Gamesir X2 Pro Review

Manufacturer: Gamesir
Where to Buy: Gamesir
RRP: £79.99 (or region equivalent)

We’ve been able to check out a good selection of Gamesir‘s Xbox-focused output over the years. The latest on the docket is the X2 Pro cloud gaming controller. Can it stand shoulder to shoulder to some of the already excellent options out there?

Initial impressions are good. Opening the box, we find a really solid feeling case that houses the unit. There’s a little bit of give to the outer shell, but we get the impression that the X2 is going to be perfectly protected in this for every day use. A week of travel in our backpack proved that to be true so far, and including this in the box is definitely one of the better points of the X2 package.

Opening it up, we find the X2 strapped in with a surprisingly strong velcro strip across the middle; great for preventing accidental drops as we open it up. Above, we find a (tiny) USB-A/C cable and various manuals/stickers. The presentation across the board is great, and being able to store both the X2 and some earbuds/cables in one place is very handy indeed.

Once we’d removed the X2 from it’s sturdy case, we found it to be somewhat lighter than we expected. It’s a pretty svelte unit when not holding our phone. The most obvious comparison is the Switch in terms of feel and weight, though naturally this isn’t quite as solid a construction due to the nature of needing to be more malleable.

Our Samsung A32 (without its case) fits nicely into the X2. The rubberised backing helps hold it in place, and it is connected to the phone via a built-in USB-C connector on the right side of the opening. We were initially hesitant about this choice for fear of easily snapping this off but Gamesir have wisely chosen to have it be a flexible connection; there’s almost 45° of travel, allowing us to easily insert and remove the phone. This also means the X2 is powered by our phone’s battery rather than it’s own power supply. Handily, new-ish models of phones can be charged using the passthrough port. We can plug a USB-C cable in on the right underside while playing to charge as we play. This is great at home obviously, but also a good idea for on the road (providing we have a portable charger and cable too). It doesn’t appear to drain the battery much faster while playing though, so this ends up being a neat extra rather than a requirement.

We’re not super keen however on the general feel of the X2 when playing. The overall size and shape of the unit is fine, but we found our hands resorting to a bit of a claw after longer playtimes. A slightly bigger chassis around the palms might have helped here, but we couldn’t help but find a little discomfort after a while.

Which is a shame as the actual button/trigger feel is pretty good. The triggers have a decent travel on them, and buttons are nice and clicky in use. Even the analogue sticks here are respectable, though the main reason we found for that claw grip comes in when using the right stick for longer periods for us.

Checking out the recent release of Goldeneye (at last) and Fortnite worked well until the hand cramps came in, though titles like Hi-Fi Rush and Age of Empires II felt much better to play with their more limited need to use the right stick constantly. The rest of the controller is fairly comfortable to use, it’s just that bottom right corner that lets this side down. Well, and the additional back buttons.

Like a lot of it’s peers, the X2 also has a couple of buttons on the rear that can be mapped to any of the other buttons on the pad. We’re always happy to see these – but here, they are all but useless due to their placement. Granted there’s not much room for change without a whole redesign, but we found them incredibly difficult to reach while still having a good grip on the device, to the point that we simply ignored them altogether. Smaller hands might fare better of course, but even our average-sized hands struggled to make the most of their inclusion.

Conclusion

All of which is to say, the Gamesir X2 Pro is a bit of a mixed bag. They’ve nailed several aspects – button feel, connection ease, pass through charging, the included case – but these are let down but an awkward design that renders it uncomfortable to hold after longer sessions (especially if playing something that requires a lot of right analogue stick action), and those back buttons all but pointless. For just shy of £80, you’re better off looking at something along the lines of the similarly priced Nacon MG-X Pro, or if budget allows the PowerA XP7-X, though if you can deal with the issues raised then this is otherwise a decent mobile controller.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.