Sony’s promised that the PlayStation 5’s new DualSense controller will have a “strong” battery life, although it resisted comparisons with the DualShock 4 and failed to give an estimated number of hours. Obviously, there are a lot of new features packed into the pad, including resistant triggers and haptic feedback, so don’t expect to be playing with this thing all day without needing a charge.
“We took thoughtful consideration into ways to maintain a strong battery life for DualSense’s rechargeable battery, and to lessen the weight of the controller as much as possible as new features were added,” said Hideaki Nishino on the PlayStation Blog. “DualSense has been tested by a wide range of gamers with a variety of hand sizes, in order for us to achieve the comfort level we wanted, with great ergonomics.”
Nishino concluded that the Japanese giant’s aim with the controller is to almost make it like it doesn’t exist at all: “Our goal with DualSense is to give gamers the feeling of being transported into the game world as soon as they open the box. We want gamers to feel like the controller is an extension of themselves when they’re playing – so much so that they forget that it’s even in their hands.”
[source blog.us.playstation.com]
Comments 24
So, 4hrs instead of 3 then.. /s
It can't be any worse then the DS4's terrible battery life. 😒
At least it doesn't use AA batterys because MS still think it's 99
Let’s be real and serious - they were hardly gonna say “battery is about the same maybe worse than now” they have given no figures or numbers. That should have alarm bells ringing
@AdamNovice no instead you have to buy a whole new controller if batteries have fault or lose ability to hold charge. Very modern.
At least with Xbox you can buy a plug and charge kit. That should come as standard- both should come with removable battery as standard
@Stocksy I think that's a very rare occurrence tbh. In a world with billions of rechargeable products including cars, having a controller using AA batteries is a bit silly now.
@AdamNovice I'd be happy with the AA option to be honest, you can immediately switch to a fully charged controller.
4-6 hours and i'll be content.
@ShaiHulud I much prefer just getting a cable to charge then having to fiddle with the back, especially if I'm in a game.
Super nice, battery life is my number one annoyances for dualshock 4 controller.
@Stocksy - Why buy a new controller? A DS4 replacement battery is dirt cheap and takes minutes to fit.
@AdamNovice Each to their own! The less cables the better in my opinion.
No one will ever convince me AA batteries is the best option. I never run out of battery on controller because they always go back in charge and I guess if one did I’d just pick up the other one. Imagine having to constantly go out to the store to buy packets and packets of batteries for anything other than the tv remote (which is annoying enough!)
Whenever the kids are given a toy that requires batteries my first thought is ‘great, how much is this going to cost me by the end of the year!’
Simple question is would you want your smart phone to have AA batteries even though that thing dies everyday without fail?
@StonyKL My thoughts exactly but apparently a fair few think MS are giving you "choice"
So thought I'd give an opinion on this. Played FF7 for 5 hours yesterday with a fully charged DS4 that's roughly 4 years old. It still had 1 bar if battery left at time of shutting down. I genuinely think people are having different experiences with the battery life. I've never had an issue though as a prefer to play wired as most of my games are fighting which needs less input delay
@AdamNovice You can still buy a rechargeable battery pack for the Xbox controller. Charge it with a cable and pretend it's a regular controller. But it's easy to swap for a new one once the batteries start to die after a couple of years.
@StonyKL Never heard of a thing called rechargable batteries then? I've recently replaced my old pair which lasted me at least 15 years.
@ShaiHulid yes I understand what you’re saying but saying the solution to having AA batteries is to go out and buy rechargeable set of batteries doesn’t really convince me. I would just recommend buying 27 PS4 controllers and you’ll never be without. Rechargeable batteries will still have the problem of having to take them out to recharge them and it’s still not better than just plugging in a cable and continuing playing.
I’m in a situation right now where I can’t use my fire stick controller because the AAA batteries have run out so I’m waiting for delivery in a week to be able to use it.
Look I love the 80’s but perhaps I’m just a bit down on old school batteries right now and I’ll come around once they turn up and I can get Netflix back on in the bedroom again.
What about wireless battery recharge just like smart phones instead of usb require like PS4 ? I wonder.
@StonyKL 27 PS4 controllers are quite a lot more expensive than my set of 4 AA batteries though I always have one pair of the two ready to go, so for me it's simply switching the pair and I'm ready to go on, without any bloody wires (the ps4 charging wire is too short for me as well). Each to their own!
"Sony’s promised a “strong” battery life, although they dont give an estimated number of hours."
saying much of nothing, what else is new..
Why have Nintendo been able to make wireless controllers since the wavebird that have days worth of battery capacity?
It was part of decision when I ditched my PS4. I was constantly charging it. Now I use a Wii U Pro controller on my PC & it lasts for around 70-80 hours between charges.
Its not hard to do this Sony. My Sony phone has a better battery than PS4 controllers somehow.
Just on the battery comments. As an avid retro gamer and someone with old gameboys, DSes, PSPs etc, I definitely see the advantage of modern handhelds or controllers using AA batteries. Getting brand new AA batteries will (hopefully) still be easy in 30 years time, when I will most definitely still be playing these consoles in my retirement. But getting a replacement battery for, say, a DualShock 4 controller when its battery is long dead most likely will not be. Still, I suppose I could plug it in via the USB cable to get that ‘retro’ feel I love so much 😀
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