“Why dosen’t Sony or Microsoft make handhelds, look at the success of the Nintendo Switch?”
Products like GameSir’s X2 Pro, is exactly why. Designed specifically for the Xbox, GameSir X2 Pro is the cloud gaming handheld perfect for the job. Don’t be fooled however, this little machine isn’t just for Xbox Ultimate users, it also works with Steam Link, Luna and Google and Apple stores too: working with Fortnite and Diablo Immortal perfectly for example. With interchangeable thumb sticks, programmable back buttons and switchable face buttons, this little bit of kit is exactly what I’ve been missing on my business trips away.
The X2 Pro is designed to work with Android phones and, like most competitor brands, can be sized accordingly for most phones. Pushing the maximum size of phone allowed nearly to the limit, my Google Pixel 7 Pro at 163mm in height maximises the Gamesir all the way. It’s fair to say, outside of a Samsung Note, the majority of people’s phones will have no problem fitting in. Connecting your phone to the device is as easy as connecting the USB-C into your phone charger slot, it’s moveable up and down too, to be flexible. It can be fiddly at times manoeuvring such a large phone, so the flexible nature of the connector is a welcome one.
The X2 Pro features a very well placed USB-C charger slot too, just below the right hand thumb stick. It’s out of the way, not intrusive, and allows you to carry on playing even when your phone battery is low. The device itself has no on-board battery, it uses the power of your phone, which will naturally impact your battery life in long cloud gaming sessions.
The device is extremely light which when you add in the weight of your phone gives a good overall weighty feel to gaming, again especially for me with a larger Pro phone. As the X2 Pro was designed for Xbox, the device features all the usual Xbox controller buttons, even including a screenshot button which adds screenshots right into your mobile library. Like the Xbox’s long-standing design, sticks are offset and come with two different rubberised thumbstick covers: I highly recommend adding at least one of these on. Out of the box, I found the sticks to be too small, and felt I was over compensating in moving around. As soon as I put a bigger cover on, that all went away. Definitely worth experimenting with. Once I had this right, the sticks were sharp and accurate, and really easy to use, it didn’t feel much different from the real thing.
Face buttons are responsive, with zero lag in input at all. Given the X2 Pro is made for Xbox, button layout is akin to the controller. These buttons, can however, be changed and swapped around, they are magnetised and are a doddle to change. I really like the triggers on the X2 Pro, they’re not too deep, they feel quite shallow for a quick input response. The bumper buttons, like the Xbox main controller, are snappy and quick responding too. The rear of the X2 Pro has a textured grip, and as mentioned has programmable back buttons for the hardcore gamers out there.
The burning question is obvious; “How is it for gaming?”. Cloud gaming is the future, of this there is no doubt. I have my reservations on home-based cloud, never mind mobile cloud gaming. Public WiFi is a nuisance, 5G is a rarity outside of cities, and not everyone has the luxury of 250mb speeds at home either. But devices like the GameSir X2 Pro and Nacon MG-X are fantastic compromises for those of us who just can’t get enough gaming at home.
I tried out a variety of games using Xbox Game Pass; Forza Horizon 5, Doom (2016), Persona 5 Royale, Age of Empires II and Vampire Survivors. For the most part, using the X2 Pro was a joy. Playing Forza Horizon 5, a real test for the X2 Pro (once I changed the stick covers as previously mentioned) the X2 Pro performed perfectly. Drifting round corners, manoeuvring in and out of traffic, I couldn’t fault anything, I was very impressed. Taking on the English as William Wallace in Age Of Empires II, all buttons and triggers just work so well, no lag for instance, I never really felt like I was using anything other than an official console controller.
That was until I played Doom.
The biggest drawback to me, of the GameSir X2 Pro, is the location of the right thumbstick, it is too low down on the controller, and too central. Given the limited space, and design, there isn’t really any other way it could be, but that doesn’t excuse this flaw. Hand placements, thumb placement, having to stretch up to the buttons made this classic FPS a bit of a chore to play, my hand was actually quite sore in under a couple of hours. BUT, I will throw it out, playing FPS games on the cloud is a bigger chore than the X2 Pro will be on your right hand and thumb for the foreseeable future, so I wouldn’t recommend the X2 Pro for FPS usage… I also wouldn’t recommend cloud gaming for FPS games either.
Overall, I really like my GameSir X2 Pro: I use it on my sofa chilling, I take it away on business trips and it gives me the freedom I need to get in those invaluable gaming sessions away from my consoles. You can pick up the X2 Pro frequently on sale at around £60, the most you’ll see it for is £80 which represents incredible value for money.
Given the future importance of cloud gaming, Sony and Microsoft will be putting heavy emphasis on these types of devices to facilitate their business strategies going forward. Avoiding first-person shooters, you won’t regret picking up an X2 Pro, the vast majority of games will be enjoyable to play with its quality feel and snappy and responsive input.
-Dony