SCUF NOMAD Mobile Gaming Controller Review

Gaming with your phone has never been more accessible, thanks to the significant technological improvements we’ve seen in the past ten years spearheaded by the introduction of mobile controllers. With the SCUF NOMAD, whipping out your phone and playing your favourite games is incredibly straightforward. Designed to maximise comfort, minimise stick drift, and offer plenty of battery life for mobile gaming, the SCUF NOMAD controller looks to be a solid pick-up for seasoned travellers. This is why we’ve decided to test it in a series of benchmarks to see how it fares in a modern gaming setting.

However, in a market heavily saturated with high-quality and affordable gaming controllers for mobile devices, SCUF has made a bold move by releasing the NOMAD at nearly $89.99. While the NOMAD may be considered peak quality, an almost $100 price tag is a lot to ask for what is effectively just a Bluetooth controller.

In this review, we’ve used the SCUF NOMAD extensively to compare it to the competition. We’ve also done a deep dive into the specs, design, ergonomics, and gaming performance to see if this mobile controller is worth its high price point.

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Specification

The SCUF NOMAD is a relatively compact mobile gaming controller, measuring 202mm long, 101mm wide, and 51mm tall. It arrives in a small box with accessories, including thumb grips and a USB-C cable. At 228g, the SCUF NOMAD is exceptionally lightweight overall and wouldn’t add much to a rucksack or suitcase, making it easy to carry around while travelling. Alternatively, because the box is so small, those without a pouch could carry this around instead, providing some security for the items within.

This controller reportedly has a wireless range of up to 45 feet via Bluetooth, which is impressive. Ultimately, there aren’t going to be that many situations where you’re 45 feet away from your phone, but it means casting to a screen while gaming and charging is a possibility.

Unfortunately, Android users looking to pick up the SCUF NOMAD are out of luck. The SCUF NOMAD does not support Android-based devices and is limited to iOS support. As an iPhone user, this isn’t an issue for me, but it is a shame that a massive market of people will be cut off from using this device straight out of the gate.

There aren’t many other specs to cover beyond this. The NOMAD controller has a USB Type-C port for charging, and a braided cable is included. The cable can reportedly get you back in the game in 20 minutes. Regarding warranty, SCUF offers a year’s support with the NOMAD controller. Ultimately, we’d prefer this to be longer, but one year is fair as this is plenty of time to indicate general wear and tear. The controller doesn’t feel flimsy, and there’s no way to severely bend it until you open it up, and even then, you’d have to force it to bend.

As mentioned in the introduction, the SCUF NOMAD is priced at around $89.99, which is quite expensive for a Bluetooth mobile gaming controller. To put this into context, an Xbox Elite Controller Series 2 is about $129.99 (at the time of writing), so for $40 or so, a highly premium and customisable option is viable. Other cheaper mobile gaming controllers are priced around $50, with some capping out at around $70, so the NOMAD isn’t the most competitive choice.

SCUF NOMAD Design

On the design front, the SCUF NOMAD is a sleek black controller with a hexagonal camo-like design in various locations, such as along the front of the extendable middle section and the grips at the back. It’s primarily made of plastic, which is smooth rather than contoured or rough.

It utilises a dual-stick symmetrical layout, which means the sticks are directly parallel to one another. The D-pad and buttons are located underneath the control sticks, which is an odd design. It’s as if SCUF took inspiration from the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons but only decided to adopt the layout of the left-hand side. This is rather unusual, considering most controllers have buttons above the sticks.

The buttons are the typical ‘A, B, X, Y’ with a ‘burger’ button underneath that controls Bluetooth connectivity. The rest of the small circular buttons dotted around the controller work directly in games as ‘Start’ and ‘Select’ or have unique functionality in the SCUF NOMAD app.

The front of the controller is also where you’ll place a phone. It extends to six and a half inches to accommodate those with larger or smaller phones with chunky cases. The texturised grip on this part is also helpful and stops phones from slipping, even under heavy usage.

Looking at the back, the sides have a rubberised grip designed to reduce sweat and slippage while gaming. This isn’t entirely necessary, but it’s a nice touch and does help maintain a solid grip on the primarily plastic chassis.

There are also two paddles on the back: ‘M1’ and ‘M2’. These macro buttons can be customised within the SCUF NOMAD software to do various things.

At the top of the SCUF NOMAD are two triggers and bumpers. The bumpers have a nice tactile feeling akin to an Xbox controller, while the triggers don’t feel as good. They don’t move very far, and there’s minimal resistance when pushed, so I can’t say I’m a huge fan.

Setup Process

The SCUF NOMAD setup process was relatively simple and didn’t cause any hassle. The app guides you through the entire process, starting with connecting the controller and finishing with customisation and explaining how the app works.

There was a small part during the process where the controller wouldn’t pair with my phone, and it’s a nice touch that SCUF provides an in-app solution instead of forcing me to search for a fix online.

After the phone is connected, it shows the controller layout and explains what each button and trigger does. Then, it jumps into the app and delves into how recording works alongside the ‘Game Library’ and ‘Game Launchers’. This app allows you to remap the entire controller layout to suit your preferences, which is a fantastic feature.

Overall, the setup process was straightforward to understand. SCUF provides a QR code to download the app, and pairing the controller is smooth sailing from there.

Gaming Performance & Ergonomics

We fired up various games to get a feel for the SCUF NOMAD. These titles are designed to test all of the buttons and the controller’s ergonomics, but they also provide us with an idea of how the NOMAD will cope with multiple inputs or fast button presses to show latency.

The first game I fired up was God of War: Ragnarok through the PS Remote Play app. The SCUF NOMAD application allows you to fire up any PS Remote Play game directly through the launcher, which is helpful for those who have specific games they’d like to play.

Once the initial Remote Play setup had finished, I booted up the Valhalla DLC and jumped straight into a run. The two things I immediately noticed when playing with the NOMAD were how good it feels on the hand and the restrictive button layout. The grip on the back reduces slippage, and the rounded plastic is comfortable and soft.

However, the controller layout does not feel good. Because the main buttons are below the right stick, turning the camera and performing actions such as dodging or recalling the axe weapon is incredibly difficult. I constantly had to stop the camera, press buttons, and carry on. Having the buttons below the stick also makes it much harder for gamers to perform the ‘Claw grip’ that they have adapted to turn and press buttons comfortably. As you can see from the gameplay, it makes playing games that require multiple inputs quite disjointed and challenging.

Using the Steam Link app, I decided to jump on Geometry Dash. While this game is available on the App Store, I thought it would be a good idea to test latency by running a game that requires precise input timings. So, Geometry Dash was the better choice between this and Super Hexagon.

After booting up the game, I jumped into the first level. Input latency was a problem right off the bat. Geometry Dash demands quick and accurate button presses to make all the jumps and drops, but this was quite difficult because Steam Link had a slight delay. This ultimately isn’t a fault of the NOMAD controller, but it makes mobile gaming far less viable in fast-paced games, reducing the gameplay options significantly. Additionally, the size of the buttons makes accurate presses tougher, which is likely to result in misinputs.

Features We Like

Remappable Design

Through the SCUF NOMAD mobile application, all of the controls can be remapped to suit your preferences. The SCUF NOMAD houses a range of profiles, making it very easy to switch between different layouts depending on the game.

Features We Don’t Like

Unintuitive Layout

Because SCUF has positioned the sticks above the buttons, controlling games with multiple inputs is challenging. The renowned ‘Claw grip’ makes playing these kinds of games possible, but because the SCUF NOMAD is designed oddly with an unconventional layout, it isn’t easy to use.

No 3rd-Party Support through SCUF NOMAD

You can easily access games and applications after booting up the SCUF NOMAD app. However, this is limited to only games and apps that the SCUF NOMAD app directly supports. This means there’s no third-party support for alternative games. Apps like Steam Link or retro emulators cannot run directly through SCUF and may need additional configuration.

Conclusion