I haven't used a 'premium' controller before. For me, the cost of a regular controller being around £60 is enough for me. I've never had a problem with a gaming controller outside of stick drift - when I fail, it's usually a skill issue.
It was intriguing to get my hands on something that's supposed to help me raise my game, then. Will the extra customisability boost my gaming ability and performance across genres? Will it make me feel like a pro, or at least improve my gaming comfort?
For the RRP of £209.99, I'm not sure what to expect. Surely, there's only so much a controller can do for the gaming experience, right? Let's see.
Presentation
The controller comes with a really nice carry case. The DualSense Edge has a lot of parts to it, so I'm glad there's a single place to put it. If you fancy switching out your stick caps or back buttons between games or on the go, there's no chance of you having left them at the bottom of a drawer somewhere - it's all nice and compact. You can even charge the controller through a velcro opening in the case, in the event that you desperately need to get some battery in whilst simultaneously on the move with the Edge in your backpack. This hasn't happened to me just yet, but I'm sure someone's on the go enough for this to be a real concern.
The DualSense Edge is a tad heftier than its standard counterpart, coming in at 325 grams as opposed to 282. I do like this - it feels like there's something of substance in my hands, without getting to the point where my fingers need a rest after holding it.
I must say, the piece of plastic protecting the switchable stick modules feels like a bit of a misstep to me. It's made of a shiny plastic and can be easily removed for quick repairs, but even after owning the controller for a short period of time, it's an absolute magnet for scratches and fingerprints. If I'm not polishing the thing between play sessions, the 'premium' feel the DualSense Edge is going for is tarnished somewhat by a tacky-looking piece. Even compared to the standard DualSense with its matte area around the PS button and sticks, this looks a bit two-bit in comparison.
MORE BUTTONS
I love having more buttons. I've never understood why it's standard to just waste all the button-pressing potential my fingers wrapped around the back of the controller hold. I could be pressing so many damn buttons.
Thankfully, the DualSense Edge provides. You can easily add one of two options to the back of the controller - some levers and half domes. These can then be assigned to any regular button so that as you play, you can press the paddle instead of the regular button. There are far more options if you want to go further, too - you can make Triangle equal R2 at the touch of a button if you want - but for my purposes, it was handy having a couple of extra options.
It's easy to get to grips with too. The Fn buttons just below the analogue sticks can be pressed along with another button to access a preset profile, meaning you don't have to trawl through menus when switching games to change control schemes.
The back paddles are decent, but took a bit of getting used to. After I stopped accidentally pressing them and got my act together, it did feel somewhat freeing. Being able to use a previously-unbound option to jump in Fortnite meant I could turn at the same time, giving me a tiny edge I previously didn't have in gunfights.
Still, though, I can't help but feel as though the DualSense Edge missed a trick here. If I'm paying £209.99 for a controller, I kind of want to feel like I'm getting one over on my opponents. Alternative inputs would be a great addition. For example, in UFC 4, I struggle to press both Square and X to hit an uppercut. Imagine if I could just bind that combo to the back paddle! That'd be an absolute treat, and help me actually get an edge in-game.
Customisability
I've mentioned aspects of the customisation already, but I'll get more into it here.
My favourite bit of quality-of-life customisation is the trigger stroke tweaking. There's a slider beside both L2 and R2 which allows you to change when the trigger stops in its place after pressing it. So, if you're playing something that requires a bit more trigger range of motion, or perhaps you want to enjoy the haptics of the controller, you might want to use the highest setting. I like to put it on the lowest setting for shooters, though. It makes the trigger finger feel ultra-fast and gives me the illusion of being a slick gunner (even though I probably missed the shot).
The wired connection works just fine, and the controller even comes with an add-on to stop the wire coming out of the socket, allowing you to jostle around and keep yourself connected.
The controller comes with two alternatives to the standard analogue stick caps - one with a high dome and one with a low dome. It's handy - the high-domed ones are great for shooters where you need extra thumb control, and the low ones are perfect for fast-paced fighters and the like. Basically, there's enough variety to keep things comfy.
The settings menu also allows you to fiddle with the deadzones and sensitivity of your analogue sticks, with different sensitivity curves working best for different genres. You can have even the slightest tilt register maximum output, or have a lower sensitivity at the start of the movement with higher sensitivity at the end for both precision and speed. The customisation here goes quite deep, so the more hardcore among you might see a lot of benefit here - you can even use different settings for each stick.
You can also switch out the stick module when issues like stick drift occur. I do wish every controller had this ability - for around £20 you can replace one of your analogue sticks by just sliding it out. It's a shame stick drift and other issues still occur, but the ability to replace it more cheaply than buying an entirely new controller is at least a bonus - I'd never be able to recommend a controller that costs over £200 which doesn't offer this functionality.
That's still my main issue, though. The DualSense Edge costs £209.99. That's a huge amount of money for a controller. Unless you find yourself absolutely blitzing through normal DualSenses and need the ability to switch modules to save yourself some money, I don't think all the customisation in the world makes it worth that much. Not to me, at least.
The DualSense Edge definitely has its place for super-hardcore console gamers, but if, like me, you've never really had a huge issue with your controllers in the past, you're better off putting that couple hundred towards something a bit fancier. PSVR 2 is coming soon, after all…
