Mobile gaming controllers have always had a fatal flaw: you need to remember to bring them. Razer's new Prio, launched September 1 at $99.99, is the company's answer to that problem—a foldable USB-C gamepad that collapses to roughly the size of a credit card and weighs just 101 grams.
That's lighter than Razer's own Kishi V3 at 175 grams and dramatically lighter than the Kishi V3 Pro at 268 grams. More importantly, it's light enough and compact enough that you might actually carry it. Folded, the Prio measures 107mm × 67mm × 23mm, which is small enough to slip into a jacket pocket without feeling like you're lugging around dedicated gaming hardware.
The design is straightforward: twist it open, clamp your phone in place, and start playing. It accommodates devices up to 7 inches, including the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and Razer says it works with most slim-to-medium cases still attached. There's no battery to charge and no Bluetooth pairing dance—the Prio plugs in via USB-C and draws power directly from your phone. That's one less thing to remember to charge, though it does mean your phone battery takes the hit.
Razer is positioning the drift-resistant capacitive thumbsticks as a key feature, claiming it's the first time the company has used contactless capacitive sensing on one of its controllers. The face buttons are designed to be silent and tactile, which matters if you're gaming on public transit and don't want to annoy everyone around you with constant clicking.
At $100, the Prio costs the same as the Kishi V3 but targets a different use case. The Kishi line offers more substantial build quality and a better grip for extended sessions at home. The Prio is explicitly designed for what Razer calls "life's slow moments"—waiting rooms, commutes, the gap between classes. It's available now on Razer's site and Amazon, with a Japanese launch scheduled for September 11 at ¥16,980.
The real question is whether mobile gaming has reached the point where people want dedicated hardware that's this portable. Cloud gaming via Xbox Cloud Gaming, Steam Link, and PS Remote Play has improved dramatically, and plenty of premium mobile titles justify better controls. But the Switch 2 and Steam Deck already exist for people serious about portable gaming. Razer is betting there's a middle ground—people who want better controls than touchscreen but don't want to carry a full handheld. Whether that market is large enough remains to be seen, but at least the Prio won't gather dust in a drawer because it was too bulky to bring along.
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