The Backbone Pro looks like it’s ready to carry your entire gaming life in its sleek, sturdy frame. At first glance, it’s not wildly different from its predecessor, the Backbone One—a device that turned heads for transforming your smartphone into a handheld gaming console. The Pro keeps that familiar design: two oblong halves connected by a flexible strip of plastic and metal, with a USB-C port ready to cradle your phone. But pick it up, and you’ll notice it’s heavier, more solid, and built with a premium feel that suggests Backbone’s ambitions have leveled up. This isn’t just a controller—it’s a bold attempt to unify your gaming world.

The Backbone Pro’s headline feature is its versatility. Unlike the Backbone One, which relied on docking your smartphone to function (a setup Backbone calls Handheld Mode), the Pro introduces Wireless Mode. With Bluetooth connectivity, it can pair with a dizzying array of devices: your Steam Deck, iPad, smart TV, PC, or even an Android tablet. “We wanted to make a controller that could be your one-stop shop for gaming, no matter the platform,” said Backbone CEO Maneet Khaira. The Pro’s ability to switch seamlessly between wired phone docking and wireless connections is a game-changer for players who bounce between devices.

This flexibility is backed by serious hardware. The Pro sports two full-size thumbsticks, a responsive D-pad, and the classic A, B, X, Y button layout. There are dual shoulder buttons and triggers on each side, a headphone jack for immersive audio, and a USB-C port for charging. Backbone claims the battery lasts up to 40 hours on a single charge—an impressive feat for a device packing three circuit boards on each side. Khaira couldn’t stop raving about the engineering challenge of cramming all that tech into such a compact form. “It’s the controller we’ve been dreaming of building for years,” he said, and you can feel that passion in the Pro’s polished design.

If the hardware is the body, the Backbone app is the soul. The app is designed to be a universal hub for your gaming life, pulling together your games from different platforms into one clean interface. It tracks which devices you’re connected to, saves custom control layouts for each game, and even remembers your progress so you can pause on one screen and pick up on another without missing a beat. For retro gaming fans, Backbone has gone a step further, building its own emulator to let you play classic titles directly in the app.

This cross-platform dream isn’t entirely new—Google tried something similar with Stadia, a cloud gaming service that promised seamless play across devices but shut down in 2023 after failing to gain traction. Khaira, who worked on gaming projects at Google before founding Backbone, believes his team has cracked the code where Stadia stumbled.

The app’s integration with game-streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, NVIDIA GeForce Now, and Amazon Luna is a big selling point. It also plays nicely with both iOS and Android ecosystems, as well as PC and Mac. But there are gaps: the Pro isn’t an officially supported PlayStation controller due to its Xbox-style button layout, and it doesn’t work with the Nintendo Switch. These are massive platforms, and their absence stings. Khaira acknowledges the challenge, noting that creating a truly universal controller is “incredibly tough” due to proprietary ecosystems. For now, Backbone supports PlayStation Remote Play as a workaround, and Khaira hinted at potential console-specific versions down the line. Still, the dream is clear: one controller, one app, all your games.

The Backbone Pro is available now, but its price has been a moving target. Initially listed at $169, it’s a significant jump from the $100 Backbone One. Khaira warned that tariffs could push the price higher, a reality that’s already caused headaches for consumers. For comparison, a standard Xbox Wireless Controller retails for around $60, and even premium options like the PlayStation DualSense Edge top out at $200. The Pro’s cost puts it in a tricky spot—it’s not cheap, but it’s banking on its all-in-one functionality to justify the premium.

The Backbone One remains on sale for budget-conscious gamers, and it’s still a fantastic option for mobile gaming. But the Pro is clearly the star of Backbone’s vision. The company hopes it will eventually replace not just the One but every other controller cluttering your desk or living room. That’s a tall order in a market dominated by entrenched players like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, each with fiercely loyal fanbases and tightly controlled ecosystems.

Backbone’s big bet is that gamers want simplicity. With the rise of cloud gaming, cross-platform play, and portable devices like the Steam Deck, the lines between consoles, PCs, and mobile devices are blurring. The Pro leans into this trend, offering a single controller that can keep up with your games no matter where you’re playing. It’s not perfect—those PlayStation and Switch incompatibilities are a bummer, and the price might make you hesitate. But when it works, it feels like a glimpse into the future.

Will the Backbone Pro become the one controller to rule them all? It’s too early to say. The gaming world is notoriously fragmented, and giants like Sony and Nintendo don’t give up ground easily. But Backbone is playing the long game, betting that a controller that can go anywhere—and play almost anything—will win over gamers tired of juggling multiple devices.