A side-by-side comparison of the battery modules for the DualSense Edge and the DualSense shows the severity of the battery life decrease Sony was warning us about. A teardown of the new PS5 Pro gamepad revealed that the battery Sony equipped into their $200 unit can hold just 1050 mAh of charge, which is nearly a 30% decrease when compared to the 1560 mAh battery the regular DualSense controller carries.
Twitter user Budd’s Controllers, which operates an electronics firm in Gold Coast, Australia, came to this conclusion after a live streaming teardown of the premium gamepad. Not only is the difference in size fairly noticeable, but just how Sony warned, it also has a lower capacity. And while Sony was transparent about the changes coming to the new hardware, the issue here stems from the fact that their gamepads have a documented history of deteriorating battery life after a period of usage.
Check out the battery size difference/ pic.twitter.com/oAOS7yWbiM
— Budd's Controllers (@buddscontroller) January 26, 2023
In their hands-on session presenting the new Dual Sense Edge controller, Sony admitted the new controller would come with a "moderately shorter" battery life. Its figures ranged from 5 to 10 hours of active gaming, depending on the game and the intensity of the session. Sony also said that the normal DualSense should last 12 to 15 hours, but many users have reported a shortened battery lifespan after more than a year of usage. If owners of the original gamepad can barely muster up 8 hours of game time, those that are about to drop $200 on the premium version better be prepared for wired gaming or be satisfied with a 6-hour gaming session.
Indeed, for all of the bashing that Sony’s new hardware is undergoing, it does come prepacked with a braided USB-C cable that is nearly three meters long. Not only would this reduce input latency down to zero, but it would also keep your device topped up while gaming. If that is the trade-off for accessing all of the new features, a smaller or less efficient power supply shouldn't be a deal breaker for those willing to invest in their gaming experience.
With haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, the new PS5 DualSense Edge Controller is bringing an experience that is much more immersive when compared to previous controllers. The ability to adjust the length of the triggers adds to this, and that’s before you factor in the ability to customize and replace nearly everything on the unit, including stick modules and back buttons.
2023 is shaping up as a busy year for Sony, regardless of how you look at it. The DualSense Edge just got released to the public, but reports claim that Sony is already thinking about the PlayStation 6, which will be out later this decade. On top of this, Sony is also working on Project Leonardo. And while repair shops like Budd’s Controllers and the one that noticed a fatal design flaw in the PS5 are necessary to keep the community safe and the corporations honest, Sony's upcoming games are enough to make everyone forget what happened.
