Our ABXYLUTE S9 was sent to us free of charge by ABXYLUTE, with no brief on the content; this origin may have influenced our appreciation. We used it over USB-C on an Android smartphone, with an iPad and a MacBook over Bluetooth.

It is an extendable controller (up to the size of an iPad mini) with rumble, a gyroscope, full-size Hall-effect joysticks that are magnetic and replaceable, and spare D-pads and caps. We found the joysticks excellent, firm and precise, including in Doom: The Dark Ages. The bumpers and triggers are smooth, without ridges; only the triggers (LT/RT) are analogue Hall-effect, and the ABXY layout is Xbox-style. The stock D-pad works but did not win us over. On the back, raised dots fall under the palm, sometimes judged too pronounced, and two rear buttons are configurable. It accepts a thick case without removing it. The right grip is a little short: the thumb lands above the joystick, which can tire over long sessions. The ABXYLUTE app lets you remap buttons, adjust dead zones and curves, and map the screen for Android games without controller support, which we found particularly simple and effective.

Two flaws bothered us: the headphone jack produced no sound on our Android smartphone, and since the controller has no battery, Bluetooth requires plugging it into an external power source. Price €73.95 on promotion (about €100 list): at that price we would rather recommend the GameSir G8; below €50 the S9 is fine.

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