The Razer Kishi V3 Pro bridges the gap between phone and tablet controller options, leaving little room for competition. Mobile controllers are as commonplace as third-party controller offerings on your favourite home console or PC platforms, but often require smart shopping for those looking for a controller best suited for their phone or tablet.
The Razer Kishi V3 Pro promises to deliver a mobile controller experience that not only works on a wide gamut of smartphones but also tablets up to 8”, on top of full support as a PC gamepad, making it a truly versatile gaming beast. Inside the box, prospective buyers will receive the Razer Kishi V3 Pro controller itself, a series of rubber cushions for the best fit of your device of choice, an instructions card, and a set of replaceable concave and convex sticks reminiscent of the Xbox gamepad and Nintendo Joy-Con sticks.
In terms of overall build quality and aesthetics, the Razer Kishi V3 Pro is cast in the same mould as the Razer Kishi Ultra, with the most significant visual difference stemming from the lack of the distinct RGB strip found in the previous model. Don’t let the lack of lighting fool you. However, the Razer Kishi V3 Pro makes up for it with tremendous attention to quality and detail, with the mobile controller sporting swappable TMR sticks, satisfyingly clicking microswitches for the face buttons and D-pad, back bumpers and full console-quality triggers and shoulder buttons that make it not only one of the best mobile controllers to date, but just one of the best controllers to use, period.
Of course, a controller, particularly one adapted for mobile device use, lives and dies with its software suite to support it. Thankfully, the Razer Kishi V3 Pro and the Razer Nexus app in general set a new standard for mobile gaming and remote play software for PC users looking to stream their games. As someone familiar with streaming protocols on PC, I am used to relying on software such as Sunshine and Moonlight and other derivates such as Artemis and Apollo to get the best streaming experience possible. Still, now, thanks to Razer’s efforts on the streaming front, this process has become a seamless experience that can be set up with only a few clicks.
“The Razer Kishi V3 Pro and the Razer Nexus app in general set a new standard for mobile gaming and remote play software.”
The Razer Nexus mobile app combined with Razer Cortex on PC is not only an effort to get up and running, but it also offers gamers with multiple game launchers installed on their machines a central hub (or nexus) to launch all their games from, on top of a new mobile-friendly mode, reminiscent of Steam Big Picture, which looks fantastic on mobile screens, adding to the overall enjoyment of using the service.
Razer’s reliance on open-source streaming protocols also ensures a robust and fast connection for capable setups, which, on top of offering low-latency game streaming, allows custom resolutions, HDR and high refresh rate features that conform to your mobile devices, making 1:1 experiences possible that feel native to the device you are gaming on.
The option to use tablets up to 8” also gives the Razer Kishi V3 Pro some flexibility when connecting your device to the controller via its USB-C connection, which doesn’t feel rigid or finicky, making the setup process to get up and going as easy as a Bluetooth connection, but with the added benefit of a wired bond and of course, the option for passthrough charging and optional headphone jack for wired headphone users.
“At the end of the day, the Razer Kishi V3 Pro continues Razer’s dominance in the mobile controller space”
I must admit, my daily driver thus far since having reviewed it has been the GameSir G8 Plus Galileo, for its console-like controls and profile-switching capabilities, but the Razer Kishi V3 Pro has dethroned it, as it not only offers a robust feature set for streaming, the controls of the portable controller also go above and beyond what others offer, with my favourite being the Kishi V3’s d-pad, which feels clicky and satisfying and reminiscent of my favourite D-pad of all time, the Sega Saturn’s floating disc-shaped pad, which feels excellent in fighting games and platformers that require that extra bit of precision needed to pull off moves or time jumps accordingly.
At the end of the day, the Razer Kishi V3 Pro continues Razer’s dominance in the mobile controller space, offering a no-brainer solution for those who need a flexible controller capable of use on larger-format phones and medium-sized tablets, aligning with its traditional controller offerings and mobile controllers alike.
Finally, with options to use the Razer Kishni V3 Pro via a wired USB connection on PC platforms, paired with the fact that the controller, in general, feels akin to Razer’s Wolverine line of high-quality controllers, Razer’s latest mobile offering is an easy pick for PC gamers looking for the most utility in their controller.
