 mesh network. I only experienced a few hiccups with the connection when moving locations in the house, but other than those few occasions where I felt a little lag or visual distortion, the experience was great. Don’t forget you can also stream from your Xbox or pick a streaming service like Stadia to stream from. Streaming from the Xbox was a smooth experience as well, minus the fact that the buttons aren’t labeled correctly for an Xbox controller, but that doesn’t hinder the experience much. Local gameplay is also fantastic. I played a ton of Diablo Immortal with the Backbone One and it was a great experience. CoD Mobile worked just as well and felt completely natural to play with the Backbone One. All other games that support a controller should also play great with the Backbone One.

It’s Excellent it works Great, I wasn’t to crazy about the price cause when I bout it the price was cut in half if they would put the case with the backbone then it would be worth $100

It’s good works with any phone easy to use can take it anywhere

Can’t stop using it! I hope they release something similar to a psp!

Good for free time to play and fun to use wen you in the house

Great my kids love it. They take it everywhere. It’s worth it.

Good for phone gaming. Also good for use at home with ps5 can use your phone as screen and play remotely in other room also can take your ps5 controller and backbone in the community and have ps5 on at home and connect controller to your phone Bluetooth and plug backbone on phone and use controller to play ps5 with phone screen and backbone

Amazing controller, nice clicky button, eacy to carry with,

The Backbone work’s amazing but it can only work as well as what its connected to. PlayStation needs to work on its remote play because i havent been able to play over a couple minutes without it messing up and making me restart over and over again.

Gaming from the console on the go!! Pure Genius!!!

Love it, great Christmas gift for my boyfriend thank you

Very responsive and makes mobile games so much better. It’s a must have

I was hesitant to buy the backbone because I’m not much of a mobile gamer. But it was on sale for Black Friday so I thought “why not”. Happy I got it, love playing my ps5 games wherever I’m at.

I like the overall look of the handheld. It works smoothly and goes good with the iPhone.

Take you playstation with you using the device .gives grandson something to do on long car tides

My son loves it! He told all his friends about it and they will purchase one also

Marvelous controller for iPhone users with a flavor of PlayStation. The design has a PlayStation theme, the white and black colors are homogeneous, and the PlayStation logo is remarkable, so basically it looks like a PlayStation product!! the build is fantastic and holds my iPhone 13 Pro Max nicely. I love the silicone adaptor for iPhone 13 Pro Max that lifts it so the cameras don't touch the back bar. The controller buttons and thumbstick are amazing and work great. Buttons are easy to remember and get used to. The backbone button which is located on the right side is to go home and the other two buttons are for recording and one for screenshots and the ability to share is easy. The controller transformed my iPhone into a handheld gaming console. I like how it is powered by the iPhone, not rechargeable, and connects via a lightning connector for low latency and passthrough to charge the iPhone as well. Also, the 3.5 audio jack is good to have. What this controller stands out and excels in, is the integration of PS remote Play and Xbox Game Pass as well as the IOS App Store through the BackBone app. The app is well-designed and fluid to navigate. It offers trending games, in-app searches, short autoplay game videos, etc. However, Backbone+ requires a subscription to get access to premium content. I have tried Remote Play on the go away from home and my experience was flawless. I was able to play all the games I have on my PS5, Spiderman, The Division 2, etc., but sadly at the low-resolution 1080p but still fun to play on the go, also the ability to access and play IOS games. My only dislike of this controller is the fact that it works with iPhones without a protective case, I take care of my devices and it is kind of a worry that my iPhone may get scratched while using it on the go. Other than that it is a great controller and works flawlessly, I recommend it for mobile gamers.

I love Best Buy, excellent customer service, I recommend 100%

Very suitable and great grip of the controller. Easy to connect and ver good with video games

awesome sauce in a convenient size and shape. perfect for commutes