SCUF Nomad Mobile Gaming Controller Review

Performance

Obviously, gaming performance is going to be based on which iPhone you have, so that’s really not what we’re going to dive into here, as this is merely a controller unit, rather than an actual gaming system. We used the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and while I didn’t need that wedge, I left it in, as I liked the slightly raised phone for viewing angle.

Setup is easy enough, install the app, turn it on, agree to the things, and you’re good to go.

With the app, you can dive into full customisation of the controller, it’s likely you won’t need to do this often, and once you’ve got it setup the way you like it, you can get back to your gaming.

The back paddles are great, having them as melee and jump in FPS titles means you don’t have to take your thumb off of the right stick.

Even the back triggers are fully programmable, so you can really dive into tweaking it to suit your play style.

The app also features a tutorial showing you some of the extra features and how to launch the companion app from the controller.

Here you can add games from the library too, making it more like a gaming hub, rather than just a controller settings app.

There’s a bunch of recommended games too.

As well as launchers for the Apple Arcade, as well as PS Remote Play.

It even has built-in capture, allowing you to record your gameplay to upload to social media, YouTube, stream, or whatever you want really.

Playing a bit of Call of Duty Mobile, which obviously runs great on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The ergonomics are really nice, and while the controller is light, obviously the overall weight is largely dictated by the phone you use too.

The sticks are Hall Effect, so there’s no chance of stick drift. They are extremely smooth and responsive, and maybe have a little too much throw to them for my taste, and I would say I prefer a little more resistance like I get on the Xbox Series X or Dual Sense controllers, but honestly, the light action on the sticks is easy to adjust to and very responsive.

The face buttons look a little small, but it’s well suited to the ergonomics, they have a nice and responsive clicky feel to them too, so for gaming, they’re pretty fantastic.

The ergonomics are good that you can still get in for a tap on the screen too, which in mobile gaming, can make menus a lot easier to deal with.