A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to go hands-on with the DualSense Edge but it wasn’t enough time to formulate final thoughts. After almost a week with the controller, my feelings are the same in the sense that it is a very well executed PS5 pro controller that could only be made by PlayStation both in a design sense, but also how it pairs with the PlayStation 5 UI.
I was a bit taken aback initially by the shiny design of the controller, but it’s actually grown on me as I’ve had it in my own space, and the fingerprints aren’t anywhere near as much as a problem as I was initially worried about. PlayStation symbols have been added to the touchpad and also to the triggers (for grip) and I like that little detail a lot. From a basic form factor point of view, aside from a little extra weight, which I’d argue makes the controller feels a bit sturdier, it feels almost identical in the hands. It’s worth mentioning that it works on the very same DualSense controller charger as well.
Right from the moment you pair the DualSense Edge with your PS5, the entire process of how you’re taught all the features of the controller and how to customise each of them to get the most out of your controller is just beyond what I’ve seen with any other pro controller. Even if you don’t end up using all of them, at least you’re aware they exist, and feel empowered to use them.
Two types of back buttons come with the DualSense Edge controller. There’s two lever back buttons which are similar to what you find on the Elite controller and two half dome back buttons which are essentially like little half analogue sticks, that were definitely my pick.
After a week of playing Dead Space, Modern Warfare 2 and FIFA 23 among a couple of other games, I really found myself using the extra paddles which can be customised to almost any other button on the DualSense controller. Whilst I’ve seen a little bit of disappointment that there’s only two back buttons instead of four, I actually found this two be a little less overwhelming and even when using the Elite controller, I’d often only use two of them, so I actually don’t mind this decision.
There was more than a handful of times where having reload or health mapped to one of the back buttons saved me due to not having to pull my right thumb off the analogue stick. Whilst it’s taking a little bit of getting used to in FIFA, long-term, I know the gains will be worth it as I try and pull off my huge arsenal of trick shots.
Outside of customising your button layout, and your extra back paddles, there’s the ability to adjust your stick sensitivity/deadzone (there are also presets including quick/precise/steady/digital/dynamic), adjust your trigger deadzones even further beyond the manual trigger slider as well as your vibration and trigger effect intensity (which functions the same as the regular DualSense controller).
I feel like as time goes on, I’ll find myself using a lot of these other customisation options, and PlayStation has done a really good job of demonstrating how each of the minor changes effect the controller with a lot of real-time displays that show you how far your trigger is being pushed or how quickly the analogue stick will react in comparison to the default.
Whilst Dead Space and FIFA are totally different games, one of my favourite parts of this controller is not only how easy it is to create custom profiles, but how easy it is to swap between them. By holding the newly introduced Fn key (below analogue sticks) and options key, you’re able to go to a newly introduced PS5 menu that’s all about customising your DualSense Edge. Pushing those two buttons again takes you straight back to your game with no interruption.
Within this menu you can create custom profiles, and assign any three of them to your controller, which can easily be swapped between by pressing Fn and one of the face buttons. Now, don’t get me wrong, as easy as this is to do, it does require a bit of thought in terms of creating your profiles for each specific use case, but for me, the ability to quickly swap between profiles and also the ease provided by PlayStation to go between editing and back to your game actually meant that I did take the time to experiment with different profiles.
These Fn buttons can also be used with the D-Pad to change chat/game audio when you’re using a headset, which does make things a lot simpler if you’re not using an official PlayStation headset that has those controls on the headset. My only minor gripe is that I don’t fully understand why both Fn buttons have the exact same functionality. I’d love to see something else be able to be assigned to one of them.
Other physical changes on the controller that effect how it performs are adjustable trigger length sliders on the back of the controller, so you might want to shorten these for shooters (which I absolutely did for Dead Space) but leave them as normal for sports/racing games that require more responsive and minor presses of the R2/L2 triggers. Both are individually controlled too, so you might want one a little bit tighter for shooting, but still the regular length for aiming down your sights.
Most modern controllers including the DualSense controller are plagued with stick drift issues after a certain amount of uses and rather than address this issue (which I assume is quite complex to eliminate entirely), PlayStation has made it so that the analogue stick modules can be totally removed and replaced.
Whilst this isn’t a total solution to the problem, it does mean that you only need to buy a new stick module for $35 rather than buy an entire new controller, so it’s somewhat future proof. It’s a really clever idea and it’s super seamlessly swapping them in and out. I’ll be interested to see what other modules are introduced from PlayStation and other third-party suppliers over time.
The other inclusion is swappable analogue stick tops, so you’ve got the standard two PS5 sticks, two PS3-style convex analogue sticks and two higher analogue sticks that will be perfect for fighting games. Again, your mileage between these will differ, but I think we’ll definitely see some awesome custom designs as time goes on.
Other inclusions are a super long braided cable that also has a lockable connector, so that it won’t fall out, which is great for the top-tier of pro controllers that want that low latency, wired experience. There’s also a super nice hard case that is great for protecting your controller and all the different bits. Whilst there’s a velcro flap that lets you run the controller cord through, at this price point it would have been nice to have a wireless charger in the case like the Xbox Elite controller does.
Lastly, the battery life in this controller is roughly the same as the original DualSense, which I don’t have the biggest issue with given the size of the controller is the same (the battery is actually smaller), but I can fully understand why at this price point, a bigger battery life would be desired and I think that would have tipped a lot of people over the edge to purchase.
The biggest barrier of entry is obviously the price at $340. This is absolutely a fantastic pro controller and everything from the design to how it integrates into the PS5 is top notch. It’s really hard to say whether it’s worth the value as it’s a lot of money to cough up and whilst PlayStation does a phenomenal job at enticing you to use all of the pro features, just because of how easy it is to understand and see the minor changes, it’s a lot of money to spend up if you don’t end up using a lot of them.