Recently I was looking for a controller to use on my phone since I have thousands of roms and a couple of gamepad supported Android titles. My goal was to get the GameSir X2 because it uses a USB-C connector and therefore doesn't have a separate battery, it would be more convenient.
However, I saw a review of this IPEGA controller and despite my terrible experiences with this company, I was rather amused by the review, the person on it was saying it was a great controller, so I looked at the prices, saw it was same day shipping and said screw it. Bought it.
I've had it for a week now and I thought I'd share my experiences.
Years ago, I owned this. An IPEGA PG-9021, it was absolute trash. The buttons would get stuck, the dpad was literally on a spring and felt awful, the analog sticks had really bad deadzones, the triggers were terrible and pairing it was hit or miss. This controller is the reason why I look at IPEGA with such contempt. So, did the 9076 do anything for me?
Let's go through it part by part.
The build quality at first is absolutely excellent. The controller feels sturdy and heavy, heavier than my pirated Dualshock 4 that I make guests use (lmao).
The buttons don't get suck and feel really clicky which is something I like, the analog sticks feel premium enough even if they're not exactly the best when trying to sneak in games, but at least it's still doable unlike the 9021.
The triggers this time around are great. They're full-sized and not just a "line" unlike the 9021, they have great resistance and are precise enough for racing games.
Getting them to work is a bit of a hassle though, but following the manual made them work as analog triggers just fine.
The charging and connection is done through micro-USB, which is a cable I find myself having less and less of. Luckily the controller comes with a cable, so all you need is a charger or you can even charge it on your PC or PS3 (since it also works there).
Although you can connect to your PC through USB and of course bluetooth (since it has to work on Android/iOS somehow), it also comes with a 2.4GHz adapter for PCs, making it really easy to connect. Switching from Android to PC is also really simple.
I just hold X + Home for Android, and LB + Home for PC.
The LEDs flash and it connects.
Steam recognizes the adapter + controller as a "shanwan Android Gamepad" and I'm not sure if it's recognized as an Xinput or Dinput controller, but it works on all my games just fine under Linux, even outside of Steam and on emulators.
It has been tested on Steam games, Elden Ring through Lutris, Retroarch and Yuzu.
It has no fancy features for Yuzu like motion sensing but it's a good enough controller for some simple gameplay.
It's also worth noting that like the 9021, it has no rumble whatsoever. This is sort of a blessing in disguise as the battery is apparently just 380mAh.
According to IPEGA's website that amounts to 10 hours of gameplay time, which is more than enough for me as I always have a charger nearby, and it can stay 30 days without being used whilst still having some charge (I ain't learning Chinese for nothing).
My main point of contention with the 9021 was its terrible terrible dpad, the same cannot be said for the 9076, it's got a way more usable dpad. It's not "official controller-like" tier of goodness, but it's actually usable and good enough for retro gaming which is most of what I do with this controller.
Even fighting games are playable enough on this dpad, although I'm still getting used to it for that purpose.
You can find this controller for around $20USD if you look hard enough, and $35USD if you don't (I didn't, but that's because I wanted same day shipping).
It's decent enough for the price and being able to work on all these 3 platforms is a big plus. Unfortunately I was not able to test it on a PS3, I'm unsure how it connects to it there but I'm guessing it can do it through USB, at least I hope so.
I liked it. My view of IPEGA changed greatly due to this little gadgety gadget.
I'd still recommend going with a GameSir if you've got the money, or a DS4/DS5/Xbox controller with a grip, but this is good enough for the price.
Now excuse me, I'll go play some Ridge Racer 2 on PPSSPP on my phone with this thing :P
