Spine Professional evaluation: A premium gamepad at a really premium value

Value When Reviewed

$169.99

Greatest Costs Right this moment: Spine Professional

As a gaming system, the iPhone has a lot to advocate it: it’s extremely moveable, you’re most likely carrying one anyway, and also you’ve received 1,000,000 appropriate video games to select from. The principle downside is that most of the greatest iOS video games (reminiscent of Fortnite, which lastly returned to iOS this 12 months) had been designed with different platforms in thoughts, and don’t swimsuit touchscreen controls. That’s when you should purchase your self a gamepad.

As iPhone gamepads go, the Spine Professional sits proper on the prime finish. It prices a whopping $169.99/£159.99, greater than 3 times what you’d pay for an official Xbox controller (which iPhones are appropriate with), so it must carry out miracles to justify that value. Does it? Effectively, let’s discover out.

Design and workmanship

The Spine Professional appears to be like like a gamepad or gaming handheld with the center half lacking. There’s a purpose for that: the hole is designed to accommodate an iPhone, though this isn’t obligatory. Extra on this within the subsequent part.

There are tons of {hardware} controls. On the left facet you get an ALPS thumb joystick, a D-pad, and two possibility buttons; on the suitable there are X/Y/A/B buttons (within the conventional Xbox configuration quite than the heretical Change model), one other thumb joystick, an alternative choice button, and a devoted button for the Spine app. Then there are 4 shoulder buttons–L1 and L2, and R1 and R2–and even two decrease rear M1 and M2 buttons which sit below your ring fingers. There are additionally two ports on the underside, a feminine USB-C for charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack, along with a remaining button for wi-fi pairing.

David Value / Foundry

Other than being astonishingly quite a few, these controls are strong, correct in use, and principally very comfy. (The one exception is that I wouldn’t need to use the M1 and M2 buttons very a lot, as a result of the ring fingers are naturally weaker than the remainder, and with my hand measurement it wasn’t doable to make use of center fingers whereas nonetheless having the ability to attain L1 and R1. However for infrequent features, they’re tremendous.) Severe players will quibble about some selections, such because the joysticks being ALPS quite than Corridor impact, which is extra exact and has an extended lifespan. The shortage of rumble/vibration can also trigger some raised eyebrows at this value level. However utilizing the Spine Professional is a delight, and due to the ergonomic design, weight within the hand, and pleasingly textured end, it feels just like the premium gaming accent it’s.

What’s the Spine Professional like to make use of?

Establishing the Spine Professional is comparatively straightforward. Tuck the highest fringe of your cellphone into the slot on the left, push the gamepad’s two halves aside, then connect your iPhone to the male USB-C connector on the suitable. (That is the strategy illustrated within the advertising and marketing video, and I discover it a lot simpler than opening the halves earlier than becoming the cellphone into the slot, which was my misguided first intuition.) Your iPhone is thus held securely in panorama orientation, and you should use the D pad, thumb controllers, and X/Y/A/B buttons to play video games on a super-sharp show with out having to waste display area on sub-optimal contact controls.

I examined the Spine Professional with an iPhone 17, and this match simply tremendous with or with out a commonplace silicone MagSafe case. That’s an vital consideration, as a result of having to uncase your iPhone after which recase it after provides a component of friction that can put you off utilizing the product. It’s additionally appropriate with the iPhone 17 Professional and 17 Professional Max, the iPhone Air, all 5 16-series iPhones, and all 4 15-series iPhones.

Be aware which you can additionally use the system as a standalone controller by connecting wirelessly to an iPhone, iPad, Mac, good TV, VR headset, or different system (even a PC!). This provides the problems of Bluetooth–you might discover some slight lag on very speed-intensive video games, though I didn’t–and naturally you’ll need to maintain monitor individually of the Spine’s battery in addition to that of no matter system you’re enjoying on. The simplicity of plugging a single USB-C cable into the Spine’s port and charging each the gamepad and its docked cellphone generally is a pleasing comfort for the forgetful.

David Value / Foundry

There may be, nevertheless, one minor level in favor of enjoying wirelessly: the primary few instances you employ the gamepad in docked mode, you might discover it fiddly navigating to your required sport. iOS house screens don’t have a panorama orientation, so you find yourself awkwardly holding the docked cellphone at 90 levels till you’ve discovered the app and launched it, earlier than returning to a standard place within the sport. The slot covers on both facet additionally block entry to the quick edges of your cellphone’s display, which makes it troublesome to entry the house indicator while you’re in a portrait-orientation app–which you shouldn’t be, however this may increasingly nonetheless catch you out in the event you dock your cellphone earlier than considering to shut down the earlier app.

However these are simply teething pains. You’ll rapidly realise that the perfect strategy is to open your sport of selection, then put the cellphone within the gamepad.

Testing out the app

There’s an alternative choice which you’ll discover simpler nonetheless, and that’s to make use of the Spine app. This may be accessed at any time by urgent the intense orange button assigned to that goal.

The makers would clearly such as you to deal with the Spine app as your central gaming hub, and it serves reasonably nicely in that position. The “Your video games” library is a handy strategy to leap straight to your favourite titles with out having to navigate your cellphone. Sensibly, this listing is compiled manually quite than merely auto-populating with all of the appropriate titles in your system, and whereas the in-app search perform isn’t all the time intuitive (insisting I must obtain video games which might be already on the system, for instance, or serving advertisements encouraging me to enroll in the Apple Arcade service I already get by way of Apple One) you may merely press the orange button whereas in a sport so as to add it to the library.

David Value / Foundry

The app additionally accommodates a quite endearing choice of “Instantaneous video games,” fast and low-cost retro browser video games which might be good for amusing. It’s a disgrace that, right here once more, the interface proves lower than useful; the app initially provided a range I may add to my library, however as soon as I’d performed so, that possibility was now not straightforward to search out. (Finally, I discovered the remaining video games by going to the primary search and deciding on Edit filters > HTML5 Video games.)

However probably the most helpful features of the Spine app are extra utilitarian. Underneath Settings, you’ll discover recording modes (along with Twitch integration), and the power to create controller profiles with assigned buttons. And below Controller Heart, you may pair with, handle, or overlook recognized units. That is vital as a result of the gamepad will, by default, attempt to join with probably the most just lately related system. However to be trustworthy, my expertise of system switching was very spectacular; virtually Apple-esque in its capacity to second-guess what I needed it to do without having to be prompted. Due to a intelligent function known as FlowState, you don’t must hold re-pairing every time you need to change units, and that’s a giant plus level.

Do you have to purchase the Spine Professional?

There are actually points with this product. Should you’re a critical gamer, the shortage of vibration and Corridor-effect joysticks could also be off-putting; in the event you’re not, there’s that $169.99/£159.99 price ticket. So the top says no, however the coronary heart says sure. I really like the engaging design, comfy and dependable controls, and easy-switching, device-agnostic versatility. In opposition to my higher judgment, and with a number of caveats, this extraordinarily premium gamepad will get my advice.