Oh, well yeah. The virtual d-pads or analog joysticks are atrocious to operate. Only feasible with turn-based or slow play games like the old JRPGs.
That's why you should look into an accessory like the one the TS mentions in the OP. These came out back in 2011 or 2012, IIRC, and they've been refining them ever since (though it was the firmware and software that required refinement more than the accessory hardware, really). Still rough around the edges. PowerA (Moga series) and Matricom have been doing it the longest. Sometimes it's a gamepad, sometimes it's a dual analog controller with a built in stand like so:
I did the virtual control thing until I couldn't take it anymore. By 2014 I connected my dualshock 4 controller using an app called Sixaxis, which allowed me to map the hotkeys to the controller, but that required root. These don't require root.