The Backbone One has largely remained on the short list of the best mobile controllers out there for quite some time, but today the company is going next-generation with the reveal of the new Backbone Pro. The controller carries some added functionality, deeper integration on a wider array of platforms, wireless connectivity, and complete customization. It will be available for purchase any minute now.
Next-gen Backbone Pro
The Backbone One is largely known as one of those Switch-like portable controllers you can wedge your phone into to deliver a more traditional controller setup for mobile and cloud games of just about all sorts. The Backbone Pro does all of that and then some.
Backbone says there are “are hundreds of millions of game controllers in the world, but they’re all designed to work primarily with a single console—and then slowly adapted to work elsewhere…High-fidelity gaming on phones and cloud gaming—the ability to stream games from the cloud just like streaming music and TV—are growing fast, and more people are playing across platforms than ever before.” Backbone Pro is apparently specifically designed for this world.
Backbone Pro offers two ways to game – Handheld Mode and Wireless Mode. The former has the controller “physically connected to [your] device via USB-C for zero latency and no need to charge” and the latter connected to your setups via Bluetooth at a distance. This allows gamers to pair up with iPad and tablets of all sorts, laptops, VR headsets like Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro, directly to smart TVs like those with Samsung’s Gaming hub.
In other words, you can stick your phone in there and take this thing on the go Switch-style, just like before, or use it at home with PC and console-less gaming setups, cloud subscriptions, and so on without a phone wedged in the middle of it at all.
All of that said, Backbone has apparently gone to great lengths to enhance and upgrade the physical design of the new pro model as well – it says Backbone Pro is the “smallest form factor ever to accommodate full-size joysticks.”
Going through “9,000 part iterations” and “over 30 user research studies” while also making use of “a proprietary 3D camera system,” the brand says the new controller is on of “the most comfortable handheld gaming products ever built,” with what the brand refers to as full-size joysticks, remappable back buttons, and a “form factor that feels just right in users’ hands — whether they’re playing for 10 minutes or 3 hours. Before launch, Backbone invited professional players and industry veterans to test and refine the product.”
The Backbone app provides “unprecedented levels of customization” – players can remap every button, create control profiles for specific games and devices, while leveraging the app as a centralized hub to access all of your games from one place – it supports multiple gaming categories including the following:
- App Store games (including Apple Arcade, Netflix games)
- Remote Play services (Xbox Remote Play, Steam Link)
- Cloud gaming platforms (Nvidia GeForce NOW)
- On top of that and for the first time, it also supports retro games through a built-in emulator as well.
- Subscribers to Backbone+ now also get access to a rotating library of free games that are instantly playable seamlessly, along with enhanced features for Backbone Pro.
Backbone Pro is now (will very soon be) available for purchase carrying a lofty, likely tariff-fueled $169.99 list price directly on the official site. It is also expected to go live at Best Buy today as well.
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