With the Kishi cell controller that launched in mid-2020, Razer succeeded in turning telephones into pseudo-Nintendo Switch consoles. It provided a intelligent design that sandwiched your telephone in the midst of two controllers. Not to say, it was a extra snug, console-like strategy to play cell video games, in addition to cloud streaming providers, like xCloud, Stadia, and extra. Now, with the $99 Kishi V2, it looks as if Razer’s objective was to get a leg up on a competitor who did all of it higher on its first strive: Backbone.

That one-hit marvel of an organization swooped in after the Kishi launched with an much more formidable cell controller for iPhone, the $99 Backbone One. It featured a less complicated, cozier design, extra performance, and an interface that felt simply shy of a full-blown console working system. It turned gaming on the telephone right into a extra fleshed-out expertise, making the Kishi’s worth proposition weaker and loads much less attention-grabbing by comparability.

So, with the Kishi V2, Razer determined to ditch its first-gen design for one thing very much like the Backbone One. There isn’t a lot right here that Razer can take a lot credit score for. The V2 has a equally minimalist design to the Backbone and the identical form of pull-to-extend bridge mechanism to allow you to slot your telephone into its break up controller association. The in-game seize button is right here on the left facet, together with an choices button on the proper, and there’s a brand new button that takes you to — sure — Razer’s personal spin on a gaming dashboard referred to as Nexus. It’s not necessary that you simply use it, but it surely’s there.

There are some key perks that the Kishi V2 has over Backbone’s controller. The large one is that the Kishi V2 is made for Android. There’s additionally an iOS model coming later in 2022. Backbone (frustratingly) hasn’t made a model of its controller with USB-C, except you depend that subscribers to its paid service can join it to an Android gadget with a Lightning-to-USB-C cable. If you play cell video games with advanced management schemes, Razer’s new mannequin options two further programmable shoulder buttons — one on either side. Those may be remapped throughout the Nexus app.

And whereas Backbone’s design hit its restrict with the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s big digicam bump (it provided free 3D-printed adapters to make it work), the Kishi V2 consists of adjustable rubber inserts to broaden its compatibility with Android telephones and their varied digicam bump dimensions — even these in skinny instances. The full record of supported telephones consists of each Razer telephones; Samsung’s Galaxy S8 by the S22; the Galaxy Note 8 by 20; Google Pixel 2 by 6; and “many other Android devices.” It helps as much as 11.5mm-thick units, together with a digicam bump — I used to be shocked that I needed to take my Pixel 6 out of its skinny (and yellowing) official Google case to make it match.

Overall, the match and end of the Kishi V2 are effective, however its new options — each within the Nexus app and people bodily current on the controller — are much less complete and polished than what’s accessible on Backbone’s One.

Within Nexus, which fails to launch with greater than half of my button press makes an attempt, you’ll see a barren dashboard that may function a recreation launcher for ones that you’ve put in. Scrolling down by the app reveals recreation options per style, which both highlights how a lot worse the sport choice is on Android than on iOS or how awful Razer is at curating them. As a recreation discovery software, I’d say Nexus is possibly somewhat worse than simply searching on the Google Play Store, which is already a lower than stellar expertise.

In the app, you’ll be able to start a livestream by YouTube or Facebook Live. If you need to take a screenshot or a video, you are able to do that with a button devoted to these features on the left facet. Though, there’s a dire lack of on-screen or haptic suggestions all through, particularly with display or video captures. For occasion, after urgent the screenshot button or holding it to seize a video, I do not know if the command was registered till I open my Google Photos library. A easy display notification (a minuscule Cast icon seems within the Android notification toolbar throughout display recording, but it surely’s simple to overlook) or a delicate vibration might have finished the trick. It’s the little stuff like that, which Backbone bought proper two years in the past, that makes the Kishi V2 irritating to make use of.

Razer switched its face buttons to the identical form of clicky, mechanical switches present in its Wolverine V2 controller. And whereas I favored them within the bigger controller, I dislike how they really feel right here greater than I anticipated to. The journey is shallow, and the press is so delicate and requires so little drive that, if I’m hammering a button down throughout intense gameplay, it doesn’t present sufficient suggestions to let me know if I’ve made a press. It virtually jogs my memory of utilizing certainly one of Apple’s dreaded butterfly keyboard switches with mud caught in it.

The Kishi V2 affords USB-C passthrough charging, so you’ll be able to preserve your telephone charged by plugging a cable into the underside proper facet of its grip, similar to the earlier model. I suppose that I could also be in a minority of reviewers to make a stink about this, however I actually want Razer had inbuilt a 3.5mm jack for wired listening. Audio lag is, sadly, nonetheless an space the place Android is inexplicably behind Apple, and it’s principally simply odd of Razer to not embody one, particularly since Backbone does.

The Kishi V2 looks like a tool that was made to show that Razer received’t take it mendacity down within the gaming area from a newcomer. It took a surprisingly very long time to launch its rebuttal, which is ok. Forgetting concerning the Backbone One for a second, the Kishi V2’s improved design and considerate options make it the most effective plug-in-and-go cell controllers for Android customers. But in its present state, what little that makes the Kishi V2 distinctive doesn’t overshadow how significantly better Backbone’s first-gen product nonetheless is.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge