Play PS5 on your iPhone with this Backbone One PlayStation Edition controller

The new version of Backbone One controller is officially licensed to resemble a Sony PS5 DualSense controller

➡️ The Shortcut Skinny

• 🎮 What: A PlayStation-branded iPhone-compatible controller grip

• 🤝 Vouch: Officially licensed PlayStation Edition adds DualSense buttons

• 📳 Match game: Decked out PS5 style, but no DualSense haptic feedback

• 💵Price: $99.99, almost twice as expensive as PS5 DualSense controllers

• 📵Compatibility: Only for iPhone; there’s a separate Xbox version

The PS5 getting 1440p support isn’t the only big update for Sony PlayStation fans today, as the newly announced Backbone One PlayStation Edition controller for the iPhone adds a new way to play with your console remotely.

The mobile controller is officially licensed — so official it was first announced on the PlayStation blog. Like earlier versions of the Backbone One, this new model wraps around the sides of an iPhone lengthwise and puts Nintendo Switch-like controls at either end of the phone. Only this time, the controls are styled after the Sony PS5 DualSense controller and have the X, O, Square, and Triangle buttons PlayStation fans are used to.

This doesn’t mean you’ll be playing PS5 games locally on your phone, though. To play PS4 and PS5 games, you’ll still need to use Sony’s PS Remote Play feature to tap into a game running on your own internet-connected console. So if you’re still waiting on a PS5 restock, this controller won’t get you any closer to playing PS5 games.

Backbone One price and availability

The Backbone One PlayStation Edition costs $99.99, twice the price of an actual PS5 DualSense controller, and it doesn’t have the same haptics you’d find in Sony’s equipment. But, it’s compact, doesn’t need to be charged (as it’s powered by the iPhone connection), and can work with non-PlayStation games as well.

Backbone also sweetens the pot with 3 free months of Discord Nitro, a free month of Apple Arcade, and 2 free months of Google Stadia Pro — though the standard Backbone One includes all these features and tosses in a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as well. No PS Plus voucher here, but you can always grab a PlayStation Plus discount code for about $42 – far cheaper than the $60 Sony makes you pay.

The Backbone One PlayStation Edition does differentiate things a touch, as Backbone CEO Maneet Khaira explained in the blog:

“Players can download the Backbone App for a customized PlayStation experience. Inside the app, you’ll see various PlayStation integrations, such as custom glyphs representing the iconic PlayStation shapes and the ability to browse hundreds of game titles.”

Right now, the Backbone One PlayStation Edition is only available for Apple’s iPhone, but the company says it’s compatible with every iPhone (I’d wager pre-Lightning port 30-pin dock iPhones don’t really exist out there anymore, right?). Backbone does have a version of the Backbone One available for Android, but it has an Xbox-style controller layout.