The best portable gaming consoles of 2025

While PlayStation’s DualShock design has gained its share of fans over the years, the Xbox gamepad is the stereotypical image of a gamepad in many people’s minds (along with the Discord logo). So it makes sense that there are a lot of portable gaming options out there like this, the best of which comes from SteelSeries: Nimbus+ for devices made by Apple and Stratos+ For Google-based devices (Android and Chromebook).

The two controllers are mostly identical. They have shoulder buttons and triggers, the directional pad is the same, and both include sturdy phone holders to attach your device on top — the kind that lock into place automatically. Unlike the clip from a more generic company, the clip that SteelSeries provides with both controllers won’t fight you during the process of mounting your phone.