Backbone One gaming controller for the iPhone is $70 today – The Verge

BackBone One

Backbone One for the iPhone
Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

The Backbone One is the best mobile gaming controller for the iPhone and you can get it from Amazon today for $70, $30 off of its regular price. In addition, it includes a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which lets you play over a hundred Xbox games right on your iPhone.

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Backbone One iPhone controller

The Backbone One mobile controller can connect to iPhones as far back as the 6S generation through the Lightning port. It’s a fully featured controller complete with dual analog sticks, a headphone jack, and its own software for capturing screenshots and connecting to game streaming services.

Similar to other gaming controllers, the Backbone One slots an iPhone in between two hand grips, complete with analog sticks, multiple buttons, and shoulder triggers. It’s compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 13 or later, and works with hardware dating back to the iPhone 6S.

In his review earlier this year, Cameron Faulkner noted that the Backbone One has the best hardware of any of these style controllers, with responsive, tactile buttons, and better feeling triggers than many other controllers. It supports passthrough charging and adds a 3.5mm headphone jack that works even if your iPhone no longer has an audio jack.

In addition, the Backbone One works with Backbone’s iOS app, which provides a quick launcher for all of your games, plus the ability to manage screenshots and video clips that you’ve captured with the One’s dedicated button.

Perhaps the biggest downside to the One is that you can’t use it to play Fortnite, but that’s the case for any iPhone-compatible controller thanks to Epic and Apple’s on-going dispute that’s keeping the game off the platform. The One is compatible with most other games and streaming services, including Apple Arcade, Google Stadia, and Microsoft’s xCloud.