Steelseries Stratus Bluetooth iOS Mobile Gaming Controller

Introduction

Today I will be taking a look at the latest peripheral in the Steelseries range, the iDevice compatible Stratus controller, a bluetooth analogue control pad designed to enhance your mobile gaming experience. There are many devices like this one the market, but Steelseries have a solid reputation for making premium peripherals, so I would expect this one to be a cut above the rest, especially given that it costs upwards of $60, and that’s after a recent price reduction as it used to be around $90!

With mobile gaming being bigger than ever, mostly thanks to mobile devices now being capable of producing some impressive 3D graphics, we’re still stuck with often clumsy touch screen controls. Touch screen is great for Angry Birds, but it falls flat on its face for 3rd person action and adventure, first person shoots or racing titles. Sure you can still play fairly well via touch, but it’s no match for a good quality controller.

The Stratos is well equipped, offering support for all the latest iOS equipped devices, four pressure sensitive face buttons, four pressure sensitive shoulder buttons, dual analogue sticks, a d-pad, long battery life, USB recharging and more.

The packaging features a large window section that gives us a sneaky peak at the controller, and down the front you’ll find a quick run down of device compatibility.

Around the back you’ll find a picture of the controller and its hard cover, as well as a more detailed run down of features like the 10+ hour battery life.

Everything you need (short of a free iPad) is in the box; a zip lock protective carry pouch, user guide, hard cover, the controller and a microUSB charging cable.