I’ve been getting more actively into mobile gaming in the last few months, and that has naturally extended to a need to try out as many handheld controller devices as possible. I’ve been around the houses with the BACKBONE estate, but Razer approached me with the all-new Prio, a very small but capable mobile controller that literally fits in the palm of your hand.
That piqued my interest, as while I love the BACKBONE Pro, it’s a chunky unit that rivals a full-size game controller. The Prio takes the concept of portability to the next level, offering a minute form factor with all the capabilities of any other mobile controller on the market. It’s a pretty penny for what you’re getting in the box, but is it worthwhile?
Let’s find out.
Razer Prio is Ultra-Compact and Silent
The Razer Prio is all about offering capable, comfortable performance in as small a form factor as possible. It achieves that quite nicely, but unfortunately, the size will matter for some, and it’s admittedly not for everyone’s hands. If you’re jamming away on a commute and want something tiny to play games subtly, you’re in luck, but for longer sessions, you might end up with cramped hands.
Razer has made the Prio this small by building it around an elasticated strap system that allows the device to fold in on itself, halving its footprint immediately and making it about the size of a traditional cassette tape.
I will be transparent: it took me a hot minute to really figure out how to use and fold the Prio. I should have just looked on the Razer website, as there’s an animated demo, but I tried to go in blind and was stumped for a good few seconds. But once you’ve nailed it, it’s great, and you’ll see that, with the right adapters, it can fit a very wide variety of phones.
But that’s it – phones only. It maxes out at seven-inch devices like the Samsung Ultra and iPhone Pro Max phones.
Let’s talk about what’s on deck, because the Prio has a surprising number of functions. You’ve got capacitive thumbsticks that are tiny but pretty comfortable to spin around, and the tactile face buttons are minuscule but silent and accessible. You’ve got dual bumpers and triggers, which make the Prio perfect for shooters like COD Mobile, and the tactical four-way D-pad makes fighting games a cinch.
There’s also a Razer Cortex mobile button, and you can make things a little more powerful and customizable by pairing the Prio with that application.
It fits around phone cases, which I was happy to see, but I did need to use the included adapters to make the Prio compatible with my phone case. It’s also fully compliant with both Android and iOS devices, so you’re set regardless of which platform you use.
I’ll be frank about this portion of the Razer lineup, though. If you’re gaming on the go and want to put in more than just a brief session, I’d say to invest in the Razer Kishi, which offers full-sized components and accommodates more devices. The Kishi also has more features, such as pass-through charging, but it can weigh almost three times as much as the Prio.
What has me stumped is the price point for the Razer Prio. I understand that you’re paying for the convenience of having something remarkably small, but Razer offers it for $99.99, while the Razer Kishi is… $99.99. The all-singing Razer Kishi Pro is $149.99, which really does rival the BACKBONE Pro for features and abilities.
Ultimately, if you’re after an incredibly small and still pretty capable mobile controller, the Razer Prio is exactly what you’ll want, particularly if you’re travelling light and want to save on bag space. But if you’re looking for anything beyond very short sessions, you’ll want to invest in the Kishi.
Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server if the Razer Prio seems like your kind of device.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out our review of the Razer Huntsman V3, and sign up to the Insider Gaming newsletter
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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