It’s hard to innovate the humble game controller, but not impossible. GameSir, purveyors of third-party gaming hardware, has introduced its X5 Alteron, a mobile gaming controller intended to serve more than one role when attached to your smartphone or tablet.
The hardware, a collaboration with Hyperkin, follows the usual design of a clamp that you’d stick a smartphone into, but there’s one difference. The new controller, on display at CES 2026, is modular.
X5 Alteron in sight
Modular hardware has been a tough sell for a while — see the LG G5, Project Ara, and… okay, the Framework laptop is pretty decent — but GameSir and Hyperkin may be onto something with the X5 Alteron. It works just like any controller you slip a screen into, but the button configurations can be swapped out in modules to suit your platform.
Playing Nintendo games? There are Switch, Gamecube, and N64 modules to give your fingers a familiar feel while you bounce around the Japanese company’s catalogue of titles. More of an FPS nut? GameSir and Hyperkin have a trackpad-like option for a mouse- or Steam Controller-like experience. There’s also a fighting game layout, which functions similarly to the old Sega Genesis/Megadrive controller, and a range of stick/d-pad positioning options so you’ll always feel at home.
Elsewhere, the X5 Alteron looks to be of premium quality. Hall Effect sticks and triggers, the option to choose stick heights, rumble motors, customisable back buttons, and Bluetooth 5.2 support mean that, technically, the controller will work on more than just your mobile and semi-mobile screened gadgets.
Pricing and availability for the modular controller aren’t known yet. GameSir and Hyperkin are too busy showing off the hardware at CES 2026, but since we’ve got a ton of GameSir hardware available in South Africa already, we’re hopeful that this one will make its way over soon after launch. Whenever that turns out to be.
