Coolest phone gamepad you can buy – Gamesir X5S + FX5 Thermoelectric Cooler

Your mobile phone is probably the best handheld retro gaming device that you own. It contains a powerful processor and can easily be made to emulate pretty much any console using one of the free emulator apps. But to make it feel like a real games machine you’ll need a game pad.

This video reviews the new Gamesir X5S game controller.

This is an expandable controller that fits around your phone with controls clamped either side of it. But one of the great features off this really cool device is that it literally comes with a companion cooler. This device clips onto the X5 S behind your phone and has a cooling pad that keeps it cool as you game.

So, let’s take a look at both the controller and the cooling accessory.

Gamesir X5S – https://amzn.to/4fXvXV8

FX5 Cooler – https://amzn.to/45KuHBC

Gamesir X5S Controller

If we take a look at the X5S Controller first.

In the box you get the actual controller inside a protective carry case which allows you to store the device but also to charge it through its USB C charging port. You also get a USB C charging cable, an alternate set of side gripping pads for different size devices, some stickers and the manual.

The controller itself is really good quality with Hall Effect sensors on all the analogue inputs, so both joysticks and triggers will give you excellent response and not suffer from stick drift as they age. The controller buttons have all got a very good, firm feel, and the D pad input feels really responsive an accurate to use.

Along with the normal controller buttons we’ve also got a select and start button, and on the bottom row you’ll find the Gamesir custom buttons which allow you to change various settings and connection parameters on the controller.

If I turn the controller end on to us you’ll see the USB C charging port and the Bluetooth pairing button. So, this controller uses either Bluetooth or a hard wired USB C connection to connect to your device. It can pretty much connect to anything you want including Android devices, IOS devices, PCs and even the Nintendo Switch consoles.

For each of these you can start the X5S in different modes by holding down one of the ABXY buttons while you power on the device by holding down the Gamesir button. The controller will give you coloured feedback around the GameSir button so you can see which mode you’re in.

I’ve tested this with a full range of devices and didn’t have any problems connecting with any of them.

The main function of this device is of course to fit around either a phone or a tablet. If I take my phone all I have to do is to open the two halves off the game controller and slip my phone into the expanded section. Gripper pads at either end of this section keep your phone firmly in position, and as we saw earlier there are two sizes of gripper pads to cope with different thicknesses of devices. In fact I found that I could easily put my phone into the X5S without needing to take off my protective case.

The expandable gap can accept devices between 105 and 213 mm in width, so that should be able to cope with even the larger phones and most tablets. For those that don’t fit into the device you can of course use the gamepad as a standalone unit with your tablet propped up on a stand.

Pairing with your phone is very simple. You simply start the controller and the appropriate mode, and then search for the X5S on your phones list of available Bluetooth devices. Again the manual will help you here as the X5S identifies itself as different devices to different operating systems.

Once you’ve got the X5S paired with your phone or tablet there’s nothing else to do. It will just work in your games.

FX5 Cooler

So the other device that I want to show you today is the optional cooler module that goes with the X5S GamePad.

This is a little thermoelectric cooling pad which attaches to the extendable arm section off the controller With your phone or tablet then sitting on top of it. The idea here is to keep your device cool while you’re gaming.

The cooler comes with a rechargeable battery pack that magnetically clips onto the cooling unit.

Both units have multi coloured LED lighting to show you what cooling mode they’re in. At one end of the cooling unit you’ll find 2 buttons. One is an on off button on the other allows you to cycle through three cooling modes. As you press the mode button it will cycle through it’s silent mode, coloured cyan, the extreme cold mode coloured blue and the over clocking mode coloured orange. These basically provide 3 levels of cooling for your device.

Luckily a company called Thermal Master had just sent me out their new P3 thermal camera module So I was able to get some temperature readings for the cooler. As you can see the thermoelectric pad gets down to a nice and chilly 15°C which should be more than enough to keep your phone from getting too hot while you’re gaming away.

When you buy the cooler it does come with a couple of standard accessories. So you’ll get a USB C charging cable, a manual detailing the cooling modes and some Gamesir stickers.

Using The Gamesir X5S

If I now connect up the controller to my phone and boot up my LaunchBox application we can see the device in action. If you want to know how to set up your phone as a retro gaming console then please do look at my Launchbox tutorial which shows you how to install and set up this application on your Android phone or tablet.

As you’d expect the X5S is immediately recognised as a game controller and you then have full control off your retro gaming console without having to resort two onscreen controls which I have to admit I find incredibly annoying and hard to use.

With the add on cooler device my phone was actually kept cold to the touch although I probably wasn’t pushing it to the absolute limits by playing some of the newer Android games. Having said that I think this cooling unit will really make a big difference if you find your device is getting hot during gaming sessions. So if that’s the case this is probably a great idea.

So all this left now is to have some fun with this great setup.

I hope you found this video useful and that you’ll give this controller a go. I’ll put some links down in the description to where you can get hold of it.

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