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DualSense battery roundup

HStallion

HStallion

Member
Oct 25, 2017
62,720
Considering the controller is packed to the gills with hardware I'm not surprised its not getting 15 hours plus in playtime on a single charge. If I can get over 8 consistently I'll be more than happy as I usually charge my controllers between sessions. People bringing up the Switch Pro controller seem to not take this kind of stuff into account. Just the haptics motors alone are several times the size and power of those in the Switch controllers.
 
Bman94

Bman94

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,559
Another gen with shitty battery life in the controllers? Is it the haptic triggers? What is causing all of Sony's controller batteries to be so bad compared to Nintendo's? It's annoying constantly having to charge the controllers everyday.
 
Anarion07

Anarion07

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
2,234
Arklite said:
Whatever works, point being you have to have a quick swap or recharge plan vs the PS3 where I only had to charge my controller once a week. The DualSense is packed with features that Id trade immediately for better battery, personally.
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I wouldn't call charging while playing a recharge plan. I guess many people don't know they can use their phone charger for that... and it doesnt need to charge directly from the PS5 usb or with an official charging dock
 
BrandoBoySP

BrandoBoySP

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,191
xenonium said:
I think the concern is that with non-replaceable batteries, charging after every session is going to hurt battery life over time.
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Will it cause that much damage, though? Most batteries/chargers nowadays make sure they don't charge things past 100%, and manufacturers usually set limits so that the "100%" we see on a battery isn't legitimately 100% of its capacity (which helps preserve life).

Personally, the times I've only ever had problems with the DS4's battery is when I've forgotten to charge it a few days in a row. The battery life sounds like it's, at worst, at the Switch's max. Having a battery life like the Joy-Cons would be fantastic, don't get me wrong, but having the same battery life as the 3DS or Switch seems reasonable imo.
 

ElNino

Member
Nov 6, 2017
3,768
Ariesfirebomb said:
Seriously.

Like do people not charge their controllers after playing? I didn't expect folks to really sit and play video games for 8+ hours straight with no charging/ get up and stretch breaks.
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Reminding my kids to charge the controllers is a problem. I've ordered the charging stand for the PS5 which will hopefully help, but I still envision them yelling at me to plug in a cable for them.
 
Tora

Tora

The Enlightened Wise Ones
Member
Jun 17, 2018
8,651
I'm team AA completely, but I know how polarising the removable battery debate is

I was against AA batteries till I tried eneloops on a bone controller and I simply cannot go back, it's too convenient and long term, you're not bottlenecked by the battery crapping out.
 
degauss

degauss

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,631
Bman94 said:
Another gen with shitty battery life in the controllers? Is it the haptic triggers? What is causing all of Sony's controller batteries to be so bad compared to Nintendo's? It's annoying constantly having to charge the controllers everyday.
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Nintendos controllers poll at a much, much lower rate (3-4x lower?) than the DualShock, which has one of the best input lags of any wireless controller, see previous pic i posted in this thread. Assume dualsense will be similar.
 
Ænima

Ænima

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,513
Portugal
gifyku said:
Internal batteries degrade over time so unless he is saying his brand new DS4 only lasted 4-5 hours, its not an exact comparison.
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Yes. My old DS4s now last 2 hours, while my new DS4 last 8-12 hours.
Seems Dualsense is just a slight improvement, but depends on how heavy a game will use its feautures. Astro Playroom is using all DS feautures heavely so its normal to see it draining much faster.
 
Dr. Doom

Dr. Doom

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,509
I wanted the DualSense to have AA batteries just like the Xbox Controller. There is nothing worse than an in built battery.

My Eneloop last 3 weeks for my Xbox One Pad.
 
Equanimity

Equanimity

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,005
London
This is great. Basically the charge will never run out in a daily session unless you play more than 7 hours on average.
 
DCBA

DCBA

Member
Dec 12, 2018
1,059
ElNino said:
Reminding my kids to charge the controllers is a problem. I've ordered the charging stand for the PS5 which will hopefully help, but I still envision them yelling at me to plug in a cable for them.
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Maybe a powerbank will help, pretty easy to use even for small kids without the risk of damaging the console.
 
wwm0nkey

wwm0nkey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,684
This is why i prefer my eneloop batteries, I know some people here want no battery pack, but combo it with a good set of rechargeables and you good.

Ideally Sony would have just put some more juice in this
 
OgTheEnigma

OgTheEnigma

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,812
Liverpool
Mat-triX said:
I assume it's the touchpad again being the main battery drain, as it always has to sense touches & can never turn it off, just like the DS4.
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I'm pretty sure DS4 battery was bad mainly due to the high bluetooth polling rate. Touchpads should have fairly low power draw.

dragn said:
what with these shitty batteries in controllers? 2 good aa already have 4-5k mah
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It's the Watt-hours which matter more than mAh. The lithium in the Dualsense battery is more energy dense than NiMH batteries. You'll need 3-4 Eneloops to get the same capacity.
 
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degauss

degauss

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,631
xenonium said:
I think the concern is that with non-replaceable batteries, charging after every session is going to hurt battery life over time.
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And it's not like you can't open them and replace the rechargeable battery, I've done it with an old DualShock, it's not difficult.

IFix it call it "easy"

www.ifixit.com

DualShock 4 (CUH-ZCT1U) Battery Replacement

Follow this guide to replace the battery in your DualShock 4 model CUH-ZCT1U controller.
www.ifixit.com www.ifixit.com

Doing this once every 3-4 years, if your controller lasts that long in all other ways, is a more elegant solution than eneloop bullshit.
 
nStruct

nStruct

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
3,171
Seattle, WA
I wish they supported normal batteries like the XB controllers do, but oh well. Hopefully the battery life doesn't degrade as much as my PS4 controllers did.
 
Inti

Inti

Member
Nov 20, 2017
307
Around 10 hours is fine for me. Those haptics make it worthwhile, but hopefully not around 4 hours which is kinda short. Either way, I got used to playing plugged a lot on the PS4, so it will be ok. I really can't wait to try those haptics!
 
Taco_Human

Taco_Human

Member
Jan 6, 2018
4,249
MA
My dualshock 3s suck and auto input presses on their own. I might get a controller for that. Does it work wirelessly or just wired on ps3?
 
Sky87

Sky87

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,871
Still nothing on the charging cable length? Definitely needs to be longer than the PS4.
 
CatAssTrophy

CatAssTrophy

Member
Dec 4, 2017
7,730
Texas
Need those recharge speed numbers. If it's really fast then those folks that "need" >10 hours of charge on the daily could always plug it in while they get up to go take a bathroom break.

If it's averaging about the same as DS4 then I'm good. The last few weekends I've gotten up on Saturday around 8:30am, started playing NMS and didn't get a controller charge warning till around 7pm or so when it's dark. (post clock change) That's completely manageable for me, as someone who has the DS4 charging dock. I have a USB-C charger near my couch too for my phone and laptop so I'm golden.
 
CarterTax

CarterTax

Member
Oct 25, 2017
709
The average length needed prior to charging is more than I'd play during any single play session so that will be fine, and in a year or two when they offer new colors I'll buy a new controller then like I did for my DS4. Also since it charges via USB-C now and most of my devices charge via USB-C as well, there are a few near where I play my games at anyway if I ever manage to get a low battery indicator.
 
Zutrax

Zutrax

"This guy are sick"
Member
Oct 31, 2017
4,223
Guess it's time for me to order a length USB C cable so I can have my controller plugged in from my chair while I play then.
 
Dancrane212

Dancrane212

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,984
Do we know if the controller works without a battery when plugged into a power source like the DS3/4? Long term it's an easy way to keep controller in use, even with battery issues.
 
canderous

canderous

Prophet of Truth
Member
Jun 12, 2020
8,856
z1Ban9U.gif
 
OP
OP
xenonium

xenonium

Member
Apr 3, 2020
257
degauss said:
And it's not like you can't open them and replace the rechargeable battery, I've done it with an old DualShock, it's not difficult.

IFix it call it "easy"

www.ifixit.com

DualShock 4 (CUH-ZCT1U) Battery Replacement

Follow this guide to replace the battery in your DualShock 4 model CUH-ZCT1U controller.
www.ifixit.com www.ifixit.com

Doing this once every 3-4 years, if your controller lasts that long in all other ways, is a more elegant solution than eneloop bullshit.
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I agree that this doesn't look particularly different, but the moment there are steps like this, 99% of people aren't touching it:
Detach the motherboard ribbon connecting the two sides of the controller by pulling it straight out with your fingers.
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degauss

degauss

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,631
Inti said:
Either way, I got used to playing plugged a lot on the PS4, so it will be ok. I really can't wait to try those haptics!
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DualShock wireless latency is so good that plugged in actually has slightly worse latency than wireless, just in case you didn't know and are ever try-harding in multiplayer :P Personally I don't even have the gaming monitor so don't really care myself, but maybe this is useful info to some people.
 
SxP

SxP

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,887
I like the Switch's Pro Controllers 40 hour battery life. But in the end, I was never really bothered by the DS4's battery life. So this is similar, so it's whatever for me.
 
Lord Fanny

Lord Fanny

Member
Apr 25, 2020
26,322
I think I'll probably just turn the trigger and feedback stuff off for maximum battery life in the end
 
Cleve

Cleve

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,022
Am I the only one that ran a long usb-c charger underneath/into my couch? I usually use it for my cell phone/switch controller but I just reach in beneath the cushions and there's 3' of cable connected to a laptop charger that has no problem topping me off if I need it then I can tuck it back completely out of sight.
 
degauss

degauss

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,631
xenonium said:
I agree that this doesn't look particularly different, but the moment there are steps like this, 99% of people aren't touching it:
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It's like a little molex connector, no different than the power cable on a hard disk drive or something.

Yeah 99% of people probably won't do it, but 99% of people will fuck up their controller in other ways before needing to refresh the battery. Niche case with a niche solution.
 

Right

Member
Nov 24, 2017
1,073
10 hours is good, 7 is not enough though. I'll see where it lands with my usage
 
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