Razer Kishi evaluation: A clean play for cellular gaming

Players with trendy phones, rejoice. Razer follows up its Junglecat controller with a extra substantial Pleasure-Con-alike mannequin: the Razer Kishi, first introduced at CES 2020. The Kishi’s pads use pressure to connect to the cellphone and join through USB-C, which removes the latency and lag of a Bluetooth connection, and means the controller would not require charging. 

The Kishi’s bigger design permits for a extra strong grip, and it has the familiarity of the Xbox and Nintendo Pleasure-Con Professional controller layouts. It is not an ideal emulation — the controls are otherwise spaced from one another than on these different controllers and the texture is probably not to everybody’s style — nevertheless it’s one of the crucial elegant, usable controllers for cellular gaming I’ve tried.

The Razer Kishi for Android is on the market now for $80 (£80, AU$150). The corporate expects to ship an MFi-certified mannequin for iOS in August.

It’s miles much less finicky about compatibility than the Junglecat, which requires particular circumstances and due to this fact particular cellphone assist. The Kishi will match any cellphone with a USB-C connector in the course of the underside and dimensions of 15.7 to six.four by 2.7 to three.1 by 0.three inches (145.three to 163.7 by 68.2 to 78.1 by 7.Zero to eight.eight mm). That encompasses most trendy flagship telephones, notably the Samsung Galaxy S20, S20 Ultra and probably the upcoming Note 20. Razer’s personal cellphone, the Razer Phone 2 is definitely a hair too massive to suit comfortably, so the corporate provides a equipment to handle that. I did not notice that once I began testing with the Razer Cellphone 2: It nonetheless works, however requires extra pressure to insert than you wish to apply.

The 2 sides are hooked up to one another through an elastic tether with a plastic plate within the center. You slip one finish of the cellphone into the fitting facet USB-C connector and the opposite excessive. The ends sit in rubber indentations, and the plastic sits on the again of the cellphone. This offers you someplace to relaxation your fingers that is not slippery just like the backs of most telephones and that is even with the again of the controller reasonably than recessed. Once you’re not utilizing the Kishi, that plate snaps the 2 sides collectively.

Now playing:
Watch this:

Evercade plays 100s of retro games and it doesn’t suck

6:12

There’s a USB-C pass-through connector for charging the phone — audio dongles won’t work with it — and the location doesn’t interfere with using the controller.

Like a standard controller, it’s got two clickable analog thumbsticks, a D-pad, ABXY buttons and left and right triggers and buttons. There’s a Home button, and back and forward buttons emulate menu and view. The D-pad feels especially mushy to me, as do the triggers, and the thumbsticks are too tight and springy. It’s possible to get used to them, though I don’t think I’ll ever like the feel of the D-pad.

If you’re relying on muscle memory, the positioning of the thumbsticks might pose a problem as well. They’re offset from the center of the buttons rather than aligned with the sides of the ABXY buttons and the D-pad, so you may over- or underreach. And while many gamers probably know the ABXY buttons by heart, newbies may find the low-contrast, thin-typeface labels too hard to see when moving fast. (Frankly, I wish they lit up on all controllers so I could find them in the dark).

You don’t need to install the Razer Kishi app to use the controller, but it is required for any firmware updates and it can suggest games that support controllers. I found that some controller-supporting games, like Oddmar, didn’t work with the Kishi. But the controller felt as responsive as you’d expect, flying through platformers and fighting through monsters and undead hordes in mobile games including Grimvalor, Teslagrad, Destiny 2 on Stadia and more.

The Kishi makes the phone setup wider than a Nintendo Switch ($435 at Amazon) — about 10.5 inches (267mm) on the Razer versus 9.4 inches (239mm) for a Switch plus Joy-Cons. Again, that might feel odd for some people. 

Smaller and lighter than a full-size controller and less lag-prone than a Bluetooth wireless model, the Razer Kishi is on the expensive side compared with its more traditional rivals. But it’s a neat gadget if you spend a lot of time gaming on your phone and you can afford to splurge a little.