Razer Prio First Impressions: Pocketable Gaming With a Few Caveats

This isn’t the first time Razer has been around the block when it comes to portable or telescopic controllers. From their original Jungle Cat controllers, through their entire line of Kishi controllers, Razer has been aiming to constantly improve their controllers with time.

Now it’s time to finally see how that works out for them now that they’re introducing a brand new line of controllers in the form of the Prio. This may be a first impression, but there’s already a good bit to discuss.

For reference; this unit was shipped to me overnight directly from Razer, but what I say is really down to my own personal opinion.

Razer Prio Specs

Coming in at a whopping $99.99 (just say $100), the Razer Prio is a small, portable, but not budget controller. There’s a lot of quality going on, you can only hope so given the price for it. There aren’t a lot of specs for the Prio given the fact it’s a small, wired-only, telescopic controller, but here’s what we do have at the moment.

What I Like

Portability

Right off the bat if there’s one thing that the Prio nailed, it’s the portability. While Razer advertises “credit card like sizing” you can’t really say that. It’s slightly larger a just about as thick as my wallet. It’s not “ultraportable” but it’s surprisingly compact considering the size of the thing overall.

This is something I could easily see being tossed in a pocket or a sleeve in your backpack rather than needing a case or a dedicated spot for a telescopic. I mean, the entire Prio fits with ease within the standard width of the 8BitDo Ultimate telescopic controller.

That being said, the portability comes with obvious drawbacks that I’ll be touching on a bit later.

Control Feel

All things considered, the controls of the Prio feel very good within initial testing. The tactile d-pad and face buttons lack travel, but have enough tension that you’ll be able to feel them. The shoulders are easily accessible and click nicely, and the triggers work well. Despite being straight up and down rather than traditional angled triggers. All of that for the sake of portability.

The only low point to me is the sticks as the rubber texture on them feels a bit too smooth. Overall, for the space they’re working with I think the controls are awesome, but as with other things, there’s going to be a downside or two thanks to how far in they went for portability.

The Technology

The last thing I want to mention is just how cool the technology of the Razer Prio is. Rather than using springs, metal, or anything similar; Razer has been able to transfer the data from one end of the controller to the other utilizing nothing but this little rubbery strap that ends up holding the controller together when you’re done with it.

I think advancements like this are something to be celebrated and accepted, but at the same time, if they can it should totally stretch further in the future, as at this time it only works with up to 7″ display phones and the like.

What I Don’t

Software

This is going to be an easy one, and I have the same feelings towards their PC software as well, but I’m not a fan. There’s a lot of good features and ideas. I really like Razer’s built in streaming software, even if I’ll never use it. The firmware updates in Cortex for the Prio are a nice addition, but you can’t really do anything else with the controller in it.

And, for me personally, I found that assets were either slow to load, or made navigating games lists a bit laggier than I’d prefer. If you use Razer software regularly, this shouldn’t be a shock to you, and I doubt you’d have any issues with it. But man they have too many apps.

Size Compromises

I need to preface this by stating that I am aware it is meant to be as compact and as portable as possible. I am fully aware of that, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling like they’ve gone just a bit too far. While I personally like the silent clicky face buttons, they literally disappear under my thumb all at once.

Although the sticks are nice and responsive, I don’t know if I’ve seen a smaller dedicated stick outside of an AYANEO handheld. The triggers feel good, but my fat index fingers are grinding against the back of the shoulder buttons.

A lot of this comes down to the size of your hands and how fat they are, but the one thing I really wish they had included was some kind of USB-C passthrough. Or even just a 3.5mm audio jack. But my assumption is that it’s simply too small for either.

The Jock Strap

I know earlier I was complimenting the technology behind the rubber strap in the Prio, but upon using it I really worry about the longevity of it. Outside of getting it apart the first time, I’ve had trouble consistently putting the Prio back together.

More than once, I’ve ended up accidentally getting the strap upside down, and I’ve had to pull it apart in a desperate attempt to get it put back on the other way. This may be something that needs time to work with, but on first impressions, it’s not the best.

Alongside that, I do worry about the material that makes up the rubbery strap breaking down with time, especially when you’re stretching it further. But this is just a first impression. I can’t guarantee one way or another.

Final Thoughts

This is not a cheap telescopic controller at $99.99 ($100). The last time I took a look at one this expensive was the ELO Vagabond, and that one was massive, but problematic in its own ways. If you’re looking for the absolute most compact controller you can get that’s also telescopic, this one feels like a pretty good option. But if you care about control size or larger device compatibility, it’ll be a non-starter.

This is one I’ll need to give more time to in order to flesh out a proper opinion.