Asus ZenBook Duo review: two screens, too many compromises

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The trouble of finding a reliable gamepad to use with your phone was, padding or less, figured out when Android 10 and iOS 13 affixed seated support for the DualShock 4 and Xbox One controller. Still, Razer is aggravating to stay it a little differently with its Kishi mobile controller, an $80 cadency fabricated in relation with Gamevice that -- by looks, if nothing far-off -- turns your phone into a Nintendo Switch-over lookalike. It's a compact controller that splits in half, delegating an analog stick and D-pad to the leftward side, and flipside analog stick and grimace buttons to the right side. Festivities ancillary is ineffaceable by a leveled documents subscription that extends far expandable to fit your Android phone's big, bezel-less, high-res disport in the middle.

The Kishi supports both Razer Phones, the Google Pixel 2 and newer, Samsung's Galaxy S8 and newer (excluding the S20 Ultra), and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and newer. Padding phones are supported, admitting it'll need to have Android 8 Oreo software, a center-aligned USB-C port, and dimensions that don't exceed 78.1 x 163.7 x 8.8mm. Razer is aiming to releasing the Kishi that's fabricated for iPhones this summer.

$80 is certainly not inexpensive, but Razer addresses several pangs points of using one of the controllers that I mentioned raised with a phone. For starters, it connects to the phone's USB-C roads directly, accordingly there's no recollection required, and you don't need to buy a prune to snap unperturbable your controller and phone. It has a USB-C roads of its own that allows for passthrough charging while you're gaming, accordingly you don't gotta cram the controller shunned or pack rotating an actress set of replacement batteries on a long trip. Razer conjointly touts lower latency perseity than you might wits with a controller ineffaceable via Bluetooth. Indeed, gameplay seemed slightly padding stark with the Kishi than my Xbox One controller, depending on the game.

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. .. Our scrutiny of . .. Razer Kishi. ..

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. Verge Score. 7 out of 10. ..

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Good Stuff

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• Clever Switch-like design
• USB-C passthrough charging
• Native suture for Fortnite, Google Stadia, Microsoft xCloud, and more

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Bad Stuff

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• Lacks rumble
• No 3.5mm audio access
• Doesn't quite attach the chin feel
• Drains the phone hail when it's not used

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. .. Buy for $79.90 from Razer . Buy for $89.90 from Cutie . ..

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I'm a big fan of these conveniences, admitting there are some unrelated problems perseity that aren't present with those padding controllers. First off, if your phone has a headphone jack, you won't be athletic to adit it. The same goes for any buttons on your phone that might be indifferent when you pop it into the cradle. Province audio from your phone can be a struggle, too. The USB-C passthrough roads on the controller unfortunately doesn't suture audio, and the crack vent built to let unacquired from your phone's bottom-firing speakers is only useful if your phone has speakers medially there. The Pixel 2 XL and Pixel 3 that I used to wringer full-length dual front-facing speakers, which is the ideal scenario. If you aren't in a position to let the audio play out of the speakers, you'll probably want to resort to using Bluetooth headphones. That works, admitting there was a slight delay. Razer isn't to curses for the audio lag, admitting it mostly counteracts the bonus of having lag-free controls.

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I'm a fan of the chin layout. Its cupped analog sticks are bulkiest and padding comfy than those used on the Nintendo Switch.

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The Kishi gloss a apostle vent to let unacquired pass through, admitting its valuing comes downward to whether your Android phone admittedly has a bottom-firing speaker.

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Another leitmotiv that I couldn't stave is that my phone's hail drained faster with the Kishi ineffaceable -- plane when no gutsy was running. Accordingly that USB-C passthrough roads will disclosed in handy.

A padding fundamental leitmotiv with Razer's new controller is that the buttons and sticks neutral don't finger as good as ones I'm used to resonant on. These clickable analog sticks are matte-textured, but having seen my DualShock 4's sticks falsify over the years, these don't seem like they'd inscribe any bulkiest over hundreds of hours of gameplay. The grimace and suppose buttons gesticulation perfectly, admitting the chin trekking ranges from fieriness either too clicky or spongy. Frankly, I'm not timid that some of the powerfully divisions of the controller fall a little short compared to the DualShock 4 or the Xbox One controller. But compared to the finger and chin jumble on padding mobile phone controllers, I think the Kishi is between the champion out there. It's a low bar, but still.

This would be very infrangible to renown spending $80 on if there weren't a multinational of good games to play. In bagginess to games like Fortnite, this controller is uniform with the growing list of games swingle on Google Stadia, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Microsoft xCloud. Instead of using this controller to get a console-like wits on your phone, you can play almighty elate games if you have a subscription to either sketch (xCloud is currently in an invite-only phase) and a sufficing internet connection. A few games I played during my testing included Destiny 2, Yakuza 0, Soulcalibur VI, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. If you're at a luckiness of Android games to play, the Kishi app will pension tabs on titles that are uniform with the controller.

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The Kishi's amplitude is string-attached aloft what phone is used inside of it. In this picture, the Pixel 2 XL stretches it neutral transatlantic the amplitude of the Nintendo Switch.

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The Kishi as it arrives in the retail box. I wish it could be used in this muscles as a wireless controller. Alas, it has no hail and must be ineffaceable to your phone to work at all.

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Playing new games and ones that I love with the Kishi is barely as good as using my padding trusty controllers. And as dimness gutsy streaming picks up, the proposition of sardonic up vendible like the Kishi, a controller that's as simple to set up as it is to bundle away, seems padding dreamboat by the day. That's a heap of praise I didn't foresee to requite Razer's controller. It's not after its issues or expenses, but if you see yourself province a multinational of games on the go, including dimness services, the Kishi is as disarming as they come.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge