If you wanted to use Google Stadia on a phone, the only option was the company’s own Pixel phones. The internet search giant is finally expanding the availability of the game streaming service to other devices. That said, only 19 devices were added to the list, and it’s overwhelmingly from one brand.
Of the 19, 15 of them consists of Samsung devices. These encompass the Galaxy S8 and its variants, all the way to the latest Galaxy S20 family. The Razer Phone and its successor, alongside the ROG phone and its sequel, make up the remaining four on the list. Support rollout for these phones on Google Stadia will start on 20 February.
For these phones, Engadget reports that you’ll be able to use them with any Bluetooth controller. Oddly enough, the exception to this is the Google Stadia Controller itself. This must still be plugged in. The company is reportedly working on allowing the controller to connect to phones using WiFi instead of Bluetooth. While we’re at it, the Stadia Controller only works wirelessly with the Chromecast Ultra for now.
While making the service available on more devices is nice, the fact remains that Google Stadia has its issues. For one, it’s not very bank account-friendly. You have to rebuy games just for the platform, even if you subscribe to the Pro-tier subscription. And the user experience itself has been mixed at best.
Most importantly, if you’re in Malaysia, you don’t even get to access Google Stadia. Hopefully this changes in the future.
