The Gamesir X3 adds a cooling fan to your phone, but does it work?

Few things scream gamer aesthetics more than RGB lights. Combine that with geek-friendly elements like Peltier cooling and you’ve piqued my curiosity. So when Gamesir reached out to me to check out the latest gaming controller for phones, paired with a full-fledged RGB LED-equipped fan and heat sink, there was only one choice.

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I’ve been working hard for the past week, i.e. playing video games during work hours to test the Gamesir X3 to answer the one question on everyone’s mind: does sticking a cooling fan to your phone really make a difference? Read on to find out.

Phone by day, game console by night

As a retro gaming enthusiast with a large library of emulation-ready titles ready to use on my phone, I usually have an 8BitDo controller in my backpack. That said, I was interested in telescoping controllers for enhanced portability. In fact, I almost considered releasing the updated Razer Kishi before the Gamesir X3 came along.

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The Gamesir X3 is the company’s latest entry in a long line of USB and Bluetooth controllers. The bulky controller is bound at the back by a molded handle, which greatly benefits the ergonomics. The construction is perfectly fine, but what struck me is the degree of customization that is offered here.

I come from the arcade joystick world and swapping Sanwa joysticks is no stranger to me. However, I didn’t expect to find the ability to customize the joysticks and D-Pad on a portable controller. You can choose from two different joystick heights and two styles of D-Pads to suit your gaming preference. These are held by magnets, and except for one time I released a joystick while taking the controller out of my shoulder bag, all the buttons stayed put. Expecting screw-in joysticks might be a bit much at this price point and Gamesir’s solution is robust enough overall.

That attention to detail extends to the USB-C port which offers a degree of vertical movement to fit your phone with ease. Phone cases are a no-go with the controller, though. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that the cooling mechanism can be adjusted to move out of the way in case it collides with the phone’s camera unit.

Despite all its hits, the Gamesir X3 also has a few misses. This is mainly due to the telescopic mechanism which is simply not stiff enough. I noticed that larger phones like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra tended to pop out of the controller. A very risky proposition, since you also have to take the phone out of the case.

Likewise, the controller uses two separate USB-C ports for pass-through charging and the cooling mechanism. The usual controller functions work by drawing power from your phone, but the fan does not. (I’ll talk more about this later.) Finally, as expected, there’s no headphone output here, so you’ll have to make do with your Bluetooth headphones instead.

Enough talk, let’s play some games. Most of my time with the Gamesir X3 was spent playing Genshin Impact and a series of classic titles such as the PS2 version of Need for Speed ​​Most Wanted via AetherSX2. I also tried Nintendo Switch emulation and played a few rounds of the latest Ninja Turtles game, and even Cuphead before being reminded of how bad I am at that game. All of these titles push a phone’s CPU and GPU to its limits, providing the perfect opportunity to test the efficiency of the cooling unit.

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The cooling solution in the Gamesir X3 consists of a silicone top plate that comes in contact with a copper heat sink. Below that is the Peltier module, a type of thermoelectric cooler that moves heat away from the phone by passing an electrical current between the cooler’s semiconductor modules. A heat sink and a seven-blade fan on the other end draw heat further away from the assembly.

So does it work? Boy, do it. In Genshin Impact, I’ve recorded CPU temperatures over 45°C (113F) in crowded areas with no active cooling. By turning on the fan, this quickly dropped by ten degrees. In fact, the phone stayed at a comfortable 32°C (89.6 F) for most of the gameplay and only jumped to about 35°C (95 F) during busier sections.

It is clear that the cooler is working. However, it comes with a huge caveat. The cooling mechanism requires a secondary power source and doesn’t take any juice from your phone or the pass-through USB-C port. There is also no built-in battery. In my books, that’s a deal breaker. A smartphone controller should by definition be portable and the need for an external power source limits the usefulness of the Gamesir X3’s star function.

It also doesn’t help that the fan is so amazingly loud that you’ll want to wear noise-canceling headphones while using it. Finally, I wish it was possible to adjust the RGB lighting or turn it off altogether.

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Is the Gamesir X3 good as a controller?

Talking about the Gamesir X3 purely as a controller, I came away impressed. The eight-way D-Pad is just enough to create combos in fighting games like Tekken 3. Meanwhile, the A, B, X, and Y buttons all offer excellent feedback, although I found they were just a little too loud when you try to be discreet. The high sound levels also extend to the trigger buttons. The lack of analog triggers is also an unfortunate omission for retro gaming enthusiasts or those looking to get a little cloud gaming on the go.

The Gamesir X3 provides four additional buttons, one of which is permanently assigned to take screenshots. The remaining three can be configured within supported games or using the companion app. The app includes preconfigured button profiles for popular titles like Genshin Impact, although you’ll probably need to do a little more tuning to get the controls just right for your phone. I found the whole process quite cumbersome and there is no obvious way to adjust the transparency for the controller overlay.

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Should you buy a controller with a cooling fan?

A week of extensive gaming later, I’m convinced that the Gamesir X3 is a very good controller, largely because of that excellent cooling system and unique customization potential. I was skeptical of the cooling mechanism, but the Peltier system definitely works. Unlike a straightforward fan, it is capable of actively cooling the phone. This is excellent news for continued performance and for the general health of your phone. As a concept, I hope more controllers opt for a similar solution. However, implementation is key.

What lets the controller down is the fact that you are effectively tied to a socket or power bank if you still want to use the heat sink. This goes against the whole portability aspect of a controller like this. Elsewhere, minor misses such as the lack of analog triggers are also disappointing.

Would I include an active cooling mechanism in my next controller purchase? Secure. While the dual USB charging solution lets the Gamesir X3 down, the controller proves that even in the space of the smartphone controller there is room for real innovation.