Razer Kishi Ultra – a full-size controller that swallows your phone
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Your phone is faster than the console you grew up with. Then you try to play a racing game on it, and your thumbs cover half the screen while you steer by rubbing glass.
Most phone controllers fix this by being small: two stubby grips that clip on and disappear in a pocket. The Razer Kishi Ultra is a mobile controller that goes the other way. It’s a full-size, console-shaped gamepad that stretches open and holds your phone (or an iPad mini) in the middle.
It doesn’t fit in your jeans. That’s sort of the point.
What is the Razer Kishi Ultra?
It’s Razer’s biggest Kishi: a USB-C controller for iPhone 15 and 16 models, Android phones (Android 12 or newer), the iPad mini (6th generation and A17 Pro) and Android tablets up to 8 inches. You pull the halves apart, drop the device in, and it plugs into the USB-C port. No Bluetooth pairing.
The hardware comes from Razer’s console controllers. On paper you get:
- Hall effect triggers, two bumpers and two extra programmable buttons (L4 and R4)
- “Mecha-tactile” face buttons and an 8-way d-pad
- Full-size thumbsticks
- A 3.5 mm headphone jack and 15W passthrough charging, so your phone charges while you play
- Razer Sensa HD haptics and Chroma RGB lighting on the grips
- A weight of 266 grams, according to Razer
It also works as a wired controller for a Windows PC or an iPad over a USB-C cable (sold separately). The free Razer Nexus app launches your games, remaps buttons and sets thumbstick dead zones. On Android it has a Virtual Controller Mode that maps buttons onto touchscreen-only games.
The good and the not-so-good
What I like:
- It feels like a real controller. TechRadar called it the best mobile controller on the market, and Razer quotes Tom’s Guide calling it the only mobile controller you’ll ever need.
- The iPad mini support. An 8-inch screen with proper sticks turns Xbox Cloud Gaming or PlayStation Remote Play into something close to a handheld console.
- It works with many phone cases. You can swap or remove the rubber cushions for a better fit.
- Passthrough charging means long streaming sessions don’t drain your phone.
What could be better:
- It’s bulky. TechRadar listed “very bulky” as a con, and Dexerto pointed out it no longer slides into a pocket like the older Kishi models.
- The haptics only work on Android 12+ and Windows 11. Not on iPhone or iPad, so iOS players pay for a feature they can’t use.
- The buttons are loud. Macworld flagged it, and CGMagazine found the d-pad clicks louder than it liked.
- It doesn’t fit older iPhones with a Lightning port (iPhone 14 and earlier).
Who is the Razer Kishi Ultra for?
People who actually play long sessions on a phone: Game Pass in the cloud, Remote Play from a PS5 or Xbox, Steam streaming from a PC, or emulators. It’s a great gift for someone with an iPad mini who keeps saying they’ll “get into mobile gaming”.
Skip it if portability matters more than comfort. The Backbone Pro is smaller and also works on its own over Bluetooth. If you only stream from a PS5, the PlayStation Portal has a screen and controller built in. And if you want to play real PC games anywhere, a handheld like the ROG Xbox Ally does that without a phone. Razer has also launched a newer Kishi V3 range, so compare those before you buy.
Where can I buy the Razer Kishi Ultra?
Razer sells it on Amazon. At the time of writing (October 2026) it’s about 90 bucks, well under its 150-dollar list price.
Your phone was always a console. It just needed something to hold on to.