New week, new game controller to review. There’s no shortage of these for any kind of preference you might have, and GameSir has been putting out tons of great options over the last few months, whether you want an Xbox-style controller, something designed for touch screens, or anything else you have an itch for.
We’re taking the T4 Mini for a spin, which compresses their standard Nintendo Switch-style T4 Pro Controller into something that more easily fits into a bag. Can they pull it off without too many compromises? Let’s find out.
Compact design
The T4 Mini, like its bigger brother, is really designed like an aftermarket Nintendo Switch Pro controller. It’s shrunken down quite a bit, though, with a smaller footprint and shorter grips.
The semi-translucent plastic also sticks to Nintendo’s styling, and you’re getting all of the expected Switch buttons. The plus and minus buttons are present, along with the screenshot and home buttons. GameSir has tossed in a turbo button underneath those, too, for a little extra third-party functionality.
The face buttons follow Nintendo’s layout, with the A/B and X/Y buttons reversed from what you’d expect from an Xbox layout controller. This definitely can introduce some confusion if you’re trying to use it with something besides the Nintendo Switch, but some people do prefer a Nintendo layout, especially for emulators.
You’ll get two asymmetric analog sticks, a decent-but-not-great D-Pad, and triggers and shoulder buttons. The triggers are a bit shallow, but they’re functional, especially in a controller of this size.
As a cool and flashy feature, the GameSir T4 Mini lights up, too. There are blue LEDs all throughout the controller that light up when the controller is on, plus specific colored buttons under the XYBA face buttons for a little extra flair. I’ve never really thought RGB lights on a controller make the most sense, since you’re looking at a screen, not your hands while you’re playing, but it does look cool. I love the blue, too.
There’s no shortage of functionality with GameSir’s mini offering. If you’re planning on using it like a Switch controller, it’s a solid competitor. You get a very solid vibration motor that you can even tweak the strength of, and it works just like the Pro controller that’s twice as expensive directly from Nintendo. There’s also a turbo button function so you can repeatedly press a button without the stress, which is configurable in a few different ways. Alas, like most third-party Nintendo controllers, there’s no gyro aiming or NFC support.
Even though this aims to be a good Switch alternative controller, GameSir has made the controller fully functional with everything else you game on, too. It works just as well on Android via Bluetooth, or you can hook it up to your PC wirelessly or with a USB-C cable. Steam will recognize it as a Switch controller and get your buttons assigned accordingly.
With its smaller size, it makes for an excellent emulator controller, especially on mobile. Toss this in a bag with your phone and you’ve got an extremely capable and lightweight controller to play SNES games on the go, while still being able to handle modern games at the same time.
Worth it?
The T4 Mini is a good controller, and definitely hits above its $35 price tag. It’s not too heavy but still feels solidly built, and the buttons, sticks, and triggers all feel pretty high quality. The face buttons are satisfyingly clicky without being too difficult to press, and I’ve got no complaints with the analog sticks.
As we mentioned earlier, the triggers are a bit shallow, and the D-pad isn’t the best, which does dampen those emulator prospects a bit. But at the price point, it’s still absolutely a solid contender that’s more than capable of hanging through your Super Mario World sessions before you switch over to Call of Duty: Mobile or streaming Halo from your Xbox.
I do think that if you’re primarily using this as a Switch controller, or playing bigger games that utilize the full controller, whether that’s on your phone, through game streaming, or just Smash Bros. on the weekends, the regular size GameSir T4 Pro might make more sense considering it’s the same price.
But if you’re always on the go and don’t fill your time with AAA experiences, the Mini has carved out a niche that makes a lot of sense for a lot of people. It fits into a bag or pouch pretty easily and isn’t much bigger than a smartphone, which you can’t say for an Xbox or Switch Pro controller.
GameSir T4 Mini | $35 | Amazon, GameSir
