Sony PlayStation DualSense Edge review

The PlayStation DualSense Edge is designed with the same sensibilities as the PS5 DualSense controller and it even matches outfits with its standard sibling and the PS5. It’s eggshell white with tiny PlayStation logos etched around the back for grip and a small patch with a rubberised finish where your digits rest. The face buttons and the touchpad are black on the Edge controller. Meanwhile, the shield plate around the thumbsticks has a glossy finish compared to the base PS5 controller and this is removable too.

You can remove the plate and then replace individual stick modules. Sony will sell you these for $20 each but it’s not available in India at the time of writing. Some eCommerce websites like Mx2Games listed modules for ₹3,499.

Around the back, you get two remappable button slots called LB and RB. You have the option to swap between two styles of buttons, one is a half-dome and quite clicky and the other is a lever style. There’s also a slider for adjusting the L2 and R2 trigger lever length which is simply incredible You also get an Fn (function) button just below the thumbsticks which lets you hot swap between four control profiles.

And that’s just the controller! The whole thing comes in a hard case which is also rocking the eggshell white uniform and has space to store all the extra buttons, thumbstick caps (2 standard caps, 2 High Dome caps, 2 Low Dome caps), the 2.8m (9 feet) USB Type-C braided cable and the USB locking mechanism. The case is also designed with a velcro opening to charge the PlayStation DualSense Edge controller while it’s inside the case. Pretty neat, eh?

Honestly, this is the most impressive pro controller we’ve seen in a while. It builds upon the DualSense controller, yes but it also manages to package everything within the hard case and makes clever use of space and function. You’ll only wish for Ambani’s bank balance after touching this.

Once you connect it to your PS5, the console will run you through all the customization features. It’s a healthy list of features but somehow it doesn't feel overwhelming to explore all of the features of the DualSense Edge. Great job, Sony.

For the stick nerds, you can change the responsiveness of the input by going into profiles and tinkering with the settings of your controller within a set profile. You can have up to four profiles that can be switched by holding down the Fn key and tapping the assigned face button. Once you’ve named your custom profile, you can adjust the stick and trigger sensitivity and dead zone. The PlayStation console displays the metrics for customising your controller with a visual representation of your stick's responsiveness. It’s mighty brilliant. This is ideally how all controller customization menus should look and feel. It’s simple and intuitive.

There are also presets for stick sens/dead zone settings which PlayStation thinks you might prefer. It comes with a handy one-liner explanation to make sure you know what you’re dealing with. These preset take the effort out of customising your controller and let you focus on what’s important - gaming. Here’s an example, the Digital preset can be used for zippy movements for games like Tekken and Street Fighter. So you don’t have to move the stick all the way to the end, it works like a D-Pad. Another one is the Quick preset could be used for games like Apex Legends which require faster movement. When the thumbstick is pushed beyond a certain threshold, it will fully register the control input. I think it’s great for turning 360° quickly. My only gripe is that the thumbstick module is analogue and at this price, it could've easily had a hall effect sensor.

However, the L2 R2 triggers have hall effect sensors which are extremely useful for competitive gamers. These sensors are very accurate for playing shooter gamers and more. We tried Returnal and L2 uses a half-press for scope in and a full press for alt-fire. While it may not be a competitive game, it’s a fantastic place to test the accuracy of the hall effect triggers. We adjusted the trigger slider to the lowest length and tried the half press and surprisingly these triggers can even capture the tiniest of presses. Same, can be said for accelerating in Gran Turismo 7. Precise and substantial feedback from the triggers is surprisingly better than the base PS5 controller.

You can also create your own custom trigger dead zone for each trigger from the settings which mean that even if you don’t use the slider to lock your trigger length, the software will allow you to micro-adjust the dead zone to a precision of a mouse click! Tap tap your enemies away in Call of Duty. It’s fun, trust me! Oh, and if the rounds get too intense, don’t worry about the 9 feet cable disconnecting you from the console. There’s a USB locking cap which locks the cable in place even if you try to pull it out.

You might also need that cable more often than you think because the battery life of the PlayStation DualSense Edge controller is terrible at best. It’s barely 6 to 7 hours which is worse than the already poor battery life of the base controller. The controller is also quite heavy.

You can also remap the LB and RB buttons to whatever you like from the list of similar buttons on the controller. Sadly, there’s no way to assign macros to this button which makes me wonder what is the point of all this. Macro keys are extremely useful for gamers. Especially RPG games. Hogwarts Legacy and Wild Hearts are proper examples of cluttered key binds that can be solved with macro keys on controllers.

The PlayStation DualSense Edge is truly a remarkable controller. It’s got everything pro etched into its form and function. The PlayStation 5’s software to customize the thing is brilliant as well but it’s not perfect. A better battery life would’ve been great honestly. Truth be told if you’re used to the base PS5 controller’s battery life then this won’t change your opinion a lot.

We feel Sony can bring macro key binds through a software update but if and when that happens is simply a dream. Then there is the price. It’s hard for us to justify shelling out ₹18,990 for a controller. That’s close to half the price of the PlayStation console itself. And we’re not even talking about the absence of much superior hall effect sensors in the thumbsticks.

Take your chance with the Edge controller if you really want to use its features for professional gaming.