Upgraded PS5 Controller with Hugely Improved Battery Life Spotted

I was able to get a two controller bundle around launch, and my play times max out around two hours )and that’s a splurge) so I’m good. Great news for those in need though!

3 to 6 hours? My black controller and spider man 2 controller both last twice that on ratchet and clank and other titles.

battery life is terrible on dual sense 5 hours for me

longer battery life usually means larger battery so im wondering how they managed this as the parts are packed in there with little to no free space

@trev666 there are a few ways, including multiple battery packs placed around the controller, advances in material science, or they managed to optimize the controllers over all power consumption with better components. Could even be all of those factors.

Mine is terrible. Lasts max 5 hrs. But I can safely assume that this will be automatically bundled with PS5 Pro when it gets released in 8 months.

That's pretty game-changing. Has nothing on Switch Pro battery life estimates, of course, but compared to the current one, it's a gigantic upgrade. Realistically, unless you forget to plug up your controller, one shouldn't be running out of juice anymore.

"exceptional 12-hour battery life" is pretty funny when the Switch Pro controller last like 40-50h

What about the drift tho ?

I have never had problems with the current version tbh and when I finally have some time to play I play a lot! Just swap the controller after what it feels like a very long session of gaming (5-6 hours?)

@mariomaster96 yes but the switch pro controller really has nothing on the dual sense 5 experience inho. Not hating on its impressive battery life but Dual Sense is really a game changer when well implemented (and also has a very Nintendo-like whimsical quality) and its features will probably be the standard for all console makers next

"The current version of the pad lasts around three to six hours on a single charge, depending on the game you’re playing."

Completely disagree. Fully charged controller lasts around 4 hours of gaming (any game) and max 4.5 idle (watching Nflx, Disney etc.)

But what do Sony say the current Dualsense battery life is at max (I would presume with haptics and adaptive triggers turned off). I’ve heard say up to 12 hrs currently.

Anyway, I’ve had two controllers since launch, which I rotate. They last about 6hrs each with everything on, and on the rare occasions I get to game longer than that In one sitting, I just have to pick up the other one and plug the first back in. Charging station is a must though.

If this really does come with the charging station at that price then it’s a phenomenal deal, even if the battery is the same (it would be strange to bundle the charging station with with the controller if it’s selling point was a longer battery life)

Tfw last weekend I was on the verge of driving to a store and picking up a brand new DualSense. Decided to wait and suffer through until the silver DualSense comes out. I’ve been having random drifting issues with my right analog stick. So it spins the map around crazy which is obviously annoying

Now, I have no clue what to do. I run a two controller set up with the charging station. Not including my GoW one that I only use on “special” games. Ugh, this sounds right up my alley but I’m sure it won’t be out for a long time

They better fix the stick drift with this controller, cause I've been buying 2 new ones since it came out because of it

Using my Edge controller with cable so I am good. Happy for the people that were waiting for this though!

2 metre cable, £4. What battery life?

Oh, now after most people have finally come around to buy themselves a ps5 you decide to make a necessary upgrade to the controller so that us chumps can double dip. Fantastic job Sony.
Also never had problems with PlayStation controllers until this generation where I had one controller start drifting, and the other having the rubber of the left joystick sliding off, all next to the anyways atrocious batter life and downgraded build quality.

Do people actually have time to game for 12 hours straight?!! I've never had issues with the dual shock 4 or dualsense battery life personally. 4-8 hours is plenty for one gaming session imo but at least their addressing feedback!

This would be great to see.
I tend get at least 4 or five hours from mine and I have 4 controllers, so im not cut short ever in a game, but I've just thrown one in the bin due to stick drift, so a new option would be welcome when I buy a replacement.
Good to see them improve their designs..

I have the standard white controller and a crimson red one. I use one whilst the other is charging. But yeah, a much improved battery life would still be very welcome.

++ on fixing the stick drift

Great, this is what I want, not some pro controller that has less battery 😃

For me the current one is more than enough, but it never froped so fast a 3 hours ... that must be a game with constant vibrations. Also, it very much depends if the vibrations are set to Heavy, med or low (not sure the exact wording). This plays a big part.
But as for how they did it - well, you know that AAA batter from IKEA and Duracell are same form factor, but last diffrently So, they improved smth.
But it is very cool that it is a bundle - most people have one controller, and with that you get second and the station has 2 slots. Cool.

Sound good but will wait to see if it will be packed with presumed to launch PS5 Pro.
About stick drift, never had any on my 2 DS4 and 2 Dual Sense controllers with thousands of hours played.
My DS3, though, that had nasty stick drift.

Wanted to buy a new one via PS Direct (because of promo), but none are available. My first ever controller with stick drift (launch). Battery life was terrible (4 hours max). Bought a second one because of it.
Maybe wait for a V2 if true!

I'm mostly playing wired now. Feels like I have to charge the damn thing all the time otherwise.

Same with the controllers for the PSVR2.
In comparison, the Quest 3 controllers, runs off one AA battery each, and after one month, the battery is still at 90%. I wish there was an option for AA batteries on Sony's controllers, so you could add rechargeable ones, if you wanted to.

The AA batteries in my Xbox controllers, last for weeks. That's why a prefer if chargeable batteries always was an option. It's also easier to replace, when it dies, without having to open up the entire controller.

Not sure 12 hours qualifies as "exceptional" but it would certainly be a massive improvement and more than enough to stop it being an issue.

I mentioned this the other day but I have had 3 dualsence, 2 white and 1 starlight blue. Never got more than 4 hours charge at most out of any of them. 12hours is still poor compared to the competition. Two of them broke due to the RT snapping and going floppy. Between drift, poor battery and breaking triggers the dualsence has been a massive step backwards after the dualshock 4. I do like the rumble but the adaptive triggers are awful and just get in the way

I have an embarrassing amount of controllers. I have 5 out of box at any one time, 4 permanently on charge on two official charge docks in a line, cable under the other one, nice and neat.. and one by my gaming seat.
In an average day of gaming with a bit of streaming from YouTube, netflix etc, I'll swap pads to the chargers twice a day.

So four hours is probably about right.

If they have extended battery life.of the new controller, it's probably due to more efficient motors in the rumble and haptics, and also maybe the battery is now a couple of batteries instead of the one big slab.

It really wasn't in PlayStation's interest to have long lasting controllers in the beginning, because they sold more controllers and charging docks due to poor battery performance. We die hard early adopters put up with it, because it's new.. but now that everyone and his cat can get hold of a PS5, they are having to get a little bit more efficient as the general population just won't put up with that battery life.

@Sil_Am
Agreed. I have 12 controllers (7 in my family, 2 PS5's)
None of them have ever got stick drift, despite the youngest players being 7 at the time, and they are twins, so if anyone is gonna give the sticks a workout it's competitive 7 year olds!
Never had drift on Any of my DS4's either.

Must be a dirty hand thing.. I guess either people press down on the sticks while using them, or allow bits of food to get in the base of the sticks.

The only issue I've ever had with Dualsense is a broken R2 spring, and that controller was replaced under warranty due to 'maneater' being an R2 destroying free game on PSN back in the day!

I got just over a year with the 2 controllers I got when I purchased my PS5, before I began to get stuck drift. So what's the point of you get just over a year use of the controller then have to buy a whole new controller. All controllers should be made that you can easy replace the analog sticks instead of having to buy a whole new controller. Seems like a waste.

Will it still drift tho?

@TheMightyImp2 Im on my 5th controller within 16 months. The first one lasted the longest.

I halfway suspect sony to just refurbish them and send them back as “new” cause everytime i get it back it lasts about a month.

Stick drift every time, only one time i had stuck adaptive trigger on R2.

Saw the $90 tag and for a second was afraid we're being squeezed for every little thing these days, even something like an improved battery.
Hopefully this is a revision that completely replaces the original remote and for the same price.
Now I'm left wondering if the Edge is due to receive the same treatment.

@species
That does seem unfortunate.

To be fair, I have 5 white ones, that I no longer use since I got the first blue and red ones, I also use a black one, a purple one, and a Spider-Man controller.
I've never used my camo one, I have another red and blue one.

Maybe the colour ones are more robust, but I doubt it, as tronicsfix disassembled them at launch and they (red and blue) were identical inside.

I'm pretty sure the Spider-Man controller has a different board, as it has different connections to the rumble motors..

Maybe white ones die faster? But to be clear, the only reason I don't use my white ones anymore is because I bought (or had bought for me) coloured controllers.

I only care about stick drift

Typical V2 controller you get around a slim/pro release. I wouldn't be surprised if this V2 controller is already getting bundled in with their slim model.

@TheMightyImp2 It's a widespread and well documented issue, just because you haven't experienced it doesn't mean it's only because people have dirty hands or whatever.

Beyond straight up abusing a controller, it's pure chance. I always have several working controllers that I alternate between, and out of the 5 total Dualsenses I've owned so far, 2 have had drift. But one of my controllers has outlived both of them and is one I'm still using daily. There's no real pattern to it, it's just luck.

I never understood the problem with battery life. With the dual charger and two controllers you never run out of battery. Just pick up the other one when the first one is empty (which never happened with me in three years time).

While it would be welcomed, it's also funny that it would absolutely blow away their absurdly priced DualSense Edge controller in battery life if true. Probably for half the price too.

I have 2 controllers that I charge in turns. That allows for uninterrupted play session of any length.

As for drift issues fixing, I strongly believe this is caused by dirt and liquid getting inside. My first controller had drift pretty early in its lifespan, which I fixed by getting inside the case and applying contact cleaning spray. Works with no drift still since then.

So yeah, Sony could technically mitigate that by better protecting stick assembly from liquid and dust, but once you know the trick you no longer care as you can „fix“ it yourself

Yay. This can replace my cosmic red controller which seems to have developed stick drift on the left stick over the last few days 🙄

I've been playing a lot of The Finals recently, so lots of tense pressure has been applied, and now my character will occasionally walk forward without any input from me

@TheMightyImp2 Oh yea i have original white ones. Might be that. I dont know why as im also extremely clean, i wouldnt touch a controller with greasy hand if my life depended on it.

To be fair i was pretty unlucky with the console itself, had to have it replaced after a month of use.
Its my first console since NES so i guess some teething aches haha.

Still love it tho!

I have two controllers anyway so it doesn't really matter to me. If one runs out then it gets switched out with the other on the charge dock

Up to 12 hours (when new) is still worse than my DualShock 3s, Switch Pro and a few other controllers with integrated batteries. If you count removable AA battery ones too, then the DualSense also can't get anywhere close to a One/Series Xbox controller or a WaveBird 🤭

That and they tend to acquire stick drift as they age. Essentially the DualSense combines innovative features with poor build quality and battery life.

@species
Of course it will, that's the fate of every analog that doesn't use hall effect.

@Titntin You binned it? It takes half an hour to swap the module out, all you need is a soldering iron and a couple of quid on the new part. I got 2 of mine cheap off Ebay and fixed em good as new!

I have a dock and 4 controllers. I may find the time to sit and play for hours on end occasionally, but there'll always be a fully charged spare to swap to if (when) needed. Although a longer battery life is always welcomed as fewer charging cycles should lead to a better battery lifespan.

@redd214 I thought the same thing. After about 4 hours I need to get up and move around. I charge my controllers after every use anyways.

@ActionPanther

This right here. I've had two DualSenses get left stick drift. And one with right stick drift. Enough already.

@species
I've just watched the tronicsfix videos again and the cosmic red and black controllers are identical to the white ones, but the starlight blue, galactic purple and nova pink controllers have all new boards and slightly altered sticks

The video to watch is called 'sony did something right?! New PS5 controller teardown & comparison'

@AstraeaV exactly. I don't even think my teenagers would sit and game that long without taking breaks lol. Always seemed like a bizarre complaint

Battery life is tolerable. It's stick drift that needs sorting.

Lets hope that it turns up a bit more DS4 shaped too.

This is good news.

I never understood why sony couldn’t (or wouldn’t) get close to Nintendo’s wireless controllers. Even the wavebird from 20 years ago wipes the floor with dualsense…

@LiamOliver I'm sure thats' easy enough to do mate, but I've more money than sense sometimes. 🤣
Thank you for your advise though, it is apprecaited!

i just bought an edge yesterday. Cord is long enough to stay plugged in. But man, i was shocked at the short battery life when i got the PS5. The elite controller on xbox lasts crazy long

If this is real, this will be great! This is the reason I have two controllers so that I can use one while the other is charging. It'd be nice to only need one.

@mariomaster96 it will it doesn't have any features. If I remember right the dualsense actually has a larger battery than the switch

I wonder if there will be a V2 pro controller as well

4m braided cable is the way to go for single player games, never without power, can use it to charge headphones while wearing them too. Only works if you have somewhere it's not a trip hazard though 😬

At ~£9 it is the single best console QoL upgrade I've ever had

I'd also like easily replaceble sticks like in DS Edge (but for lower price than DSE...).

5 hours per charge max, so I run double controller w/ charger set up. What I need is to NOT have stick drift every three months on my controllers and have to buy new ones so often.....When's this gonna be fixed/addressed?

I got a PS5 at Christmas the controller lasts about 5 hrs or less l bought a 2nd one and a official charging dock because of it and to play 2 player games but my PS3 pad to this day original battery lasts 6 hrs. PS4 batteries were rubbish as well