Just because Surface Duo was designed to get you to work hard, doesn’t mean you can’t play hard on it too. And if you want to play hard, you’ll probably want to connect a controller to your Surface Duo.
Having a controller connected will allow you to set Surface Duo down, get comfortable, and play your favorite games in a more familiar manner. Here’s how.
Xbox Wireless Controller
Step 1: Swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the notification tray.
Step 2: Press and hold the Bluetooth icon
Step 3: Hit Pair new device
Step 4: Press the Xbox button on your controller to turn the controller on, then press and hold the pair button (small button located next to the USB port) until the Xbox button starts blinking.
Step 5: On Surface Duo, select the Xbox Wireless Controller in the list.
Step 6: Once pairing is complete, the Xbox button should remain lit having stopped blinking.
Note: You’ll need an Xbox One controller that supports Bluetooth, as the older Xbox One controllers don’t.
How to find out if your Xbox Controller supports Bluetooth
If on your Xbox controller, the plastic around the Xbox button is part of the face of the controller, like the bottom controller in the image below, then your controller supports Bluetooth.
PlayStation DualShock 4 Controller
Step 1: On your DualShock 4 controller, press and hold the PS and Share buttons at the same time. The large lightbar on the front of the controller should start flashing.
Step 2: Swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the notification tray.
Step 3: Press and hold the Bluetooth icon
Step 4: Hit Pair new device
Step 5: Select the Wireless Controller that appears in the list.
There you have it. You are now ready to play or stream your favorite controller-supported games with your Xbox or PlayStation controller.
I tried pairing a DS4 and started PS4 Game Streaming, but got a notification that the DS4 wasn’t supported in the app on the Duo.
That’s very strange. Seems like something Sony needs to update in their app.