I’ve been very stressed lately and have been doing some window shopping to calm down. I’m interested in gadgets, but a lot of things can just be replaced with apps. I realize a phone won’t replace very large appliances like refrigerators or washing machines so I’m trying to scope my question to portable devices. So what are some portable devices or gadgets that their specialization hasn’t been replaced by smart phone apps? Extra points if they’re super useful and reliable.
Physical controls are a necessity for retro games. Get a Miyoo Mini Plus or equivalent. They make retro games playable.
Sbcgaming or whatever its called is a good sub for that, handheld gaming has taken off, its gotten solid, you could also android phone with any of the controller cases, I just dont game as much or id be into them
Physical controls are significantly better, but not strictly necessary. The kicker is needing to press 3+ buttons at the same time, like in Mario 64 pressing forward to run, Z to slide, and A to jump is a PITA on touchscreen.
I’ve played through Mario 64, Zelda OOT and Zelda MM all on touchscreen on mobile, and it’s -again- good enough. It scratches the nostalgia itch. But 100%, if you have a bluetooth controller or something, use it.
You can get a controller for any smartphone out there. Also RPG’s play fine with touch controls, that’s how I played Pokémon games with no issues.
I know that iPhone supports pretty much any Bluetooth controller.
Joycons, PS4/5 controller, and Xbox controllers all work great on it.
Be careful with Xbox controllers if you’re using Bluetooth. Microsoft only started including Bluetooth in their controllers in the last few years. The Xbox consoles all the way from the 360 actually use 2.4GHz (same band as WiFi) instead.
That’s part of why Xbox controllers are so much bigger and heavier than things like the PlayStation controllers; The 2.4GHz circuitry and antenna takes a lot more space than Bluetooth does.
If you’re going to get an Xbox controller for Bluetooth, at least look up how to identify which models have Bluetooth built in.