GameSir X2 Pro review: mobile game controller is (mostly) a winner

The GameSir X2 Pro has changed my mobile gaming... a bit.

A black GameSir X2 Pro controller sitting on a desk
(Image: © Future)

Our Verdict

After avoiding most mobile games apart from your typical match-3s, the GameSir X2 Pro has changed my mind on mobile gaming – a bit, at least. Offering a full suite of Xbox/Switch-like controls to your mobile, more intensive gaming like racing and RPGs are no longer fraught with the frustration of visual thumb interference, freeing the screen up for absorbing the action as intended. However, the grip is not perfect and some buttons lack the premium response I'm used to with console controllers, but those are small complaints for the benefits the X2 Pro offers.

For

  • Easy phone integration
  • Swappable buttons and sticks
  • Frees your thumbs from your screen

Against

  • Grip is uncomfortable for long sessions
  • Buttons lack some responsiveness

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The GameSir X2 Pro aims to fix the one major complaint I (and no doubt countless others) have had with mobile gaming for a long, long, long time: those goshdarn fingers are always in the way. 

Clamping onto the outside of a phone, connected via USB-C, the X2 Pro becomes a little like a Switch controller, and a little like an instant-mix Steam Deck. You can fire up (compatible) games, such as the mobile gallery on your Xbox Game Pass, and instead of your thumb and fingers covering up 80% of what you kinda sorta really need to see in order to navigate and control properly, you now have a controller with actual buttons and joysticks.

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Working platform:Android 8.0 or above
Connection: Built-in wired Type-C
Compatible phone size: 110-179 mm in length, >3mm camera depth, >12mm phone depth
Microswitch bumpers:Yes, Kailh Micro Switches
Analog triggersYes, Hall Effect Magnetic Sensors
Analog joysticks:Yes, Alps
Back buttons:2
Pass-through charging:Yes (with limited compatibility)
Dimensions:184 x 85 x 37mm / 7.24 x 3.35 x 1.46in
Net weight:179g / 0.40lbs
The Verdict
8

out of 10

GameSir X2 Pro Xbox Mobile Game Controller

After avoiding most mobile games apart from your typical match-3s, the GameSir X2 Pro has changed my mind on mobile gaming – a bit, at least. Offering a full suite of Xbox/Switch-like controls to your mobile, more intensive gaming like racing and RPGs are no longer fraught with the frustration of visual thumb interference, freeing the screen up for absorbing the action as intended. However, the grip is not perfect and some buttons lack the premium response I'm used to with console controllers, but those are small complaints for the benefits the X2 Pro offers.

Erlingur Einarsson
Tech Reviews Editor

Erlingur is the Tech Reviews Editor on Creative Bloq. Having worked on magazines devoted to Photoshop, films, history, and science for over 15 years, as well as working on Digital Camera World and Top Ten Reviews in more recent times, Erlingur has developed a passion for finding tech that helps people do their job, whatever it may be. He loves putting things to the test and seeing if they're all hyped up to be, to make sure people are getting what they're promised. Still can't get his wifi-only printer to connect to his computer.