PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge Controller - It’s…expensive

[Alex W.]

In the UK you have consumer rights independent of the warranty. In the EU you have a 2-year warranty but the warranty is on the manufacturer’s terms. We used to have both but now we only get the first one.

[Pob]

If there's one thing I'd really love these premium controllers to have, it's lifetime warranty. Definitely one that costs £210!

 

I might get it separately insured!

[Strafe]

It’s here guys! There’s some silver embossed writing on the box so worth the money.

 

 

[Strafe]

First impressions are very positive, the standout is just how good the half dome back buttons feel. I’d have thought they wouldn’t be as good as paddles but they feel great, especially for jumping and reloading on FPS.

 

The textured handles feel nice, the light bar is more prominent around the touch pad (maybe it’s the contrast) and curves in a bit differently, I’ll try and grab a photo.

 

My only complaint is that the function button for changing audio doesn’t work with wireless headsets, only works when they’re wired in. Even on the pulse, which is Sony. I hope they fix that with an update to the headset or OS.

 

I had fun swapping the sticks in and out.

 

The USB cable lock mechanism is cool but unfortunately I have been cursed with a massive lounge and the cable provided isn’t long enough.

 

The battery hasn’t run out yet.

 

[Qazimod]

But is the d-pad still shit at performing special move motions in Street Fighter?

[Strafe]

2 minutes ago, Qazimod said:

But is the d-pad still shit at performing special move motions in Street Fighter?

I don’t know. The regular one was fine on Strive for me, though.

[MattyP]

7 hours ago, Darwock said:

Reading that link I just learned that the Edge controller has customizable analogue stick input curves.

 

Surely that is done via the software on the PS5? In which case why can’t it be done for all controllers? I would love to be able to adjust the input curve for the Hori flight stick (which identifies to games as a DS4 and therefore usually has input curves not suited for a big joystick).

Becausse they want to give players the "Edge"...  

 

All BS TBH - get that you pay a premium for all the configurability of the pad but to use the same components as the regular pad inside? And a smaller battery? I'd expect better quality components inside.. and still using carbon track based potentiometers in 2023 ... yep only reason for this is they are cheap and expect people to cough up for a new pad all the time. 

 

At least you can swap the modules out on this one for better ones... But really at £210 they could do better IMHO. Same with MS and the Elite controller too. Shameful. 

[BarryL85]

Got mine also, first impressions.

 

Nice build, doesn't feel as well crafted as the Elite series 2 pad.

 

The face buttons are much shorter travelled and a bit clicky/crunchy in comparison to the regular pad.

 

D-Pad feels the same

 

Analogue sticks make a loud clicking noise when moving from centre.

 

Grips on triggers are nice, never had an issue with grip on regular ones but these feel good. Nice tactile feel.

 

Touchpad is an improvement, I use it in GT7 to show or hide my ghost mid race as an example and the button press feels and works better.

 

The convex/dome analogue sticks feel great with GT7, can be more precise with control.

 

Menus and customisation are easy to follow and plentiful.

[Strafe]

The scuf reflex without swappable sticks, adjustable trigger length (you can have click triggers fitted but not both), and 4 mappable paddles is £209. It doesn’t have the software that the PS5 now has baked in or the function buttons either.

 

Both are expensive obviously but Scuf have reason to worry, I think as the choice is way more in the Edge’s favour.

[Pob]

PADDLE UPDATE:

 

Just spent an hour or so with the DS Edge. Unfortunately I was stuck on a puzzle in GOW: Ragnarok for most of that so it wasn't the most intense workout.

 

As I suspected, the button customisation options are limited within the current software. No option to set as a button as a 'shift' key, no assigning multiple inputs (e.g L1 + d-pad down) to a single button, only one mapping option for the trackpad (just a regular click, no swipes). This means I can't use my customary 'shift the d-pad onto the face buttons while the left paddle is depressed' setup, which instantly makes it only half as good as the Xbox Elite v2.

 

The paddles themselves are very good though. The Xbox-style long ones are fine but a bit lower down than I'm used to, so I switched to the semicircular paddles and they are really good. My middle fingers can rest on them without accidentally activating them. Great design, and about 100 times better than the back button attachment that got released for the DS4.  On the Xbox, you could put either paddle style in any of the four paddle slots, either way up. This gives you a whole load of permutations so you can find the most comfortable. You can't do that on the Edge - they only go in one way.

 

Other stuff:

 

The carry case is very much like the Elite 2, except the Elite has a pass-through USB-C cable that attached to a dock thing, and the Xbox pad charges just by resting on the metal contacts. The DS Edge simply has a big flap on the back which you open and then feed the cable through and plug it into the controller as standard. Budget.

 

Profile switching is better than the Elite 2, as you can switch between any of your profiles mid-game and see visually on the screen the name of the profile you're switching to. On the Elite you can only switch between three presets while in-game, and you have to remember what those presets are. There's no on-screen reminders or confirmation at all. In fact, the Edge seems a little over-engineered in this respect. Seems like there are two dedicated buttons that both do the exact same thing (switch profiles). I can see this being quite useful in games like Battlefield or GTA, where you might want different setups for on-foot, driving and flying. That'd be very easy to do on the Edge.

 

Thumbsticks - I'm hoping these will be less slippy than the standard ones. I use these pimpled topper things on the bog standard DualSense (as I did on the Dualshock) to minimise slip, but the toppers themselves sometime slip off, which is annoying! I've not got sweaty enough to properly test for slippage but they feel good so far. 

 

Decent, then. Already the combat in GOW has improved by being able to flick between blades and axe without taking my thumb off the left stick. That should improve most PS games for me.

[Strafe]

The function buttons both do the same but face buttons swap the profile and d pad does volume adjustments which you’d use different thumbs for.

[Pob]

3 minutes ago, Strafe said:

The function buttons both do the same but face buttons swap the profile and d pad does volume adjustments which you’d use different thumbs for.

 

Ah yes, I remember seeing that in the onboarding now. I like how their solution for that is 'add another button'. That's what I meant by over-engineered, I think!

[Strafe]

11 minutes ago, Pob said:

 

Ah yes, I remember seeing that in the onboarding now. I like how their solution for that is 'add another button'. That's what I meant by over-engineered, I think!

I guess they could have put a single (or two) function button(a) on the back but it would probably be a bit fiddly with the paddles there and not knowing which is which (at least initially). They had to put two on if they were using the thumb stick space as the thumb sticks are removable and that would mean two SKU’s for replacement sticks and a whole lot of confusion for customers,

[Pob]

After a solid weekend's play, I'm totally loving this controller. I swapped back to the Xbox-style longer paddles as the half-moon ones became a bit uncomfortable after prolonged play.

 

Re. battery life - I had a 2-hour sesh last night and was quite shocked to see the battery indicator was down to one bar. I don't know how long it would've gone on for, but just seeing it get so low so quick was pretty wild. I think I'm going to get one of the charging docks, as I really like being able to just plop the controller down when I'm done rather than fiddling with a cable.

 

They just need to update the software to allow button-mapping options to rival the Elite v2 and it'll be up there with that controller.

[Shimmyhill]

On 27/01/2023 at 15:38, Strafe said:

The scuf reflex without swappable sticks, adjustable trigger length (you can have click triggers fitted but not both), and 4 mappable paddles is £209. It doesn’t have the software that the PS5 now has baked in or the function buttons either.

 

Both are expensive obviously but Scuf have reason to worry, I think as the choice is way more in the Edge’s favour.

 

Scuf pads are primarily for FPS players and the Sony one isnt, I doubt they are that worried as they still hold a an advantage - 4 paddles and proper hair triggers for l337 players is a minimum  

 

If I played FPS games on the PS5 I would be getting a Scuf or Aim or one of the many others over the Sony offering - its a shitter that Sony cock blocked all the PS4 pads on the PS5 as id still use a Scuf as its a much better pad than the dual sense in any guise for dem shooters! 

[Strafe]

53 minutes ago, Shimmyhill said:

 

Scuf pads are primarily for FPS players and the Sony one isnt, I doubt they are that worried as they still hold a an advantage - 4 paddles and proper hair triggers for l337 players is a minimum  

 

For the actual professional players using them, the Scuf may hold the edge on FPS games.

But both controllers aren’t aimed at professional standard players, they’re aimed at people who think they’re professional standard players. So, like me, they’ll find the added feature set of the Edge wins through, I reckon.

[Shimmyhill]

32 minutes ago, Strafe said:

For the actual professional players using them, the Scuf may hold the edge on FPS games.

But both controllers aren’t aimed at professional standard players, they’re aimed at people who think they’re professional standard players. So, like me, they’ll find the added feature set of the Edge wins through, I reckon.

 

I agree and disagree! 4 paddles is a game changer for anyone that can get used to them, 2 seems frustrating - teases the no button life but falls short, wasnt the ps4 add on the same 2 button thing? The trigger thing I really liked as a tap firing machine but obv totally useless in all other games!

 

My agreeing is that the Sony one is aimed at the casual core, its carbon wheels for your average cyclist etc. A bit like losing a stone in weight will make you faster than buying some carbon wheels, turn off rumble on a std pad and you will become a better player!

[BarryL85]

16 hours ago, Shimmyhill said:

 

Scuf pads are primarily for FPS players and the Sony one isnt, I doubt they are that worried as they still hold a an advantage - 4 paddles and proper hair triggers for l337 players is a minimum  

 

If I played FPS games on the PS5 I would be getting a Scuf or Aim or one of the many others over the Sony offering - its a shitter that Sony cock blocked all the PS4 pads on the PS5 as id still use a Scuf as its a much better pad than the dual sense in any guise for dem shooters! 

I would have to strongly disagree, especially that Sony hasn’t designed this for FPS games, yes they would also consider functionality for other games but they would absolutely know their target audience and the reason for this type of controller (mainly anyway). Other games can utilise this type of controller too, racing games for shifting gears and I use it on Rocket League too.

 

My PS4 scuf was made of cheese. Analogue sticks wearing out, paddles cracking and eventually snapping. The screws for the paddles were tiny allen key screws that rounded the first time you tried to remove. The hair triggers on mine the little dials were loose and span round and popped out. I still have the controller but it doesn’t work properly, none of the face buttons work just the analogue sticks. All for only £160 (may have been 170).

The button mapping with the magnet worked ok but the software integration of the new pad is very welcome. If you have saw the level of customisation it puts the scuf to shame. being able to control the deadzone of the sticks and control the speed of the stick reaching full range of motion. Profile mapping, party audio control (although not with the pulse wireless headset 😵‍💫)
 

Not sure what the new scuf’s have so can only speak from my experience. Also saw the scuf FPS PS5 controller is £250 😮
 

 

[HarryBizzle]

I bought an Elite v1 and learnt quickly that paddles are not something I want to overcome the learning curve for and I don’t like heavy pads, but I enjoyed watching the Digital Foundry review for this. The decision to put tacky, glossy black plastic on it is quite odd, though. 
 

They also compare it to this $200 alternative:

 

[shirubagan]

The Dualshock 4(20)?

[Girth Certificate]

The Dualshock Cash Convertors special

[Shimmyhill]

1 hour ago, BarryL85 said:

I would have to strongly disagree, especially that Sony hasn’t designed this for FPS games, yes they would also consider functionality for other games but they would absolutely know their target audience and the reason for this type of controller (mainly anyway). Other games can utilise this type of controller too, racing games for shifting gears and I use it on Rocket League too.

 

My PS4 scuf was made of cheese. Analogue sticks wearing out, paddles cracking and eventually snapping. The screws for the paddles were tiny allen key screws that rounded the first time you tried to remove. The hair triggers on mine the little dials were loose and span round and popped out. I still have the controller but it doesn’t work properly, none of the face buttons work just the analogue sticks. All for only £160 (may have been 170).

The button mapping with the magnet worked ok but the software integration of the new pad is very welcome. If you have saw the level of customisation it puts the scuf to shame. being able to control the deadzone of the sticks and control the speed of the stick reaching full range of motion. Profile mapping, party audio control (although not with the pulse wireless headset 😵‍💫)
 

Not sure what the new scuf’s have so can only speak from my experience. Also saw the scuf FPS PS5 controller is £250 😮
 

 

 

Only two paddles make it a half way house for FPS, the triggers not being digital in shortest throw mode add to this - the Scuf pads are designed for FPS and there is no shame that the Sony one isnt, its an all rounder master of none type thing. FWIW my Scuf fell apart, in the same way all my PS4 pads fell apart and not any of teh Scuf bits.

[BarryL85]

52 minutes ago, Shimmyhill said:

 

Only two paddles make it a half way house for FPS, the triggers not being digital in shortest throw mode add to this - the Scuf pads are designed for FPS and there is no shame that the Sony one isnt, its an all rounder master of none type thing. FWIW my Scuf fell apart, in the same way all my PS4 pads fell apart and not any of teh Scuf bits.

Not so sure, I have the elite pad series 1 and 2 and tried the 4 paddles and just found it clunky.

 

Jump, crouch/slide, reload and sprint I’m imagining would be the 4 functions that would be handy on them.
 

I generally only use for Jump and Crouch/Slide on paddles. Sprint I’ve always been ok with L3. Reload I can see an argument for which can be swapped to a bumper button if you really don’t want to let go of the right stick ever. 

 

Going flawless in Destiny and Destiny 2 many many times with just the standard Dualshock 4 or Dualsense I would say shows that the paddles aren’t 100% necessary but absolutely convenient when you have them.

 

 

How did your PS4 pads fall apart? Only issues I had was initially analogue stick wear and then reduced battery life but nothing else.

 

Also when it comes to the digital triggers you can usually swap the bumper button inputs with the trigger inputs then reverse them in game and it gives you instant trigger pulls. The bump stop on the Dualsense edge can then give you short press. I done this on the PS4 for Destiny but to be honest I wouldn't say it was necessary either.

[Chindie]

The DualShock Ooooh-wee

[p1nseeker]

Twin sticky-icky-icky

[Qazimod]

On 19/10/2022 at 15:32, Girth Certificate said:

Is there a reason for the replaceable sticks other than to swap out broken ones? 

 

On 19/10/2022 at 16:17, Qazimod said:

 

I thought maybe it could allow peripheral specialists to manufacture sticks with different springs/tension? But then the sticks already have "tuneable sensitivity and dead zones"...

 

Actually, thinking about my "analogue sticks are terrible for fighting game motions" remark, changeable sticks could potentially allow them to make a custom stick module that's inside an octo gate, giving better control for fighting game players. Or maybe even a custom stick module that's microswitched and acts like your C64's old Competition Pro?  

[Strafe]

I sent mine back! There’s nothing wrong with it, in fact it’s very good (though the 6 hours battery is questionable but I had everything turned up to full) but with PSVR2 coming ouand a list of games as long as my arm combined with a fallow period at work I can’t justify it right now.
 

I expect I’ll end up buying it again down the line.

[amc]

Yeah, I'm a sucker. The extra triggers are nice 🤷‍♂️