Should you buy the PS5 DualSense controller?
Best answer: The DualSense controller for PS5 is one of the most revolutionary controllers to ever ship with a console. It's impeccable haptic feedback and adaptive triggers make for the most immersive gaming experiences to date. Sonjy knocked it out of the park, and the DualSense is absolutely a controller you should have in your living room.
- Immersion: DualSense ($70 at Amazon)
PS5 DualSense Haptics and adaptive triggers
It's incredible what Sony was able to pull off with adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. For anyone unfamiliar, adaptive triggers allow the triggers to resist your input to mimic the tension of your actions in game. If you draw back a bowstring or use the right trigger to drive through terrain like mud, you'll feel the trigger actively fight against you as you press it down. Experiencing this in action really makes your jaw-drop at how well it just works.
With its haptic feedback, Sony also packs the DualSense with motors that offer stronger and more precise rumbles that feel amazing. This makes it so that you can feel the difference between drops of rain in a game versus the wind. It's not all the same rumble.
On top of all that, The DualSense is much more ergonomic than its predecessor and fits well in your hands. Its face buttons are tactile and responsive, and the lightbar no longer drains the battery in a handful of hours. You can get up to and over 14 hours on a single charge this time.
PS5 DualSense Console compatibility
One of the best parts about the DualSense controller is that it just comes with the PS5 itself. You don't need to go out and buy an extra one if you don't need to, but you certainly can if you have a few members in your household who want to play. It can be used to play all PS5 and PS4 games running on PS5, but it can't connect to the PS4 natively. However, you can connect the DualSense to PC using a wired USB-C cable or wireless Bluetooth.
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If you're thinking about using an old DualShock 4 controller on PS5, you may want to think again. While the DualShock 4 can connect to PS5 and play PS4 games available through backward compatibility, it can't play PS5 games at all. Sony claims this is due to it not supporting haptic feedback and adaptive triggers like the DualSense does, though oddly it does play PS5 games running on PS4 through Remote Play.
Our pick
Feels great to hold and use
All of Sony's marketing talk when leading up to the release of the DualSense may have seemed overblown, but the final product lives up to the hype. So long as games continue to support its features and take full advantage of them, the DualSense will remain one of the best on store shelves.
Jennifer Locke has been playing video games nearly her entire life. You can find her posting pictures of her dog and obsessing over PlayStation and Xbox, Star Wars, and other geeky things.