THERE is no doubt the standard PlayStation DualSense controller that comes with the PlayStation 5 is an excellent controller.
However, as every hardcore gamer knows, you can never have too many buttons or controls on your controller – and PlayStation have come to that party on that front with this peripheral.
At first glance, the PlayStation DualSense Edge is broadly similar to a conventional DualSense controller, but when you look a bit closer you’ll notice some important differences.
The obvious visual one – besides the fact the touchpad, D-pad and main buttons are black instead of white – is that there are two small tab buttons at the rear of the controller, with two additional paddle-type controls on the underside. The tab buttons on the back allow for easy switching between different saved control profiles.
There are also trigger tension adjusters, which can be set independently of the haptic feedback in many PS5 games, while the grips have a different, grippier texture on the underside.
One of the big attractions for the DualSense Edge is the high degree of customisability, particularly of the thumbstick sensitivity. You can adjust the sensitivity curves on each thumbstick separately, allowing for personalised control that suits your playstyle.
In my case, for example, I was able to adjust the left thumbstick to be more sensitive to commands (eg movement), while I tuned the right thumbstick to focus on precision (because headshots are the best shots in video games, after all).
You can also swap out the thumbsticks entirely, or change their heads to one of the included domes – I liked the concave heads the controller comes with and left them on it, though.
The hard case for the unit holds the controller and all its accessories, including a connector, the USB cable, two standard caps, two each of the high and low dome caps, two half-dome back buttons, and two lever back buttons.
It all zips up into a hard protective shell which keeps everything safe, and also provides a clear visual identifier to my kids that they are not to use Dad’s special PlayStation Controller too.
While closed up, a velcro patch on the back of the case can be opened to plug a USB-C cable into the controller, allowing it to charge while in storage.
Alternatively, you can charge the DualSense Edge on the same charging station as a a conventional DualSense controller, which is surprisingly useful too.
On a practical use front, I found the controller to work very well – it was comfortable to hold and used the same “muscle memory” as the regular controller – as well as being a practical upgrade on the base controller for enthusiast gamers.
Having the same base controls, touchpad and motion sensor as the regular DualSense controller, the DualSense Edge performed flawlessly with every game I tested it on – be it God of War: Ragnarok, Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves, or Ghost Of Tsushima, or anything else in the library.
Setting up different profiles with customised control layouts was pretty straightforward, and once set up it was easy to switch between them and see how the custom controls worked with different games.
In Gran Turismo 7, for example, I was able to configure the underside paddles to function and the gear shit up/down controls, while in The Last Of Us Part I I had one of the paddles set up as the “crouch and listen for enemies” control.
The thing is, however, you have to configure the profiles yourself in the controller options menu, and you’re basically remapping buttons to emulate other buttons – there isn’t a specific option to say “In Horizon: Forbidden West I want the paddle button to do this, but in Returnal I want it to do this other thing (beyond, for example, making a profile where the Left Flappy Paddle functions as the L1 button and the Right Flappy Paddle functions as R1 for all games played using that profile).
While the controller is wireless, the battery life isn’t as long as a regular DualSense; you’ll get somewhere between 5-10 hours out of it, which isn’t amazing but is somewhat mitigated by the fact the USB cable is 2.8m long so you can just plug it into the PS5 and use it as a wired controller if you need to. I just stuck it on charge between sessions and didn’t have any trouble, but I’m also generally not gaming for five hours at a stretch on account of the whole “I have a family and a job” thing.
The main thing that stops me recommending the DualSense Edge is its price – at AUD$339 it’s pretty pricey and for the average gamer, I don’t think the additional features aren’t worth the $200 premium over the standard DualSense controller.
If you’re a pro/competitive gamer or seriously into your games then these features are going to be legitimately useful for you (especially the adjustable thumbstick sensitivity) but for the majority of people, I think you’d be better off putting the money into a spare DualSense controller and a PlayStation Pulse 3D headset (if you don’t already have one) instead.
