As many are capitalizing on the popularity of the Nintendo Switch and bringing that technology for smartphones, popular gaming company, Razer has released the Razer Junglecat Dual-Sided Mobile Game Controller for Android phones.
You get the Razer Junglecat which features two gamepad (Left and Right) that run on Bluetooth and it’s center connection, three cases for the Razer Phone 2, Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and the Samsung Galaxy GS10+.
The first thing you will want to do is download the Razer Gamepad app and you will get a list of games that are available.
At this time, I have only Fortnite, Modern Combat 5, Street Fighter IV and Unkilled – Zombie, Rules of Survival, Alien Shooter Series and Zombie Gunship Free and Zombie Gunship Survival (there are a lot of zombie type games).
I do recommend downloading the games you need and the Razer Gamepad add, before inserting your phone in the case.
Do yourself a favor though, download the games first because this is what takes the longest amount of time, as certain games have multiple updates.
So, getting back to the Razer Junglecat
Pairing is easy via Bluetooth as your phone will discover both L & R gamepads (the LED flashes blue and then when paired, it turns green). Just make sure the switch on the gamepads are turned on. Pair one and it pairs both at the same time.
If you have one of the three phones that can fit in the custom case, you are good to go. I tested first with a Samsung Galaxy GS10 and it worked very well.
But I tested other phones. Bare in mind, a question some may ask is if all Android phones will work, will I wanted to test that, so I used a Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium. It’s big and fortunately the Razer Phone 2 case would work, but of course, buttons are all on the right. So, I did a DIY mod on the Razer Phone 2 case by eliminating the right side of the case, in order for me to get to the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium buttons.
It’s important to note that because a Sony Xperia XZ Premium case is curved and not flat, it’s not going to be 100% perfect with a Razer Phone 2 case but I was able to get the case around it and insert the Gamepads to the left and right and use it to play numerous games. So, I was able to get the Razer Junglecat to work on it.
The next one is of course, an Apple iPhone. I was able to test it with an emulator that has Bluetooth capability, so the Razer Junglecat does work on that. I was able to use it on one of the cases which fit.
But for the most part, if you have an Android phone and you are not sure if it will work on the provided cases, you can wait and see if Razer releases them or you can go with the DIY mod route.
So far, while playing the game, I have had no lag and the Razer Junglecat has less than 14ms latency.
If anything, I found mapping the buttons to be much easier with the Gamepad app, because doing it on the game itself is a bit challenging as the naming conventions are a bit different for certain games.
I also found some games, seeing if I can adjust the sensitivity of the right stick in order to make sure the targeting is on point, because games like Fortnite are dependent on it. So, use the Gamepad app to adjust sensitivity of the sticks.
But for the most part, the Razer Junglecat Game controller for Android has worked and Razer has delivered. While the hardware works, we can only hope Razer does release additional smartphone casing as many Razer owners with a different smartphone will be expecting it.
As for battery power, the gamepads are said to work over 100 hours of gaming before it needs a charge, which is pretty cool!
Last, its under a $100, so its a bit pricey especially when compared to similar technology.
But as of right now, it’s worked perfectly and I’m giving it four stars! As always, the review score may be adjusted the longer I utilize the Razer Junglecat Dual-Sided Mobile Game Controller for Android Phones and seeing how Razer supports the unit with additional casing in the future.
