I love the Kishi V3 Pro, but the Razer Tax is real

Whenever I review a Razer product, I always end up saying the same thing: “It’s amazing, but I wouldn’t pay [exorbitant price Razer is asking] for it.” I would love to tell you that I won’t be using that line in this review, but let’s be real: you already know from the headline that I’m going to dust it off to tell you about the new Razer Kishi V3 Pro and its two siblings.

In a word, these controllers are great. The Pro models easily surpass the Razer Kishi Ultra from last year, and the vanilla Kishi V3 is an interesting new option that makes the family a bit more accessible. But I can appreciate them as they are because Razer was kind enough to send them to me for free for testing — I’m not sure most people will want to pay the asking price for them.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, let me tell you why there are three controllers launching this year and what makes them different.

As a refresher, the $149 Kishi Ultra from 2024 is a telescopic mobile controller that only works when connected to something. In other words, there is no battery or Bluetooth on board, and it only functions when a smartphone is slotted into it or it is connected with a USB-C cable to another system, such as a laptop. The Kishi Ultra had RGB lights, a standard set of analog sticks, two customizable “claw-grip” buttons near the triggers, and the ability to act as a virtual controller for mobile games that don’t support physical controller input, such as Genshin Impact.

The Kishi V3 family is an evolution of the Ultra. At the bottom end, the standard Kishi V3 ($99.99 at Amazon) removes many of the premium features to bring the price down to $99. This is still pretty pricey for a mobile controller, but it does match its premium competition, and does have a few perks that make that price almost worth it. I’ll touch on this in a bit.

Meanwhile, the Razer Kishi V3 Pro ($149.99 at Amazon) is the follow-up to the Kishi Ultra in everything but name. Although it lacks the Chroma RGB lighting (all three V3 controllers lack it for some reason), it does literally everything else the Ultra does, including working with small 8-inch tablets. It also throws in some new premium features, including the long-awaited upgrade to a higher tier of analog stick technology. Like the Kishi Ultra, the Kishi V3 Pro will cost you $149.

Finally, the Kishi V3 Pro XL ($199.99 at Amazon) is exactly the same as the Kishi V3 Pro, just bigger. It’s specifically designed for tablets that are 10 inches or larger. It does not work at all with smartphones. Because it’s larger, it comes in at a whopping $199. Unfortunately, Razer didn’t send me this one to check out, but I can already tell that a $200 controller that only works on large tablets is the very definition of an excessively niche product.

That’s the basic gist on each model. Now I can dive in a bit deeper, starting with the standard version.

Compared to the Ultra, Razer took a lot away from the Kishi V3 to make it less expensive. First, it shrunk it down a bit. The grips are smaller than the full-sized ones you’ll find on the Ultra and the other two V3 models. This makes it a little less comfortable to hold. I think it’s still really comfortable, though, especially when compared to most telescopic controllers out there, which tend to feel cramped. The overall footprint of the controller is also smaller, and it weighs a lot less, too — I measured just 175g for the Kishi V3 against the 267g of the V3 Pro. Depending on your travel needs with this controller, that could be a good thing.

However, one of the ways Razer slashed down the weight of the Kishi V3 is by removing all haptic motors. High-quality rumble effects are a necessity with any controller I own, so the fact that the Kishi V3 doesn’t even have bad haptics is a deal-breaker for me, though if you’ve used previous generation Kishi controllers like the original or the Kishi V2, you might not be as concerned.

The Kishi V3 also doesn’t have the customizable claw-grip buttons near the triggers and swaps the eight-way D-Pad for a standard four-way model. The mecha-tactile ABXY face buttons are also gone, with pretty standard buttons in their place. Again, this is all like previous vanilla Kishi models, but it’s quite a step down from the Ultra/Pro versions.

The Kishi V3 is also less compatible with gaming devices as it’s locked to phones only. Unless you have a really small tablet, it’s not going to fit into the Kishi V3. If you have a big phone, though, it will work fine — even if it’s in a thick case.

While it sounds like Razer didn’t do anything but remove features from the Ultra and carry over the Kishi V2 to make the Kishi V3, there are two new things added. The first, and most important, is the introduction of TMR sticks. TMR stands for “tunnel magnetoresistance.” It’s a technology that increases precision and decreases the potential for stick drift. In many ways, TMR sticks are even better than Hall effect designs. Seeing them on this $99 controller is really nice. In fact, seeing them on any mobile controller is nice, as TMR is rare to see outside of the most high-end units.

Elsewhere, Razer added two new mouse-click-style buttons on the back of the Kishi V3. These are customizable using the subscription-free Razer Nexus app for Android and iOS. The Razer Nexus app is also where you set up virtual controls for Genshin Impact and other games. It’s a terrific piece of software, and it’s great that Razer is keeping it free, unlike some other companies I know of (cough Backbone cough).

While I would never use the Kishi V3 as my go-to controller due to its lack of haptics, a $99 price for a controller with TMR sticks is at least approaching competitive, which is nice to see from Razer.

As mentioned earlier, the Kishi V3 Pro is the true follow-up to the Kishi Ultra. Aside from the RGB lighting, the Kishi V3 Pro has every single feature of the Kishi Ultra and even finds room to add in three upgrades.

The first Kishi V3 Pro upgrade is the introduction of TMR sticks, just like the vanilla V3. However, it ups the ante by making those sticks swappable, which is the second upgrade. In the box, you’ll find two alternate sticks: one with a cushy domed top and another with the same ridged top as the standard sticks but with an extended stem. You can put these two extra sticks on either the right or left sticks of the controller, depending on your preferences. Changing the sticks is easy: just pull up on the stick to remove the current one, line up the arrows on the new stick, and push down.

The third upgrade is the introduction of the two customizable buttons on the back, the same ones we see on the standard V3. Since the Kishi V3 Pro still has the claw-grip buttons near the triggers, that gives you a total of four buttons that you can customize as you wish without needing to sacrifice any of the standard controller buttons.

So really, the Kishi V3 Pro is the Ultra without RGB lighting and with swappable TMR sticks and two extra buttons. Although the loss of RGB stings a bit, those three upgrades make this a much better controller than the Ultra. Of course, Razer is still asking $149 for the Kishi V3 Pro, which is a big ask.

I really don’t want you to come away from this review thinking that I don’t love these controllers — I really do. The Razer Kishi V3 is pretty terrific considering I couldn’t even find a competitor device with TMR sticks for $99 — the basic Backbone One ($99.99 at Amazon) matches it for price and is great, but those sticks are a world apart. If you game on an iPhone, it’s an especially great deal because iOS doesn’t support haptics anyway, so you won’t be missing anything. But $99 for an Android gamer like me who expects their controller to shake when they’re shot in-game? That’s just too much money to not get rumble.

Likewise, the Kishi V3 Pro is practically perfect. It has pretty much everything anyone could want from a telescopic mobile controller. With a $149 price, though, it had better be everything you could want, because that is the price of two Xbox or Sony DualSense controllers.

OK, so here’s the line: The Razer Kishi V3 Pro is amazing, but I wouldn’t pay $149 for it. The Backbone Pro ($169.99 at Manufacturer site) is the obvious alternative here, even though it doesn’t have haptics or upgraded sticks, but it does offer Bluetooth connectivity for use as a gamepad without a docked device. However, there are competitors out there that offer nearly everything the Kishi V3 Pro does for a lot less.

Take, for example, the GameSir G8 Plus ($79.99 at Amazon), which is easily found for half the price of the Kishi V3 Pro. It has Hall effect sticks, which is a slight step down from TMR, but then it has literally everything else. It also supports Bluetooth connectivity. Meanwhile, the G8 Galileo ($79.99 at Amazon) is even more similar to the Kishi series because it relies on a USB-C connection instead of Bluetooth. You could add both of these GameSir models to your cart for the price you’d pay for one Kishi V3 Pro.

Even the 2024 Razer Kishi Ultra is a good deal in comparison. On Amazon, you can get a refurbished Kishi Ultra for just $90, which is not bad considering how close to the V3 Pro it is. Also, now that the V3 Pro exists, Razer will likely discontinue the Ultra, bringing the new models down in price eventually, too.

Still, there’s no denying that the Kishi V3 Pro is a beast. If money is no object to you, it goes on a good sale, or you simply want the best, most feature-rich telescopic controller you can get, this is the one. I just hope your wallet is ready for the Razer Tax.