Less than a day after its official release, the PlayStation 5’s DualSense Edge controller is already getting criticized for featuring a significantly smaller battery than the original DualSense. This new controller brings a handful of new features and customization options for PlayStation 5 players, being an upgrade of the default controller coming with the next-gen console.Sony unveiled the DualSense Edge controller during Gamescom 2022, introducing this new “pro” controller meant to bring additional features and more customization options than the classic PlayStation 5 controller. On top of the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, the DualSense Edge controller comes with changeable Stick Caps, adjustable trigger length, as well as replaceable stick modules and back buttons. Players are able to customize their gaming experience with various profiles saving their preferred stick sensitivity and button mapping.However, these additional features come at the cost of a shorter battery life, as the DualSense Edge has a significantly smaller battery than the original DualSense controller. Twitter account Budd's Controllers compared the size of the built-in battery in the DualSense Edge and DualSense controllers, revealing that the new version of Sony’s controllers has a smaller battery size than its original counterpart.
Sony warned that the battery life of the DualSense Edge controller would be “moderately shorter” than that of the original DualSense, as the company needed to bring in the additional features without changing the size of the controller. On average, a DualSense Edge with a full battery will last around six hours, but this length can drastically decrease depending on how a game benefits from the DualSense Edge’s features. The classic DualSense controller boasts an autonomy of around eight hours, slightly better than its upgraded version.
Most new PlayStation 5 games use the DualSense controller’s features to further increase immersion, giving players additional insight with the haptic feedback or audio cues through the built-in speakers. The Dead Space remake uses the DualSense’s adaptive triggers to discharge a shot of the plasma cutter, while Bloober Team confirmed that Silent Hill 2 will also take advantage of the unique DualSense features to provide players with additional gameplay feedback. Sony recently released a PlayStation 5 update to add DualSense Edge support to the console and allow players looking for a more refined and customizable gaming experience to try out this new controller, which is now available for $199.99 – $20 more than its direct competitor, the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2.