iPega PG-9087S "Red Knight" controller for mobile phones

I've been looking for a decent controller for my Nokia 8 since it can run many emulators at full speed. With my old phone LG G4 I used USB OTG and Dualshock 3 in wired mode with cheap clip that clipped to the DS3 and had holder for the phone. The problem with this was that since phone weighs much more than the controller the center of gravity is in wrong place and hands get tired quite fast. Also this solution is not very portable. Furthermore it seems that the USB OTG functionality in the Nokia 8 is really bad. I couldn't get DS3 to work in wired mode. Even wired Xbox 360 controller did not work. And I didn't want to root my phone to get DS3 working in wireless mode. So I decided to get one of these for my mobile gaming sessions.

The iPega PG-9087S Red Knight Retractable Controller. These go for under 20 euros shipped from China. As far as I can tell they are currently the only reasonable solution if you want PS Vita/PSP style side controls.

Back of the box with minimum and maximum length of the phone shown. The box is somewhat beat up but it did arrive quite quickly. I think it took 2 weeks when ordered from aliexpress. I did opt for the slightly higher postage instead of the free shipping in order to get tracking number.

Inside the box is the controller, accessories box and leaflet with instructions. The English is just fine on the instructions and you do need it since it tells how to switch the controller operating modes. It defaults to Android direct play which did not work for me. I had to switch to Android normal mode. Also iOS mode is supported. Switching modes is easy with Home + action button combinations. And the setting does persist between power cycles so you don't have to switch the mode every time.

Accessories box contains micro USB charging cable and lanyard. As far as I can tell the controller does not work in wired mode. Bluetooth is the only connection option.

The controller itself. Normal button arrangement with two clickable analog sticks, D-pad, four action buttons, four triggers and select and start buttons. In addition to these there is the Home button and turbo button. As far as I can tell the Home button is used only for toggling operating modes and sleep mode. At least I couldn't get any software to register the Home button press. I haven't tried the turbo button but I guess it works as you would expect. Build quality is OK. It is not the most solid piece of hardware but also doesn't feel like it would break immediately. The action buttons do light up when the controller is powered on. There is also column of too bright LEDs to indicate operating mode and battery status. I covered those with piece of tape since they are way too bright.

Back of the controller. It is nicely shaped and quite comfortable to hold.

Physical power switch is always nice addition. The only external port is the micro USB charging port.

Trigger buttons. The lower triggers are not analog, only basic on/off functionality. The triggers are clicky and have quite nice feel. But this is only true when the controller is retracted. Once you put wide phone in place there are some problems with the right side triggers. I quite haven't pinpointed what the problem is. It seems that the flexing of the back plate somehow affects the right side trigger assembly. Especially the R1 trigger tends to get stuck. This is the major drawback of this controller. The triggers are usable but they do not feel the same when phone is in place.

My Nokia 8 fits OK even with cheap bumper covers on. The width is 157mm and it is already a tight fit. So I would say 170mm advertised on the box is bit optimistic. The phone holds in place just fine. The only problem is the aforementioned trigger problem.

Back of the controller with phone in place. The springs in the spring loaded mechanism are quite stiff so they hold the phone in place nicely.

You can also use the controller with phone in vertical position as long as it is wide enough so that is gets squeezed between the controller halves. This is useful for vertical shooters and Nintendo DS emulation.

My Nokia 8 with covers is 80mm wide so the minimum of 77mm stated in the box is quite accurate. Of course you can put something between the phone and the controller if your phone is not wide enough.

So the final verdict is that this is an OK controller. Not perfect by any means. I wish they used bit more sturdier construction to overcome the issues with right side triggers when the controller is extended. This and the overly bright LEDs are my only complaints for the price. I tried this also on Windows using cheap Bluetooth 4.0 receiver and it worked just fine. However there was some connection issues when range was increased to over 1 meter. For my mobile emulation needs this is fine controller. With PPSSPP I noticed that the analog sticks have quite big dead zone. However this was not the case when checking the stick with Windows control panel. Also Android pad tester showed only minimal dead zone. So this might be just an issue with PPSSPP.