SteelSeries Stratus XL Hardware Review
Price: $59.99
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Bottom Line: The Stratus XL is definitely a quality controller, but it’s not the best fit for smaller devices.
I’ve always been of the mindset that touch controls need to be done well for mobile games. If they rely purely on physical controllers, well, that’s just no good. That said, I can still certainly appreciate physical controllers for mobile devices.
Pairing the Stratus XL is as easy as it is with pretty much any other MFi controller. You just turn it on, get your iOS device to find it, and you should be good to go. Then you start up one of the hundreds of compatible games and start playing. And it does play them all quite nicely. The controls are responsive, the button placement feels right, and it’s got a nice heft to it.
The build quality is also rather impressive. Whereas other MFi controllers I’ve recently played around with felt sort of hollow and fragile, the Stratus XL feel dense and sturdy. You could probably hurt someone if you threw it at them, actually. [Note: 148Apps does not condone throwing your MFi controllers at anyone, for any reason. That’s bad form.]
Still, if you’ve got an iPad (newer “lightning connector” models only, unfortunately) and are in the market for an MFi controller, the Stratus XL is a very nice option. It’s well made and responsive - just not a very good fit for a smaller screen.