Backbone One: Sony presents mobile controller for iPhones

Mobile gaming controllers are enjoying enormous popularity. No wonder, since they significantly improve the gaming experience on the smartphone. The Backbone One – PlayStation Edition is an officially licensed solution from Sony for PlayStation consoles. However, it only works with iPhone devices from Apple and is supposed to significantly improve playing PS titles via remote play.

Backbone One – PlayStation Edition officially unveiled

The Backbone One mobile gaming controller in itself is not new. After all, the device from the manufacturer of the same name has been around for quite some time, and it’s optionally available for iPhone devices and soon for Android smartphones as well.

However, Backbone promotes its controller with Microsoft’s Xbox divisions and focuses on the game flat rate Xbox Game Pass. But since Sony also offers a possibility to enjoy PS titles on the smartphone with PlayStation Remote Play, they now announced the officially licensed Backbone One – PlayStation Edition in their own blog.

This one already differs from the otherwise black variant of the mobile gaming controller in terms of its white color, and of course fittingly replaces the ABXY buttons with the classic PlayStation buttons (X, square, triangle and circle).

The design and choice of materials thus borrow from the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, though they continue to rely on the asymmetrical layout of the analog sticks that we know (and appreciate) from Xbox gamepads.

Single drawback: The new PlayStation Edition is only available for iPhones and is compatible from the iPhone 6s upwards. There is no corresponding Android solution, at least at this point.

Through and through PlayStation

The Backbone One – PlayStation Edition also comes with a customized Backbone app, which is supposed to offer a classic “PlayStation experience”. With customized ads and content. The device was developed together with Sony and is officially licensed, which is why the PlayStation logo is emblazoned on the back of the controller.

Conveniently, the controller can be connected with a Lightning cable to supply the iPhone with new energy while playing. However, the Backbone One does not have a built-in battery – so a cable is mandatory.

Also offered is a 3.5mm jack for connecting to headphones. The One 93.9 mm high and weighs 138 grams. It can be extended to a maximum of 257.6 mm, which means that it can also accommodate big devices like the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The minimum width of the controller is 176.2 mm.

You can launch the Backbone app at the touch of a button, while there is also a dedicated record button for capturing videos and screenshots.

However, as Backbone and Sony reveal, the Backbone One – PlayStation Edition is not only aimed at titles from Sony’s consoles, but can also be used with other games from Apple’s App Store and other streaming services. Genshin Impact, Fantasian and Call of Duty: Mobile are mentioned as examples.

While Backbone also promises compatibility with streaming services like Google Stadia, Nvidia GeForce Now and Amazon Luna on its own website. Theoretically, it should even be possible to use Xbox Game Pass with it. It is worth a try.

Sony itself had already attracted attention last year with a patent for a mobile controller, which then disappeared into oblivion again. Razer is also launching a new mobile controller for iPhones in the fall with the Kishi V2, while the Android model is already available.

Alternatively, if you’re more of an Xbox gamer, you can reach for the Nacon MG-X Pro, which we recently reviewed. It’s just “Designed For Xbox” – and, like most mobile controllers, is geared more towards Microsoft consoles in terms of design. So the Backbone One – PlayStation Edition already represents a novelty.

Price and Availability

The Backbone One – PlayStation Edition mobile controller can be ordered now directly from the manufacturer. The MSRP is 119.99 euros including VAT. The iPhone counterpart in the black Xbox look will cost the same, as will the Backbone One for Android, which is not due to be released until November 2022.