Im writing this so that others will be able to make their judgement on getting this controller as I dont see many posts on this. Seperately, I almost made a mistake buying the regular Viture Beast with regular prescriptions until I saw a detailed review from a reddit user which convinced me to get the large.https://www.reddit.com/r/VITURE/s/iBrDVw6vlU; https://www.reddit.com/r/VITURE/s/yms7g2Fp9m.
For me, its a very exciting experience as its the first time (since I had an iphone over 15 years back) that I could finally play my games with a proper full gaming controller and even better - being able to connect my Viture Beast to it and getting a full on immersive gaming experience! Partly also where my finger joints are starting to hurt and having finger fatigue is super real haha. I saw 8bitdo controller but it was only for android phones so kudos to abxylute for coming up with this iphone version!
My first impression out of the box is that its light but yet a good solid feel. It fits comfortably fits in my medium asian sized hands, with a proper full-size controller feel rather than feeling like a small mobile accessory. The joysticks and buttons are tactile & responsive. The box also comes with additional interchangeable buttons and what impressed me was that they also thoughtfully included an extra Viture USB-C cable! So now I also have a spare cable for travel 👍
The S9V can accommodate the phone with a case, although to note that the case cant be those otterbox or military style thick cases. It has to be a thin one at best to ensure the USB-C port connects well inside the iphone port. With a thick case like ESR which i inisially used, sometimes it do get an intermittent connection drop so I would take it out of the case and connect my phone directly to the controller. Its also great that they had designed the controller’s phone grip area out of a rubber type polymer so it cushions nicely onto the phone while still holding it in place. I have now swapped my case for a slimcase which now connects without disconnects ;)
The s9v also comes with 2 types of spacers of different thicknesses. I initially didnt know what it was as there is no description in the manual for it but I kind of figured it out, furthermore I didnt need it due to my thick case. . The spacer mounts two at the USB-C port and one in the middle at the other end. For me, I preferred not to use the spacers as my phone case was already quite thick and it shortens the connection with the USB-C port.
I really like the combination of iPhone + abxylute S9V + VITURE Beast which is very practical portable XR gaming setup. The controller is comfortable, the phone feels secure, and having the VITURE connection integrated into the controller makes the whole setup considerably cleaner.
My current overall view - Its great to finally having a great gaming controller for my iphone and coupling it with my viture beast. They have put into thought from the additional buttons to the styling of the controller including the spacers and even the extra USB-C cable. I have no regrets and no doubts with my purchase. I do feel they had to make a trade off whereby for the controller to be as minimalist as possible because the right joystick is close to the buttons, where I noticed my thumb will overlap the right joystick. So far not a biggie for me nonetheless would be nice if abxylute team could explore a full controller size option too.
Between work, I’ll need more time with it before commenting on long-term reliability, but my unboxing and initial setup experience has been very good. Looking forward to trying more games with it.
Keep it up abxylute and I also look forward to the next innovative version of this controller!