In this episode, we unbox & test out the GameSir G8 Galileo smartphone controller adapter & see if it is a PlayStation Portal Killer.
There's been a lot of talk lately about cloud gaming on mobile thanks to things like the PlayStation Portal. While many will agree that that was not executed to the best it could have been, it did show the industry's desire to shift into being able to play console quality games on the go, Just like the Nintendo Switch. The thing about that, however, is most of us have a device in our pockets that are as powerful, if not more so, then the Portal or even the Nintendo Switch in our smartphones. That's what GameSir is banking on with their new G8 Galileo smartphone grip. Designed to give you a tactile input while you play on the go, could this be a better PlayStation Portal?
The G8 has a number of interesting features to it. First & foremost the color scheme reminds me 100% of the Super Nintendo controller, & I love that. You have A, B, X, & Y face buttons, both an analog stick & d-pad on the left hand side of the grip, & a second one on the right hand side. And those analog sticks are not just any old analog sticks, they are actually Hall effects sensors. That means concerns about drift should be negligible. GameSir also includes a number of additional sticks for you to swap out depending on what your personal preference is, & thanks to a magnetic faceplate, this couldn't be easier.
To accommodate smartphones of different sizes, the USB-C port that interfaces with the phone itself is on a hinge to adjust for different heights. The grip also is spring loaded to expand to hold a variety of different phones. I tried both my Google Pixel 6 Pro & my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra & both fit perfectly.
I downloaded the PlayStation cloud app from the Google Play store & got the testing. My theory about the poor performance on the PlayStation Portal was that it was less device related & more service-related as I have had issues with remote play in my home for my PlayStation 4 to my PlayStation 5. I was hoping that the G8 would confirm that one way or another.
First up was Gran Turismo 7, & pretty early on we started to get some buffering issues on the service. It cleared up eventually, & I was able to run some races fairly successfully. The button presses felt great, the triggers were very smooth even though they lacked the haptic feedback of the Portal or the DualSense controller. One other thing missing was rumble.
The next game I threw at it was Spider-Man, & this one saw not graphical issues but some lag & latency issues. GameSir does provide an app where you can go in & adjust the deadband on the buttons & sticks, & I think I'm going to have to do that as there were times when I was trying to web sling & it just wasn't as responsive as I would have liked. If I push the triggers down more it worked, so I think adjusting the deadband will fix that.
Next up I decided to test a native Android game, the original Sonic the Hedgehog. This played fantastically, both the d-pad & the analog sticks were terrific, & button presses were spot on. This again to me hammers home that with a game loaded directly onto my phone there were no lag & latency issues, where while playing through the PlayStation service there definitely were.
For my final test I decided to try out some cloud Gaming on my Xbox Game Pass. I actually had very high hopes for this as Microsoft has really made their online platforms a priority for over a decade. One of the games that I am most sensitive to lag & latency on is MLB The Show due to the pitching meter that I utilize. I will say they're absolutely zero issues here, it was super crisp & responsive, & absolutely blew PlayStation out of the water!
Why it RoX:
- Less than half the cost of a Portal
- Hall effect sensor joysticks
- Great performance
- Expandable to accommodate a large number of phones
- USB-C for power
- Compatible with native Android games, along with PlayStation & Xbox cloud gaming
- Great color scheme
What could be improved:
- No rumble support
- Did not connect to my Cellaro 5G
- Cannot fix Sony's terrible cloud service
- Convex & concave buttons would be really nice
Should you buy one?
I absolutely love the value & performance that GameSir has delivered here. You get a truly excellent platform that you can utilize on your existing smartphone. Without a phone installed, the G8 is fairly compact & easy to transport, & it can be conveniently tossed in a backpack or bag. If your focus is on the PlayStation side of Cloud Gaming, their services are just not ready for prime time, even with 1 gigabit internet service. Xbox & native Android games, however, work beautifully. I think this is a very well put together controller, & if mobile gaming is important to you this should be at the top of your list.
#GameSir #G8 #HandheldGaming #ShortsIRL #PlayStation #GamePass #Xbox