Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought this for my husband as a fathers day gift a couple years ago. He literally takes it with him everywhere. He can just snap his phone right into it. And he doesn't have to worry about the hassle of carrying around a controller and a charger for the controller. Granted the price of a controller and this device is essentially the same, but now he can leave his controller at home! He loves that the feel of the backbone is similar to the controller itself. The fact that it collapses is also great for when you need to put it in small spaces, meaning i can literally stick it in my purse and not have it being bulky! This keeps him gaming on the go! It's great for gaming when he has down time at work or when we are traveling.

It’s amazing finally owning one of these now having finally switched to the iPhone 15 pro max I can confidently say this is the best portable option for mobile gaming buttons feel nice and tactile, they have analog triggers, has a nice comfortable grip, comes with passthrough charging, and as a nice touch come with an aux port for any of you who have nice wired headphones/IEM, but with all the goods aside (this is for people who have more thicker kind of cases) I will say getting the fit to keep the usb c port fully connected to the phone was a tricky ride and after trying different adapters and multiple angles I finally got the spot to where I can confidently use it but if you have like a thin or like a medium kind of thickness phone case you will be fine even without a phone case works better but obviously leaves little protection for your phone against falls but if your not worried about any of the negatives than I would say definitely go for it.

So the Backbone One is absolutely fantastic as a normal phone controller, and most importantly it works with every remote play service that's available on phone (including PS Remote Play, but that may only be for the Playstation edition). It comes with two different kinds of phone spacer to give it a snug fit with most phones even with their cases attached (the Samsung Flip phones may not fit due to their length) and works pretty much out of the box without even needing to download the optional Backbone app. However, and I can't find a way to fix this, it doesn't seem to have a "guide" button present. The Xbox or PS button that you would usually use to bring up the console menu while in a game, or to bring up the Steam overlay. The big orange button only seems to work with PS Remote Play, and only if you hold it down for a second. For the other services it doesn't function at all, and if you install the Backbone app it just opens that app instead of performing a useful function. There's no button reassignment feature too, so you have to just switch to the touchscreen when you actually want to use the guide button. It's not the biggest issue, but it's a constant annoyance.

The Backbone One PlayStation Edition delivers an impressive gaming experience for mobile players. Its ergonomic design perfectly complements the PlayStation 5 aesthetic, offering a comfortable grip for extended sessions. The responsive buttons and analog sticks provide precise control, while the adjustable, extensible design ensures compatibility with a wide range of smartphones. Integration with PlayStation’s remote play functionality enhances the overall experience, making it easy to access your PS5 games on the go. The Backbone app adds value with its intuitive interface and features. Overall, it's a must-have accessory for PlayStation enthusiasts seeking to extend their gaming beyond the console.

Some days I just want to play games while lying on my bed or couch. Plugging this into my phone and streaming games from my PC is fantastic. Only downside, is that the usb-c port on the controller doesn't seem to support data passthrough to my iPhone. It would have been great if I could attach it to a dock that would passthrough power and an ethernet connection. Other than that all the buttons are responsive and the app launcher make it well worth it.

Works great with my wife's iPhone. She hated on screen controls. Feels great. Easy to use.

It's good, the update piece to fit phones with case was nice. If you don't mind playing on your phone, than is worth it. Light to carry around and comfortable enough to just play just about anything.

I like it. It works great! Fits in my hands very well and has good button response.

Backbone is great for mobile gaming. Its small enough to take with you. Buttons are responsive overall great product. My only complaint would be price could be a little lower.

Literally better than any tv console I've played on, light night fast response, complete controll or axis, compatible with google play down loads, and acts as a good prop when watching movies. Backbone games are y Great and you get a free trial, lots of options to keep you busy for hours, I'm an FPS player and racer so the console is the perfect thing to use, motion sensor function would be dope for racing games because it fits in your hands like an F1 steering wheel, or a super car, only issue I have is this model doesn't have streaming capability! Solid product!

I like the easy set up, I have big hands so it feels small but didn't want to buy the pro, so good value for the $.

I love this if you’re new to this, I would recommend this other than the PlayStation portal because that’s gonna cost much but if you want to start I’ll recommend this cause it’s a lot cheaper even on Black Friday. It’s a very good item I would say you won’t regret this.

To be fair, I didn’t even give this thing a chance against the Portal. I purchased both at the same time, but I was so blown away with the quality of the Portal, and it suited my needs perfectly. The Backbone got returned the next day. I wasn’t looking forward to having the drain on my iPhone battery while using the Backbone. I appreciate that the Portal is its own device. The Backbone may be ideal for individuals who are looking for a hyper portable gaming solution. That’s not what I was in the market for.

I liked that it's pretty portable and has charging passthrough. It is a little pricey in my opinion and one of the more annoying features is the app wants you to purchase a subscription every time it opens. The buttons are clicky and the dpad is decent. There aren't very many phone games that use it but I got it for deadcells to play on a flight and found it worked with stardew valley as well. Although pricey I kept it since it works with PlayStation remote play and with steam remote play. Great for when I want to play and someone is using the tv.

This thing is great. Buttons are great, iphone 15 pro max fits great in the controller. Performance of the controller is great as well.

Works great and feels good, could be a little bigger or i have big hands, trying to play xbox or ps stream sucks because it doesn't come on the first page, literally have to go through my phone menu but then it works fine Awesome sauce.

Picked this up during BF for $70. To sum it up, the backbone controller is like attaching Switch Joy Cons to your phone (with slightly larger joy sticks). The experience is great for almost any game that supports a controller. Emulation, SteamLink, Play Store and sideloaded games all work and with a direct USB-C connection there isnt any noticeable input lag. Works well with my Pixel 7 and slim bumper case. Only downside is the backbone doesnt support USB transfer through its secondary USB-C port. So no ability to add additional storage for a larger catalog of local games.

Great concept and much easier to play on if you haven't adapted yourself to other controllers like Xbox or PlayStation. The joysticks are just not like console controllers and way further apart. I'm sure you can get used to it with enough time but for me personally I change all my settings and sensitivities on my controllers and I play on the Xbox elite and this was just to odd to play on. I only got it for when I'm out at work in the oilfield for 7 days. I played it one time and was just not feeling it. Also I have a great phone (s24) but be darned I'm getting old and I was squinting to all heck trying to play COD zombies seriously and it wasn't happening lol I already gave it away. So most of this is my personal opinion and the quality of the backbone is there and the concept is awesome my opinion is just something to think on before you drop $100. It could be about $60-65 and would make more sense considering you're already paying for gamepass or the backbone subscription. You get 30day trial of backbone subscription. BUT it is portable and that's great as long as you have phone service!

The backbone PlayStation edition is a great product to have as a mobile gamer. You can stream your console directly to your phone with low latency. I recommend this over the PlayStation portal because you can do more than just play PlayStation games. You wont regret buying one of these.

Amazing product. Allows me to game when i have time but cant physically access my consoles. Easy to setup as well as works with multiple platforms even the cloud based gaming platforms.