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Two of the biggest and most beloved controller brands are teaming up, and they're bringing out a mobile controller that you'll be able to modify and change to your liking. That's right; Hyperkin and GameSir have emerged at CES 2026 with the X5 Alteron, a modular mobile controller that's "coming soon".
As a controller reviewer, I never feel the war between symmetrical vs offset thumbsticks rages harder than it does in the mobile controller market. A smaller controller means more potential for thumb cramps with Xbox-style sticks, but a Steam Deck approach doesn't always land too well.
Just to make things even better, the X5 Alteron will have cross-platform compatibility, meaning you can use it with phones, tablets, and as a Switch and Switch 2 controller. That tracks, because the X5 Alteron has retro modules, so you can turn it into a GameCube or N64-style pad for Nintendo Switch Online games. No need to spend extra on one of those pricey lookalike pads from Nintendo.
And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, The X5 Alteron has two back paddles, which look more like the super-tactile, magnetic paddles found on the likes of the DualSense Edge than they do the straight buttons GameSir uses on its controllers.
And of course, GameSir seems to have copied over some of the design philosophies of the best mobile controller on the shelves, the GameSir G8 Galileo. With slightly longer grips than the Backbone One and more ergonomic, rounded handles, this should be plenty comfortable to hold for longer sessions, which is often the folly of many mobile controllers.
In fact, everything about the Alteron seems to want to take things a step further than a typical mobile controller. There are rumble motors here, which will add a bit more feel to your on-the-go sessions, as well as make you feel right at home when using a Switch 2 in handheld mode. That may also add a bit more weight than we typically find in mobile controllers, hopefully making the experience of using it feel a bit more premium.
You can change the height of the thumbsticks, which is usually reserved for full-sized PC and Xbox controllers. You can swap out the D-pad, you can use a trackpad module like with the upcoming Steam controller, or hone your in-game skills with a fightpad module. Moreover, the press release I have here says the Alteron has capacitive thumbsticks. Nothing is said about gyro, but the capacitive tech in the sticks would have me believe these will function like the Steam Deck's gyro controls.
The most annoying issue here is that we don't have a confirmed price and release date. "Coming soon" is a broad term, and sometimes CES can really be a launch pad for projects that are still in development, rather than a show of what's about to launch. The Hyperkin Competitor, for example, which is this brand's take on the DualSense, was revealed at CES last year and only recently landed on the shelves. Let's hope the X5 Alteron doesn't take that long to reach us, because it could be one of the standout controllers of 2026.
For more on GameSir and Hyperkin, check out the best PS5 controllers, the best Nintendo Switch controllers, and the best Xbox One controllers.
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