Backbone One 2nd Gen Controller Review for iPhone & Android - Solves the fit problem of the original

Buy one on Amazon: lon.tv/usw5h (compensated affiliate link) - The second generation Backbone One controller for smartphones now works with both iPhones and Android devices thanks to its USB-C port (lightning is still available) and more options to fit different size phones with cases. See more Smartphone controllers: • Smartphone Game Contro... and subscribe! lon.tv/s
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
00:49 - Price & Variants
01:28 - Build Quality
01:53 - Thumbsticks
02:11 - D-Pad
02:21 - Fit improvement with phone case adapters
03:46 - List of Supported Cases - lon.tv/8ny5e
04:07 - Gameplay
05:42 - iOS App
07:29 - Backbone+ Subscription
09:37 - Android App
10:15 - Calibration & Testing
10:29 - Analog Trigger Test
10:50 - Cloud Gaming Test
11:24 - D-Pad Test
11:59 - PC Test
13:15 - Conclusion
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[@keyboard_g]

I want a controller, not another subscription.

[@smug_slime]

Get the gamesir g8 instead, arguably better in every way.

[@charlesdoesmore5488]

​@@smug_slimelet's see.

[@plows2940]

Yeah putting a subscription that gates features that shouldn't be behind a paywall is just pure greed especially when the controller costs as much as it does!

[@Scloga]

You don't need a subscription to use it. The subscription gives you in game rewards and game clips. Other than that the subscription is optional. I've been using mines for weeks without it

[@robnavarro9405]

@@Sclogathere are features that they lock behind the paywall as well. Such as the app itself working like advertised in their screenshots and boxart as well as being able to use the controller on every screen. Yes you can still “use” the controller but ultimately there’s features that are locked.

[@Mackenway]

Subscription is a dealbreaker. Unacceptable.

[@RafidW9]

Using a subscription to gatekeep usability is the worst thing I've ever seen. Fuck this.

[@justanotherstanczyk]

I'm looking for a controller right now! Thanks sooo much Lon for taking this off the table. I'm considering an 8bitdo 2.4ghz ultimate but I'll look into the gamesir g8 too.

[@lurrusmeow688]

Subscription is a dealbreaker. This was my first choice before, now it's off my list. Thanks for the review!

[@purplefuku]

Lost me at “subscription”, even though I’m grandfathered in… Quite a shame! The hardware looks nice.

[@LonSeidman]

Yeah I don't get it.. I'd rather see them make more cool products vs. try to squeeze money out of customers by withholding features.

[@purplefuku]

@@LonSeidman Sadly, I feel like you could say the same about a lot of companies these days… I suppose we just have to vote with our wallets!

[@Xavier-be2mi]

Just received this for my bday. Works great on all my emulation and gamepass games.. glad i dont care for anything that the subscription is charging for.

[@OledBurnInKing]

Using subscription services is pointless for a game controller once they stopped supporting it and no longer receives updates when something new comes along to take its place. I have the moga power a pro controller with it's built in battery and micro usb port that still works. I used the power a moga app but the controller stopped receiving support and the games for the controller only supported games for the older game titles that were discontinued and no longer receiving support and the games were even removed from the google play store for certain games. Batman dark knight rises on mobile was removed on the google play store and some other games that were developed by gameloft were discontinued. I have to use a different 3rd party game controller app to play games. The moga power a controller does not support call of duty mobile unless I use a 3rd party app for mapping the buttons. There was a 3rd party app on the google play store that supports mapping buttons but once I opened the app, it says that the app is banned for mapping buttons to a controller even for games like call of duty mobile.

[@romiem]

Thank you for the review! For the thicker iPhone cases, especially those with a thick bezel around the camera bump, do you think the tilt would place stress on the usbc port off the phone and/or backbone?

[@qkrotor]

Won't even consider it once I heard "subscription"

[@blackguysgameBGG]

Thank you for the review! I was debating if I should get this but once I heard subscription I was out.

[@tboatrig]

I hope the controller sells very well and makes them lots of money while I also I hope the subscription service sells so poorly it loses them money.

[@evanwilliams9588]

I recently purchased one when I found out Apple were allowing emulators. I have to say I’m highly satisfied with it. I just ignored the subscription completely and the only thing I ever suppose I might need is the joystick calibration but at least that’s free. I wouldn’t in a million years pay for the subscription, but it is a great product! I highly recommend it if you have $100 to spare!

[@lllllll5990]

Cool I'll get it soon

[@jayyoppz]

same

[@biancagerade4229]

I don't think they should sell that for more than $35 especially if they're asking for a pricey subscription 😕

[@charlesartis]

Check the local pawn shops I got a Razer kishi version 2 for like 35 bucks

[@IMDABROWN]

I need something like that for a ipad. Sometimes I use my xbox controller but I'd love to use something that attached to the tablet.

[@jaredhuang2225]

I'd prefer a Xbox/PS5 controller + a phone stand

[@samcurmudgeon]

Bought this but it wouldn't detect my Z Fold 3. Planned to return it but my son wanted to try it on his Galaxy Note 9 where it worked fine, so I kept it. The Gamesir G8 Galileo is honestly a better option - and it can extend wide enough to fit an iPad Mini...

[@stevied2710]

Love this device and Razer Controller, will I buy one and add subscription maybe pay for the year instead of monthly payment. You forgot to mention what Bluetooth 5.3 for example. Can Backbone connect to Bluetooth handphone? Ohh I just noticed you can connect wired handphone. How long is the screen shot and capture video last to share on twitch? Can this be shared on KZbin and Facebook social media? Keep up the good work

[@Brainy1422]

I bought one and returned it as the dpad was terrible.

[@TheBit01]

Getting this specifically for my phone, glad it will fit my S22 Ultra. But still not happy about the stand alone controller function being locked behind a subscription paywall. I get the higher framerate capture and cloud storage features, but i agree that locking hardware functions is ridiculous.

[@statz80]

8:20 so far everything is good. Don't care about the extra features. Let's see what else this video tells me about wether I should buy it or not. Side note. Subscription thingy is dumb.. Edit: I'm sold. Thank you for spending your money and time helping us out to make a decision about this product. 2nd EDIT : I should've paid attention to the fact that you mentioned that the feel of the analog sticks are the same as the switch joycons. You hit it right on the money with that statement. That said. After buying them and trying them. That's the reason why I decided to return this promising product. Didn't feel like I had any control of the game I was trying to play. Disappointing purchase. But got my money back. Thanks again for this review.

[@Daledoback330]

I'm on my second one. Both had d-pad fail on me. Also both started connecting as headphones and lost audio through my phone

[@domramsey]

Hardware that requires a subscription for core functionality is an instant no for me. If for no other reason that when the service inevitably closes in a couple of years, it becomes useless. As consumers, we need to start rejecting things like this outright.

[@coryfields482]

Do you have to get a subscription to play games?

[@zackrosado3749]

Now that emulation is available on iOS, the backbone comes in clutch. Won’t need a subscription because it does everything I need it to do. Love this piece of tech

[@BradleyVanTreese]

Lon, what case is this on your phone? I love it!

[@LonSeidman]

On the pixel phone ? That was one Google made for the pixel 4 - really nice one. Their latest ones aren’t as nice

[@atames1]

Wow i was sold until the subscription part

[@Ztawat]

the backbone app is not working on my iphone struck on loading screen. (Iphone 14 pro) and backbone playstation edition.

[@nrnoble]

Yeah, don't care for subscriptions just to keep some hardware functionality active. If the functionality requires using internet services (ie The Cloud, etc) then I can understand there is some ongoing costs that justifies a subscription, but there seems to a trend to package functionality that does not have any ongoing costs with internet services. It is somewhat like how cable TV packages work, they offer a couple of the very popular channels exclusively in the top packages to get subscribers to pay more each month just to get those couple of channels.

[@ncohafmuta]

This led me down a small rabbit hole of wanting to get back into playing retro NES/SNES/Genesis games, which I haven't done since i was a kid. What i'd like to do, and I don't know if it's possible, is use one of these with my android phone (s10e) and retroarch; doesn't seem like a big deal. BUT then i want to be able to pair one of these up with my fire tv stick and continue playing (i'd keep the phone in this just for rigidity/hand spacing). AFAIK this doesn't have BT, so i'd have to find something similar with it. Sure, i could just buy a dedicated 8bitdo controller for the fire tv, but i'd then i'd have 2 different-form controllers to get used to (if may be a non-issue, i don't know) Lon, any ideas?

[@LonSeidman]

8bitdo has a smartphone clip for some of their controllers I would go with that

[@ncohafmuta]

@@LonSeidman I saw that. I'm not thrilled with the form factor, but it may be the only good solution.

[@nugudave]

​@@ncohafmutahi i too was in the rabbit hole last year. looked into retro handheld consoles like miyoo mini plus and sorts, would recommend the new anbernic rg35xx plus, if anyone is reading this comment now. xD anywho back to thte point, i too had a spare phone lying around and thought of getting a controller like this one and came about - ninjadog astra one gaming controller. it is a bluetooth controller if you are intrested is very cheap and good. it also goes by bsp d3 controller. so initially i thought of making a standalone comment here, since everyone is commenting on the subscription part of backbone... and wanted to ask LON man to make a review of it cause it maybe widely known. cause i shared it with some SEA online friends and everyone liked it, but was not aware of this product. anywho they released a new version of it this year. (sad i bought the old version like 5months before this release). new model is called ninjadog astra one ultra/bsp d8 controller, and it has hall effect joysticks and cost under like 40 dollars or something by conversion. (range 25-30dollars). sorry the comment is all over the place. tldr: check out a controller called ninjadog astra one ultr/bsp d8 it is BT and has hall effect joysticks for like 30 dollars or so. ty.

[@nugudave]

@@LonSeidman is it possible to review ninjadog astra one ultra/bsp d8 controller ty.

[@nugudave]

@@ncohafmuta lol think my other comment got flagged. is this a good alternate for you brother? it is a bluetooth controller, ninjadog astra one ultra/bsp d8. it also has hall effect joysticks.

[@jayyoppz]

i need a subscription to play? or can i sitll use it without the app?

[@LonSeidman]

You can use it without the subscription. I noted the areas that require it in the video.

[@FuriousTortoise]

Anybody figure out if it can go “full auto” for buttons?

[@russc788]

I would like this for a tablet

[@ThatOneBrokeDude]

Why can’t I play gta 5 with cloud gaming??? Was it removed from cloud gaming??

[@tboatrig]

Hardware as a service will become the future if we let it.

[@CF542]

At least a majority of the features do no require a subscription so it can be used without one, however my concern is that at some point in the future they can change their policies so it becomes mandatory.

[@Kindfifth]

That wouldn't make sense, as this is also marketed as a playstation accessory. So they already allow you to stream to console. They wouldn't just shut that all down

[@BlueSparkzVideos]

The subscription lock is boneheaded. The main one was to use it as a PC gamepad, but honestly you'd be far better off just getting a premium dedicated controller. One-time payment and a better experience is guaranteed.

[@kimberlybarnes7252]

Can you play all game pass games on Xbox with this controller?

[@LonSeidman]

Yes it should work with all of them.

[@TheAaronJP]

I went with an Xbox controller for less than half the price simply because of the pay wall.

[@archangel115]

A controller manufacturer is trying to implement a subscription model? I sure hope people are smarter than that.

[@JessicaFEREM]

biggest problem for me is that the port is on the right. on my Samsung galaxy fold 5, the port would need to be on the left otherwise the screen just come out the bottom and that makes no sense. maybe one of these gamepad makers could come up with a system where the port could be on both sides and be adjustable? for the time being, you'd have to get the gamesir x2s or a Bluetooth gamepad if you have a Samsung fold. Watching this, the subscription kills it even more. Who would want to pay for a $100 controler just to have to pay for a subscription service? Useless.

[@Mrwavrunnr2]

I have one and am able to play warzone mobile and cod mobile with no problem on android phone and tablet with no subscription

[@ZacBobisKing]

WHY TF DO I HAVE TO FLIPPING PAY FOR FLIPPING TABLET SUPPORT

[@LaPineBear]

its comical to charge a subscription fee for something all controllers can do out of the box! using it on other platforms, every controller I have can be used on multiple platforms, from ultra cheap controllers to expensive controllers,

[@MisterKee]

Subscription to use a controller you already paid for. This thing can burn.

[@gb1konobi]

not me they can keep their little cheap flicks.

[@Ray__E]

Subscription for a controller is ridiculous in my opinion

[@Gary_R]

The addition of subscription services just kills it for me. No thanks.

[@erwinroche]

Subscription and disappointment 🤦😑...

[@DudeMcPunchy]

So buy the new gamesir controler, understood

[@christopherg7098]

So you have to pay $100 for the privilege of paying for a subscription, what luck.

[@amirsadeghzadeh1952]

this controller sucks get a Gamsir G8

[@hog33333]

Wow, had I known there's a subscription crap. I wouldn't of bought one. I definitely do not wanna support companies that do that. Especially for something like this. Total BS

[@christopherg7098]

What a greedy way to design a product, well, I guess I'm not getting this particular controller.

[@maxganondorf]

"satisfying click" that's definitely not. Annoying as hell