Pocket Taco is the best way to turn your phone into a Game Boy

My ongoing quest to turn my iPhone into one of my favorite controllers of all time has led me to a controller with an intriguing name. Pocket Taco from GameSir It barely fits in a pocket, and is conspicuously lacking in taco fillings. But for $35It’s an excellent and easy way to turn your phone into a Game Boy-inspired handheld device for playing retro games that doesn’t require a pair of joysticks.

Unlike Abxylute M4 handheld controller Which attaches to phones using magnets, or the Backbone Pro which places your device between a split gamepad, the Pocket Taco uses a hinge mechanism that, for lack of a better description, snaps into the bottom half of your smartphone.

Inside the Pocket Taco you’ll find soft silicone pads on both sides that securely grip your device without scratching it or leaving any bite marks. The hold feels satisfyingly secure, and although my iPhone could move a little from side to side while inside the Pocket Taco, it never felt in danger of falling out on its own.

The Pocket Taco’s hinge expands wide enough to attach to smartphones still inside bulky cases, and its open sides can accommodate phones and devices wider than the controller itself. You can use it with ipad mini, For example, though, I haven’t had the opportunity to test the ergonomics of such a setup.

8BitDo has announced a similar Game Boy-style controller For smartphones at CES 2026, which feature a front panel that can be completely flipped down. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want this feature, but after playing with Pocket Taco for a week, I now understand why 8BitDo took this approach.

The Pocket Taco’s front panel can only hinge outward 45 degrees, blocking the bottom of your smartphone’s screen while it’s connected to your device. 8BitDo’s FlipPad It gives you full access to your smartphone’s screen and UI while it’s plugged in, but I often found myself having to remove Pocket Taco completely if I wanted to move to another app, or even just unlock my phone.

I haven’t tested the USB-C 8BitDo FlipPad yet, but the big advantage of the larger Pocket Taco is that it connects to your device via Bluetooth and has a 600mAh rechargeable battery that won’t drain your phone. Opening the Pocket Taco turns it on and automatically pairs the controller with the last device you used — in my case, an iPhone 16 Pro. GameSir doesn’t list iOS as officially supported, only Android, but I was able to connect to the Pocket Taco and my iPhone recognized it as a “DualShock 4 wireless controller.”

Pocket Taco automatically turns off when you remove it from your phone. It works and reconnects quickly, so having to occasionally remove the controller to access your phone’s screen isn’t a huge inconvenience.

The Pocket Taco’s home button can also be used to manually turn it on and off when not connected to a device, allowing it to be used as a standalone rechargeable Bluetooth controller. It was easy to pair with Switch 2.

The controller’s four face buttons and D-pad feel good with a solid click when pressed, and despite being a bit narrower than the original Game Boy, my larger hands found the Pocket Taco very comfortable to play with. The dual shoulder buttons on the back were easy to access, and the rounded edges on the bottom of the Pocket Taco didn’t dig into the fingers I was using to prop up the controller and my phone.

There are a few things you should keep in mind when choosing which games to play, or how to play them. Unlike the Abxylute M4 or Backbone controllers, GameSir made no attempt to press the joystick or slide joystick on the Pocket Taco. So it’s better suited for playing older games from the 16-bit era and earlier that don’t have 3D environments with a camera to control.

I primarily tested the Pocket Taco with Game Boy, Super Nintendo, and GBA games played through the Delta and RetroArch emulator on iOS. Pocket Taco worked great with both, but you’ll need to make sure you’re using an app that has interfaces or layout options that can place the game near the top of your device’s screen. When I first tested Pocket Taco with Delta, I turned off the simulator’s default theme to remove the on-screen controls. This caused the game to be centered vertically on my iPhone and partially covered by the Pocket Taco. It was easy to fix, but note that the controller can only be used in portrait orientation.

8BitDo hasn’t announced pricing or a release date for its FlipPad yet, so I’m still curious how effective this smaller accessory will be at turning my smartphone into a portable controller, given its limitations. the The Pocket Taco is not expected to ship until March 2026but for $35, you get excellent controls, solid ergonomics, reliable Bluetooth connectivity, nearly universal smartphone compatibility, and the ability to use it as a standalone wireless gamepad.

Photography by Andrew Leszewski/The Verge