Sony's luxury gamepad DualSense Edge leaves a good impression in a first hands-on session. The well thought-out layout and the many easy-to-use configuration options are praised. The running time could be the Achilles' heel: It will probably be shorter than the normal DualSense gamepad of the PlayStation 5.
With the new Pro-Controller, Sony has created a long-delayed counterpart Microsoft's Elite Controller (2), which was surprisingly successful considering prices ranged from 115 euros to 140 euros. However, the Japanese company seems to have done its homework: Overall, the first impression is positive, the DualSense Edge is potentially “the best PS5 controller you can buy for 200 US dollars,” judges The Verge after a preview event .
Repair-friendly innovation
The site noted that the surface felt better thanks to the rubberized recessed grips , but the new high-gloss surface is seen as an unnecessary dirt magnet. Buttons and joysticks feel the same as the normal DualSense model. The dome of the sticks can be exchanged as with the Elite Controller.
In addition, Sony allows you to change the stick yourself, which according to The Verge works easily and without tools. This gives you the opportunity to repair the gamepad yourself in the event of controller drift caused by wear and tear on the joysticks. However, Sony does not install better sticks, for example with Hall sensors, which are spared from this problem.
Easily programmable at any time
The shortening of the trigger stroke known from other controllers, which can be carried out either on the hardware or via software in the form of an advance of the end point, and the extensive configuration of the joysticks, in which, among other things, the entire characteristic curve can be set, also work intuitively according to the first impression. Ready-made profiles help newcomers in this.
A new profile button can also be used to open a controller menu where profiles can be created. According to The Verge, three fit on the controller, 30 on the console. Calling up the menu quickly makes it easier to tinker with profiles, changing profiles using key combinations is also very quick in the game and allows configurations to be loaded according to the situation.
Question mark runtime
It is unclear what compromises have to be made in terms of runtime. Sony confirmed to the site that there were compromises to be made here. The runtime is “moderately shorter” compared to the DualSense 5, but the company did not want to give any figures.
However, even the PlayStation 5 controller is not considered a marathon runner with a running time of between three and twelve hours, depending on how the feature set is used. In the statement, Sony also referred to wired operation with the enclosed USB cable, which is around three meters long, in order to improve battery life.
In Germany just under 240 euros
The DualSense Edge will be available from April 26th. to be delivered in January. Pre-orders are only available through PlayStation Direct at a suggested retail price of €239.99. This means that the Sony controller costs at least 100 euros more than the Microsoft counterpart for the Xbox.