Earlier this year, PlayStation revealed that it was working on the DualSense Edge, which would be its own elite controller, similar to the Xbox Elite controller. I was excited about this controller for various reasons, but mainly due to the fans (and myself) asking PlayStation for its own spin on the Xbox Elite controller. Despite how hard I looked or how many times I’ve emailed PlayStation, I never received the answer I was looking for; the battery size and battery life.
When the DualSense Edge was advertised, there was no mention of the battery size or life, which was disconcerting. For reasons unknown (at the time), PlayStation purposely glossed over that, and now we know why. The DualSense Edge doesn’t have the best battery life, regardless of what most diehard PlayStation fans would tell you.
Thanks to IGN’s and The Verge’s hands-on with the controller, it looks like my fears have been confirmed, and the controller has terrible battery life. Per The Verge, the DualSense Edge has a “moderately shorter” battery life, while IGN flat-out says the battery life is worse. To make things worse, PlayStation was unwilling to remark to either publication on how long or short the battery life will be.
It’s a shame no outlet outside of IGN had remarked about the DualSense Edge’s weight, and even then, IGN stated it was slightly heavier than the DualSense controller, as that would explain a few things. Typically, unless you’re using some new technology, the bigger the battery (mAH), the heavier it is, which equates to how long you’ll be able to play your favorite or any games. The way things are going, this isn’t even going to give us the same battery life as the DualSense, and that’s a problem.
The main issue with the DualSense controller is that its lithium-ion battery will decay over time. When I first got my DualSense controller, I was averaging between 12 – 14 hours, depending on if I had all the bells and whistles enabled; Adaptive Triggers & Haptic Feedback. That slowly decreased to 10 and then some the longer I owned the controller. The only options were to replace the 70-dollar controller, disable the Adaptive Triggers & Haptic Feedback features, or swap out the battery. And even then, once the battery starts to decay, its days are numbered.
If PlayStation slapped in the same 1000mAH lithium-ion battery in the DualSense Edge, that would explain why the controller is dying faster than the DualSense controller. Think about that for a moment. PlayStation said they wanted to make an elite controller for PS5 owners, but they’re likely giving us the same battery that’s in the DualSense. There are dozens of 2000mAH, and above batteries readily available on the market that work for the DualSense controller, so there’s no reason why PlayStation couldn’t make its own.
To put things into perspective, the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller has claims of 40 hours of battery life (without the headset being used). To those who weren’t aware, this controller is the only Xbox-produced controller with a built-in battery, and while the claims of 40 hours are lofty, I can tell you that I’ve left my controller on my desk or entertainment stand for days, and it was ready to go when I started using it. It might not be 40 hours of battery, but it definitely provides more battery life than any of the PlayStation controllers released by Sony, including the upcoming DualSense Edge controller. It’s also cheaper, where you can score it at 20 dollars of its asking price of $154.99 at Xbox and Best Buy.
While there’s still time before the controller is released, I don’t see PlayStation making any changes to it as there’s just one month before the DualSense is launched. Now that the info is out, expect to see dozens of YouTube videos on why the DualSense Edge is trash, not worth buying, or more negative press for PlayStation. For the life of me, I can’t understand they would sabotage themselves with this “Elite Experience.” Either way, expect to see our review of the DualSense Edge once we get our hands on the controller.
The DualSense Edge releases on January 26th, 2023, and is priced at $199.99. You can pre-order the controller at the PlayStation store or wait until it arrives in stores. As it stands, I haven’t canceled my pre-order, but everything thus far isn’t encouraging.
