For the past week, I’ve been spending the bulk of my gaming sessions using the Razer Prio, a new pocket-sized mobile controller from the iconic brand. I’m extremely picky about my mobile controllers and rarely ever like smaller ones. The GameSir Galileo G8 is my favorite to date, and that thing is a hefty chonk.
But the Razer Prio has convinced me that smaller can be better when it’s done right. I’ve complained about Razer’s smaller controllers in the past — the Kishi V2 was particularly annoying to me because of the Switch-like joysticks — but Razer has defied my expectations by creating a tiny controller that not only feels good to use but also fits perfectly in my pocket.
And while the controller looks similar to a Nintendo Switch-style one when connected to a phone, its unique design lets it fold down to half the size, protecting the buttons and joysticks in a very Game Boy or Nintendo DS way. Here’s what you need to know about Razer’s new $99 controller.
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Nailing the basics
Going into this review, I was skeptical. I’m extremely particular about joysticks on controllers, and Razer didn’t have the best track record there in my experience. Not only are the Prio’s joysticks impressive in their own right, but they’re downright miraculous considering what the competition pulled off at this size.
They felt every bit as good running around in The Witcher 3 Remastered (on GeForce Now) as they did catching victory royales in Fortnite. I’ve never used a controller of this size that worked this well for this many genres, especially shooters. Small, short joysticks usually mean poor precision, but Razer did something different here, and it shows.
The company says these are “contactless” capacitive sensors. I can’t recall ever using a controller with this style before, but I’ve been quite happy with the feel. Razer ensures that these are drift-free, which is always great to hear.
All the buttons feel great, and this uses a real D-Pad with separate directions, not one of those weird circular ones I hate. Despite their diminutive size, the face buttons are all easy to press and feel good. They’re extremely quiet and barely make any noise, even when button mashing.
The bumpers on the top of each side are simple, standard buttons, while the triggers are analog and have a surprising amount of travel. This gives you more precision in games where that sort of thing matters (racing games, for example).
You’ll also find standard start, menu, home, and Razer Nexus buttons for launching Razer’s app. This app acts as a launcher for all your games and supports PC streaming via Razer’s software. You can also customize many aspects of the controller, although my pre-release review unit didn’t have this functionality enabled yet.
And what good is a travel controller if it takes up a ton of room in your bag? I’ve faced this issue with my other favorite controllers and had to go without them before, but that’ll never happen again, thanks to the Prio. This thing fits very comfortably in a pocket and is about the size of a standard wallet.
Plus, it weighs next to nothing in your hand compared to other controllers. My favorite controller, the GameSir G8 Galileo, weighs 252g. The Razer Prio is just 101g. Yeah, it’s a huge difference. I’ve got moderate-sized hands, but this controller still felt comfortable to use for a long time without cramping. Folks with large hands might not have such a positive experience, though.
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
The Prio’s unique rubber band swivel at the back ensures a nice, tight fit around your phone without adding weight. Again, I was skeptical of this design going into the review, but it proved me wrong. It also helps that Razer ships this with three different sizes and shapes of rubber pads in the box for wider phone support.
If you’re a gamer who never takes the case off your phone to play, don’t worry, because this controller will definitely work with your existing case. I tested this with a Dbrand Tank case on a Pixel 10 Pro since it’s the thickest case I have, and it fit right in once I removed the Prio’s rubber pads.
The design’s downside is that it doesn’t support phones with particularly large camera islands (like the Honor Magic 8 Pro), and book-style foldables (like the Galaxy Z Fold 8) won’t fit when the phone is folded closed. The main culprit here is the interlocking tabs that keep the case locked when closed, but get in the way of large camera islands or thicker phones.
Since this controller is USB-C, it doesn’t need to be charged or paired; just plug it in and game. You don’t even need the Razer app if you don’t want it! The downside is that there’s no passthrough charging support and no way to even add in a MagSafe battery, so make sure you charge before you play.
All in all, this is a very impressive travel controller that will stay in my travel bag for the foreseeable future.