Topic: Dualsense Reliability

Interested in what everyone else's experience has been with the reliability of the Dualsense. I’ve had two controllers for just over a year now. One had to be warranty replaced due to a trigger falsely actuating. So at this point I am 1 for 2. Concerned about the longevity of these $70 controllers. As far as I can tell the reliability of the Dualsense isn’t all that great from anecdotal from online posts. To be honest if one of these two fails in the next year I’ll do the “buy another and replace broken one under warranty” as I feel that a $70 controller should last at least a couple of years of use.

@ChadR i have been using my one Dualsense controller since over a year (i have another one if mg friend wants to play) and despite hardcore gaming / playing games like COD, Fortnite, God of War, Elden Ring and other combat based game there is not even a scratch on my controller. The only thing that bothered me was the dirtiness in the controller stuck between the texture at the back but it was easy cleaning it.

trash. like the controller alot , but the stick-drifting is atrocious. im on my fourth controller.

I have had 2 pads since launch and they are still like new and that's with thousands of hours of playtime.

@nomither6 you are either really unlucky or perhaps a tad to rough with your pads. Maybe you have strong thumbs.

My OG DualSense is still going strong and I play something like 30 hours a week. I don't play any of these 'ongoing' games mind, so maybe that could be the problem for some people.

I log a lot fewer hours than most enthusiasts on here, but my 2 controllers are fine so far [touches wood], and both are almost 2 years old. I’ve dropped them a couple times, once from over a meter in height onto a hard flooring with a resounding crash, and gratefully nothing has broken or malfunctioned. Outside of a few drops, I handle them with care though.

I have the haptics and adaptive triggers cranked up to full settings too, because I really enjoy both features. But I have the mic permanently muted and have never used the gyro functions. So I don’t know if that’s maybe why I’ve been lucky. And again, I have less mileage on them perhaps.

My original controller that came with the ps5 had to be sent back after about 6 months because of really bad stick drift, it has now gone a few weeks before Christmas completely unusable for most games the stick drift is so bad, I contacted Sony and they said its out of warranty but they would recommend repair service in the area at a cost of about £35 no thanks!

My second controller which I bought along side the console has a very slight stick drift problem, also out of warranty and so I've carefully taken apart and cleaned my self and seems to have helped but there is still the odd problem.

My 3rd controller (black one) is now about 18months old as is going very strong(touch wood) and actually seems alot better manufactured.

Whilst speaking to Sony the guy explained to me that the original controllers have a different manufacturing number compared to any made after the first year, as they know the first batch are very likely to fail. When I was having my problems and looked online I found very similar that alot of people who had original dual senses tended to have more problems than the newer made ones.

Very poor from Sony especially the fact when I asked what would they do about me having 2 original faulty controllers the guy on the phone said they where out of warranty so they would do anything.

I think it’s absurd that the Dualsense is having this many problems. It’s a $70 controller. Sony could have gotten rid of “haptics” fancy rumble, trigger tension and the touch pad. Upped durability and I’d have been much happier. So… if you like me think that these controllers should last a couple of years minimum what you can do is if one dies outside warranty. Is purchase a new one then warranty exchange the old one. There’s no identifying marks on the controllers. I can’t find a single mark that differentiates the controller that came with my console and the other one I got from GameStop. I like the controller and will keep buying them but it has to give me a reasonable amount of use or I will abuse the system.