I tried the PuK Gaming Ecosystem on Apple’s iPhone 13, and I’m pretty impressed

In 2025, mobile gaming is a massive part of the industry, but if there’s one thing that most of us who game on the go can agree about, it’s that virtual controls aren’t the best. To try and solve that problem, we’ve seen the introduction of countless mobile gaming controllers over the years, but few are as innovative as the PuK Gaming Ecosystem. You might not have heard of PuK, but I was lucky enough to receive the brand’s thumbstick, triggers, and grips to test out, and this could be a real game-changer for the mobile arena.

While I tried out the Puk Gaming Ecosystem on my trusty iPhone 13, which remains one of the best iPhones for gaming, it’s worth noting that the accessories are compatible with any Apple or Android phone or tablet, with the exception of some iPhone Pro models. For the full details, you can check out the information on PuK’s official website, which also serves as a storefront. With that out of the way, let’s dig into the details.

The PuK Thumbstick is the real star of the show, and it’s ridiculously easy to use. It comes in a small box, and in that box you’ll find what looks like an earphone pod. Inside the pod is the thumbstick and its magnetic anchor, and they simply snap apart. Then all you have to do is load up the game you want to play, hold the anchor over the back of your phone, and attach the thumbstick itself before aligning it correctly with the virtual controls. That’s it; that’s all the setup involved.

If, like me, you’ve tried your fair share of mobile controllers, you might be surprised by how simple the PuK Thumbstick is to use. I love that I don’t have to download any additional software to get up and running. Not only that, but the pod is much more portable than even the top picks from our guide to the best mobile controllers, a lot of which are bulkier than you’d want if you’re frequently traveling and trying to keep your luggage light.

Now, moving on to the all-important question: how good is the PuK Thumbstick when it comes to gaming? In short, it’s pretty impressive. I tried it out in Sonic Dream Team, one of my favorite Apple Arcade games, and found that it feels much better to play with the thumbstick than virtual controls, offering tighter movement.

In a game like Sonic Dream Team, where you want that console gaming feel, it’s fantastic, but it’s not perfect. In my experience, it struggled a little with precision, which is fine if you’re just headed in a general direction, but a bit of a nuisance for tricky platformers or some of the picks from our guide to the best mobile games that require pinpoint accuracy in your character’s movement.

My only other issue with the PuK Thumbstick is that in games where the virtual joystick is pretty small, it can take a little while to find the sweet spot for the accessory on your screen. The best example of this is in PUBG Mobile. It took me five minutes or so to find the ideal placement for the thumbstick, which isn’t ideal when you’re dodging gunfire at the same time. Still, I have to admit, once I’d figured out where to place the PuK, it felt great to use.

Moving on to the PuK Grips, and I’m happy to report that they’re also decent. Each grip has a built-in magnet, so you don’t have to use the anchor when they’re attached, which is ideal. Otherwise, you’d be getting into the similar sort of bulky territory a lot of mobile gaming controllers suffer from, and that’s exactly what PuK is trying to avoid.

As the grips stick onto the back with adhesive, you will likely have to sacrifice a phone case that you use just for gaming going forward, but I will say that the sticky material does a great job of bonding the accessories to your phone case, so at least there are no concerns about them falling off halfway through a round of Fortnite. You can also buy replacement adhesive pads on the website if you need them.

Finally, we have the PuK Triggers, which are incredibly responsive. If you’re a fan of FPS games, they’re a great way to get the feel of the console experience while playing on your phone. The only problem is that you can only use them in games that allow you to customize the virtual controller layout to move the buttons you want to assign to the triggers at the top of the screen for the triggers to press down on, but this is hardly PuK’s fault.

I have saved the best bit until last, though, as my favorite thing about the entire PuK Gaming Ecosystem is how affordable each accessory is. The PuK Thumbstick is $24.99 / £22.99, the PuK Grips are also $24.99 / £22.99, and the PuK Triggers are $14.99 / £14.99. That means you’re looking at around $65 for the complete setup, or cheaper still if you pick up this bundle, which beats out the likes of the Razer Kishi Ultra or Gamesir G8 Galileo. Of course, you don’t need to pick up all three accessories, and I think I could get by with just the thumbstick.

As a whole, I’m pretty pleased with the PuK Gaming Ecosystem. I have some quibbles, mainly with having to give up a phone case for the grips and a little lack of precision when using the thumbstick. But for a first attempt, this is a lovely bit of innovation in a section of the industry that doesn’t get enough attention, and the three accessories come together to form a user-friendly and affordable alternative to the wealth of bulky mobile gaming controllers out there.

There you have it, our thoughts on the PuK Gaming Ecosystem for mobile, including the thumbstick, grips, and triggers. For more gaming goodness, be sure to check out our Nintendo Switch 2 review and Donkey Kong Bananza review while you’re here. Or, if you’re looking for some fresh hardware, see our long list of the best gaming phones, with a bunch of options to suit all budgets.