The IPEGA 9023 Gaming Controller may be the answer to many a gamer’s prayer. This little low cost game-pad is compatible with all of the popular mobile operating system platforms that are found on smartphones, phablets and tablets today such as:
- Apple’s iOS
- Google’s Android
- Microsoft’s Windows 7, 8 and 10 (generally any flavor of Windows that supports Bluetooth)
And that is not all. The IPEGA 9023 gaming controller has an extendable center that can hold various sizes of portable devices with screens up to 10 inches in diameter. That means that it can securely hold your Apple iPhone 5S, Samsung Galaxy S5 or S6 phones and any variation of any other smartphone, phablet or even tablet (like the Apple iPAD Mini or even the Apple iPAD itself in landscape mode!).
That being said this nice little innovation can turn your smartphone or tablet into a portable game console.
The quality and number of buttons on the controller is similar to that of a high end home game console like the Microsoft Xbox or Sony Playstation controller which I found was impressive for the price (the game pad can normally retail for about $40 or so which is a great deal).
On the left side of the IPEGA 9023 gaming controller you can find the traditional D-pad as well as a left analogue stick. Along the bottom of the left side there are also a series or buttons that provide functionality like “start”, “select” etc. and there are also two shoulder buttons on the left hand side as well. What I like about the design of the shoulder buttons is the fact that the lower button feels like a trigger which is great when playing FPS (first person shooter) games.
The right hand side of the controller has your familiar “A”, “B”, “X” and “Y” action buttons as well as an analogue stick as well. There are also two shoulder buttons on the right hand side of this controller with the lower shoulder button feeling like a trigger for those really cool shoot’em games.
The extender in the middle of the IPEGA 9023 gaming controller has a spring mechanism that keeps your device securely in place as you sit in the 1 hour train commute to work shooting zombies to kingdom come. There is also a small lip along the bottom that also provides additional security to stop your $1000 iPad from slipping out and falling to the ground and crashing to pieces during active game play.
To use the IPEGA 9023 gaming controller there are four modes which you can turn this thing on to depending on the type of device that you plan to pair to using Bluetooth.
IPEGA 9023 Controller Setup
To access these modes you do the following.
With the device initially turned off:
Gamepad Mode:
Hold down the “X” and the “Home” buttons. There would be an orange LED light on the left hand side of the controller that will start to blink quickly signifying that the iPEGA 9023 game-pad is looking to pair itself with a device via Bluetooth. Go into your device (be it your Smartphone, tablet etc.) and enable the Bluetooth feature. Once the game-pad and the device have successfully paired the orange LED light will remain a solid orange color. Many of the popular games today have a game-pad mode that automatically detects if a game-pad is attached. In such cases, this is the mode to use.
Keyboard Mode:
Hold down the “A” and “Home” buttons. In this mode your game-pad turns into a keyboard where the buttons on your game-pad correspond to a key on the keyboard. This mode is great for emulators where you can usually map keys to certain game functions.
iCADE Mode:
Hold down the “B” and “Home” buttons. In this mode your controller can connect to any iCADE compatible game. A company called ION made a tabletop mini arcade system designed to hold an Apple iPad called the iCADE that would allow you to download arcade classics from the Apple App Store like Atari’s Greatest Hits and hundreds of other games. Your iPEGA controller in this mode allows you to play those same games with your controller. That’s nice!
SPP Mode:
SPP Mode is also known as the IPEGA Gaming Desktop mode and you get into this mode by holding down the “Y” and “Home” buttons on your game-pad.
This mode is primarily used for iPEGA Touch and GHKEYIM applications.
IPEGA 9023 gaming controller is pretty much ideal for any gamer who wants a console-quality game pad that can work with all of the popular mobile operating platforms and makes a great birthday or Christmas gift! Checkout my video review below.
