Review: SteelSeries Nimbus+ is the ideal Apple gaming controller for iPhone, iPad, Mac, & ...
SteelSeries new Nimbus+ is the ideal iPhone game controller, designed from the ground up for all of Apple's platforms with several Apple-specific features including a Home button, an iPhone mount, and a Lightning port.
SteelSeries Nimbus+ MFi gaming controller
The SteelSeries Nimbus+ has been refined and improved over its competition and previous versions of the Nimbus line. It operates over Bluetooth, bringing physical controls and tactility to Apple gaming.
Whether you want to kick back on your Mac, your iPhone, your iPad, or your Apple TV the SteelSeries Nimbus+ has you covered.
Face of the SteelSeries Nimbus+
These joysticks were upgraded since the previous Nimbus, now including support for L3 and R3 depressions. L3 and R3 support was added as part of iOS 12.1 so previous iOS controllers didn't bother including these extra buttons.
A quartet of LED is also on the face, which acts as a status light, a player number, and the battery life. If one bar is lit, it has less than 25 percent battery health. Two represent 25-50 percent battery, three is 50-75 percent, and four is 75-100 percent. When not showing battery life, it also flashes when it is in pairing mode but otherwise illuminates the player number you are when multiple controllers are connected to the same device.
Front of the SteelSeries Nimbus+
The front of the controller has two holes on either side for the phone mount, a wireless pairing button when switching devices, a button to show battery life on the screen we mentioned above, and a charging port.
For the Nimbus+, SteelSeries abandoned the AA batteries and chose to go the Lightning route. This is great for mobile users because it now has an amazing 50-hour battery life as well as the ability to charge over Lightning. This means you don't have to take a separate charging cord just for your controller. You can travel solely with Lightning.
Playing the Spongebob Squarepants platformer from Apple Arcade with SteelSeries Nimbus and the iPhone mount
Then we have the L1/L2 and R1/R2 triggers. These triggers are now Hall effect triggers which are much smoother and consistent in their pressure as they are pulled. This is very noticable and a welcomed change.
But SteelSeries didn't just add the new depressable joysticks and call it a day. This upgraded version has a redesigned d-pad that looks cleaner, dropped the bright colors from the character buttons on the right side, improved the ergonomics on the controller, upgraded the triggers to use the Hall effect rather than just springs, included a phone mount, increased the battery life, and added new buttons to the face.
Racing with the SteelSeries Nimbus+
This is now a controller worthy of the Apple ecosystem taking advantage of all the MFi controller specs available.
With Apple Arcade continuing to release new titles each week and iOS and tvOS gaming at an all-time high, this controller comes at the perfect time.
These help make up for the higher price tag found on the Nimbus+. Not to mention Apple's MFi licensing fees for a controller and the Lightning port.
So while the controller is a $20 premium than the other SteelSeries controllers, we find the price justified.
Looking even solely at the Apple controller market, this is by far the best option out there, especially for iPhone. The controller is designed to work across Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV. It has physical buttons tied to Apple features such as the Home button for when on Apple TV. And a Lightning port so you don't need to bring a different cable.
The other prominent choices for Apple users would be the Sony PS4 DualShock 4 or the Xbox One controllers but these weren't designed first and foremost with Apple devices in mind. They work, and they work great, but SteelSeries developed this controller exclusively for these devices and it shows.
Pros
SteelSeries Nimbus+ MFi gaming controller
The SteelSeries Nimbus+ has been refined and improved over its competition and previous versions of the Nimbus line. It operates over Bluetooth, bringing physical controls and tactility to Apple gaming.
Whether you want to kick back on your Mac, your iPhone, your iPad, or your Apple TV the SteelSeries Nimbus+ has you covered.
SteelSeries Nimbus+ Button layout
On the face of the controller, there is an eight-way directional pad, a home button that is flanked by an options button to the left and a menu button to the right, followed by A, B, X, and Y buttons. All of those sit above a set of analog joysticks.Face of the SteelSeries Nimbus+
These joysticks were upgraded since the previous Nimbus, now including support for L3 and R3 depressions. L3 and R3 support was added as part of iOS 12.1 so previous iOS controllers didn't bother including these extra buttons.
A quartet of LED is also on the face, which acts as a status light, a player number, and the battery life. If one bar is lit, it has less than 25 percent battery health. Two represent 25-50 percent battery, three is 50-75 percent, and four is 75-100 percent. When not showing battery life, it also flashes when it is in pairing mode but otherwise illuminates the player number you are when multiple controllers are connected to the same device.
Front of the SteelSeries Nimbus+
The front of the controller has two holes on either side for the phone mount, a wireless pairing button when switching devices, a button to show battery life on the screen we mentioned above, and a charging port.
For the Nimbus+, SteelSeries abandoned the AA batteries and chose to go the Lightning route. This is great for mobile users because it now has an amazing 50-hour battery life as well as the ability to charge over Lightning. This means you don't have to take a separate charging cord just for your controller. You can travel solely with Lightning.
Playing the Spongebob Squarepants platformer from Apple Arcade with SteelSeries Nimbus and the iPhone mount
Then we have the L1/L2 and R1/R2 triggers. These triggers are now Hall effect triggers which are much smoother and consistent in their pressure as they are pulled. This is very noticable and a welcomed change.
A whole new controller
We've been fans of the SteelSeries controllers for a while, oft recommending them to users. But the lack of L3 and R3 made the previous Nimbus not ideal.But SteelSeries didn't just add the new depressable joysticks and call it a day. This upgraded version has a redesigned d-pad that looks cleaner, dropped the bright colors from the character buttons on the right side, improved the ergonomics on the controller, upgraded the triggers to use the Hall effect rather than just springs, included a phone mount, increased the battery life, and added new buttons to the face.
Racing with the SteelSeries Nimbus+
This is now a controller worthy of the Apple ecosystem taking advantage of all the MFi controller specs available.
With Apple Arcade continuing to release new titles each week and iOS and tvOS gaming at an all-time high, this controller comes at the perfect time.
Should you buy the SteelSeries Nimbus+
In SteelSeries lineup, they also offer the Stratus Duo. It offers a very similar design to the Nimbus+ but there are several differences between the two. The Stratus Duo only sports a 20-hour battery life compared to 50 on the Nimbus+. It also sells the phone grip as an add-on rather than bundled.These help make up for the higher price tag found on the Nimbus+. Not to mention Apple's MFi licensing fees for a controller and the Lightning port.
So while the controller is a $20 premium than the other SteelSeries controllers, we find the price justified.
Looking even solely at the Apple controller market, this is by far the best option out there, especially for iPhone. The controller is designed to work across Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV. It has physical buttons tied to Apple features such as the Home button for when on Apple TV. And a Lightning port so you don't need to bring a different cable.
The other prominent choices for Apple users would be the Sony PS4 DualShock 4 or the Xbox One controllers but these weren't designed first and foremost with Apple devices in mind. They work, and they work great, but SteelSeries developed this controller exclusively for these devices and it shows.
Pros
- Fantastic build quality
- All buttons are responsive with good feedback
- New Hall triggers are smooth and accurate
- Includes phone mount in box
- Works across entire Apple ecosystem
- MFi-certified
- Long 50-hour battery life
- More expensive than other SteelSeries controllers, though more capable
- Imbalanced with phone connected
- Phone holder flexes when opened due to plastic
- Some games label buttons differently
Comments
Defending Jacob & Trying were our faves.
As to the complaint in the comments above me, I have bought quite a few of these as gifts for Nieces and Nephews as well as those at my house. We have never had a problem with any of them.
(Just looked at their site, and there is some inconsistency... they say all apple products, and then don't mention Mac. They show a 'macOS' logo and have a laptop in one photo, though. Could someone at AI reach out and verify?)
Also, the reason letters don't match up is because the letters for buttons are different between Playstation and Xbox. They seem to have adopted the Playstation layout, and the Xbox lettering arrangement. Fortnite is probably referencing Playstation button labels?
If she bought it new, maybe it just needed an initial 'sync' or some charge or something. I've found Sony controllers to be weird about that kind of stuff... they really seem to like actual Sony consoles in terms of charging or straightening them out if they get wonky. Fortunately, the latter doesn't happen often.
Yes, I think the quality is probably even better than the ones that come with consoles. However, I like the feel of a PS4 controller better. It does look like they made some slight changes there, especially in material textures on the triggers, etc.
Hmm, I'm not quite sure how to answer this, as I'm not an expert PC gamer (where I often see this kind of concern expressed), but all console gaming now uses wireless controllers, and I don't notice anything. Maybe that's just because I'm not good enough, though.
Also, i’m pretty sure the reason they don’t constantly say it’s compatible with macOS is because it needs to have certain Bluetooth and OS requirements.
While I like the idea of one controller that could work with all my apple devices, I'll probably use Sony controllers more too, especially after we get a PS5 (which means I'll have more unused PS4 controllers around).
I figured it might be fun to use with my iPad, since I'm incapable of playing a couple of games using the touch screen control alone.
You're absolutely right about lack of support.
Their web site is a nightmare with dead-end after dead-end. I couldn't even find a PDF manual to download.
The iOS game engine isn't available in the US App Store. Their Mac OS hardware driver doesn't load. I'm still running Mojave, but supposedly their driver supports it.
Forget about contacting their "support team". It doesn't seem to exist. Their "Help Center" is NO help at all.
I should have gotten some Thunderbolt cables or something useful instead of this thing.
At least I didn't spend any real money.
My son and I recently had a similar experience with Razor, which I thought had pretty good stuff... but the drivers, software, support, etc are terrible. Which, pushed me to do some research and I ran across Corsair. We bought him a new gaming mouse that costs about the same as the Razor it was replacing... and they are night and day, both in terms of the hardware, but also support.
Why even start a company if you can't get a few of these kind of fundamental things going? I just don't get it.