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Spine Professional: One-minute assessment
The Spine Professional is the primary huge new arrival within the model’s widespread cell accent line-up for nearly 5 years.
On paper, its underpinned by a profitable system: take the most effective cell controllers round, beef it as much as make it extra snug, tweak the texture of the buttons, and throw in a pair ‘pro’ options like remappable again buttons to spherical out the bundle and justify the identify.
All of that is completed nicely, however Spine has gone even additional and crammed the Professional with a wealth of options geared in the direction of cloud gaming.
It has Bluetooth connectivity that enables it to connect with your PC, laptop computer, pill, or good TV to be used with cloud gaming companies like Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, or Amazon Luna. It really works nicely, apart from the usually hit and miss ‘instant Bluetooth pairing’ characteristic, and boasts a powerful forty hours of wi-fi battery life – up there with among the greatest PC controllers.
As with the unique Spine One, the Professional additionally advantages from incredible supplies throughout the board. It’s a stunning controller that feels extremely premium and helps the vast majority of trendy units with its Kind-C connector. It provides pass-through charging too, to not point out the sturdy Spine app and its quite a few helpful options like a devoted recreation launcher, the choice to shortly launch most cloud gaming companies, and the flexibility to remap buttons in customized profiles.
This all comes at a excessive worth, nonetheless, placing the Spine Professional up in opposition to some critical competitors. It’s well worth the funding in case you’re able to go all in on cloud gaming, however cell gaming purists would seemingly be higher off ditching this performance with barely cheaper but much more snug options just like the Razer Kishi Extremely.
Issues change into much more costly once you consider the price of a Spine Plus subscription, which is $3.99 / £3.99 a month and grants entry to some further options like recreation emulators constructed into the Spine app and rewards in sure cell titles.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Spine Professional (Black) at Finest Purchase for $169.99
Spine Professional: Worth and availability
Prices $169.99 / £169.99 / AU$299.95
One mannequin accessible in a single colorway, black
Spine Plus is $3.99 / £3.99 a month
The Spine Professional prices $169.99 / £169.99 / AU$299.95, placing it a good chunk above the $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$179.99 asking worth of the Spine One 2nd Gen. For that added value, you’re getting a bigger controller with some added options, particularly the remappable rear buttons, plus wi-fi performance.
On the time of writing, the Spine Professional is barely accessible in a single colorway: a reasonably fundamental black. There’s additionally no Lightning connector variant for these with older iPhones, both.
At this worth, the Spine Professional faces some fairly stiff competitors, particularly within the type of the Razer Kishi Extremely. Razer’s product is bigger than the Spine Professional, however extra snug. It additionally provides RGB lighting and a totally featured app that, not like the Spine App, doesn’t want any type of subscription to mess around with.
Spine Professional: Specs
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Worth
$169.99 / £169.99 / AU$299.95
Dimensions
7.1 x 11.1 x 2in / 181 x 281 x 50mm
Weight
0.44lbs / 203g
Connection sort
Wired (Kind-C), Bluetooth
Compatibility
iPhone 15 Collection, Android, PC, good TV, Nintendo Change
Software program
Spine App
Spine Professional: Design and options
Seems to be like a chunkier model of the Spine One
Rear buttons and wi-fi connectivity have been added
Some distinctive software program options
The Spine Professional appears like a beefed up model of the Spine One. It’s considerably thicker with a lot bigger grips that match extra naturally into the palms of your fingers. Though the One nonetheless wins in terms of portability, the Professional is undeniably rather more snug to make use of and, importantly, continues to be sufficiently small to slot in your bag and even a big pocket.
On the entrance of the controller you’ll see the anticipated face buttons and d-pad. Though it’s not instantly apparent, each of those have been redesigned. The buttons use softer, extra spongy feeling switches which might be quieter than these of the One however simply as fast and responsive, whereas the d-pad is rather less stiff.
Each the buttons and the d-pad are additionally constituted of the clear, shiny and clean materials that was beforehand used for the buttons of the Spine One PlayStation Version. I at all times most well-liked this to the extra matte look of the buttons of the usual One, so it’s nice to see it once more right here. The 2 thumbsticks have rather more movement than these of the One, making it simpler to manage exactly, with a concave design reasonably than a convex one.
Taking the Spine Professional into your fingers, you’ll instantly have the ability to really feel the nice dotted texture on the again of the grips along with the 2 new remappable rear inputs. Though predominantly constructed from plastic, the supplies throughout the board are chic and ooze high quality. It’s a bit weighty, however well-balanced, so under no circumstances fatiguing to make use of.
(Picture credit score: Future)
On the underside of the controller’s grips, you’ll discover a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Kind-C connector for charging the controller or your cellphone by way of pass-through, plus a brand new Bluetooth pairing button.
Many of the Spine Professional’s software program options are tied to the appropriate Spine app. It provides the flexibility to create distinct controller profiles with absolutely customizable button mapping, thumbstick and set off lifeless zones, and extra. It’s also possible to allow wired compatibility for PC, cell, and even Nintendo Change by way of the underside Kind-C port.
The app additionally features as a devoted recreation launcher, permitting you to browse appropriate titles and even launch a appropriate cloud gaming service throughout the app – although sadly, this latter characteristic requires the Spine Plus subscription.
The identical is true for the emulation, which helps you to play your favourite ROMs straight within the Spine app, display screen recording, dwell streaming, and even the flexibility to remap on-screen inputs to bodily controls.
It is a incredible characteristic set total, however the truth that it’s gated behind a month-to-month price is disappointing – particularly once you’re spending this a lot on a peripheral. You do at the least get a seven-day free trial together with your buy, which ought to be sufficient time to work out whether or not the fee is value it for you.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Spine Professional: Efficiency
Nice for cell gaming
Matches the overwhelming majority of telephones
A bit awkward in Bluetooth
It’s not possible to fault the Spine Professional in terms of cell gaming. Paired with a appropriate recreation like Zenless Zone Zero or Name of Responsibility Cellular, it delivers dependable efficiency. The buttons are much less clicky than these of the Spine One, however nonetheless very satisfying to press.
The bigger thumbsticks additionally make it rather more appropriate for fast-paced shooters, providing a a lot higher degree of management. The triggers are extra ergonomic, too, with an elevated space and a refined grippy sample. The brand new rear buttons are simple to entry and, importantly, provide greater than sufficient resistance to make it troublesome to hit them accidentally.
Because of its extending design, the controller suits a powerful vary of units, particularly with the included adapters. I had no problem becoming an iPhone 15 Plus with a skinny case and it even accommodated my frankly ridiculously outsized Porsche Design Honor Magic 7 RSR. A foldable ought to match too, as there was loads of area for the Oppo Discover N5 in its included case.
The Professional has been full of a battery that provides greater than forty hours of juice, so you should utilize it as a Bluetooth controller. The model is closely pushing this product as a cloud gaming peripheral, although in my testing, it nonetheless labored completely with widespread PC gaming launchers like Steam.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Efficiency can be good in terms of the likes of Xbox Cloud Gaming, and I did actually admire the flexibility to shortly launch the service straight from the Spine app if you wish to take the motion with you.
I’ll say that the Spine Professional undoubtedly feels worse to make use of with out a cellphone inside. It’s noticeably wider than the DualSense or Xbox Wi-fi Controller, however with a lot smaller buttons which might be tougher to hit reliably as compared. Minus the steadiness of a cellphone, there’s additionally a tiny however noticeable diploma of flex on each slides attributable to the extending mechanism which I discovered distracting.
The ‘Instant Bluetooth Pairing’ characteristic, which is designed to immediately swap between your saved units on the click on of a button, additionally disappoints. It really works nicely with tablets and good TVs, however I had explicit problem getting it to reliably connect with my PC, the place the controller repeatedly appeared as an entirely new machine in my Bluetooth settings – very annoying after I simply needed to dive into a fast cloud-streamed Halo Infinite match.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Ought to I purchase the Spine Professional?
Purchase it if…
Don’t purchase it if…
Additionally think about…
Not eager on the Spine Professional? Try these worthy options.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 – Cell 0
Spine Professional
Razer Kishi Extremely
Spine One 2nd Gen
Worth
$169.99 / £169.99 / AU$299.95
$149.99 / £149.99 / AU$269.95
$99.99 / £99.99 / AU$179.99
Dimensions
7.1 x 11.1 x 2in / 181 x 281 x 50mm
9.63 x 4.36 x 2.53in / 243 x 111 x 64mm
6.93 x 3.70 x 1.34in / 176 x 94 x 34mm
Weight
0.44lbs / 203g
0.59 lbs / 266g
0.30lbs / 138g
Connection sort
Wired (Kind-C), Bluetooth
Wired (Kind-C)
Wired (Kind-C / Lightning)
Compatibility
iPhone 15 Collection, Android, PC, good TV, Nintendo Change
iPhone 15 Collection, iPad Mini, Android
iPhone 15 Collection, Android / iPhone 14 collection, and earlier
Software program
Spine App
Razer Nexus App
Spine App
(Picture credit score: Future)
How I examined the Spine Professional
Examined for greater than three months
Tried with a variety of video games
Take a look at with a number of telephones and units
I examined the Spine Professional for over three months, utilizing it as my go-to cell controller for many of that point. I performed loads of cell video games utilizing it, together with a lot of Name of Responsibility Cellular and Zenless Zone Zero. I additionally managed an entire playthrough of Hitman: Blood Cash – Reprisal and tried some Asphalt Legends.
This was along with a lot of cloud gaming on each cell and my PC, primarily by way of Xbox Cloud Gaming as a part of my Xbox Recreation Cross Final subscription. Examined video games included Name of Responsibility: Trendy Warfare 2, Halo Infinite, and Gears of Struggle Reloaded.
I used the controller with my present day by day driver, the Porsche Design Honor Magic 7 RSR, but in addition examined its match with a variety of different units.
All through the testing course of, I in contrast my hands-on expertise with that of different cell controllers such because the Razer Kishi Extremely, Spine One 2nd Gen, Turtle Seaside Atom, Acer Nitro Cellular Controller, GameSir X2S Kind-C, Asus ROG Tessen, and extra.
First reviewed September 2025
