PS5 players, rejoice, for it looks like Sony’s about to drop an updated version of its DualSense controller that offers up plenty more gaming mileage than its predecessor – at least, according to a listing spotted on Best Buy’s Canadian site.
According to the product page the DualSense V2 – marked at CA$89.99 – is set to offer improved battery capacity, sporting “exceptional 12-hour battery life on a full charge.” What’s more, it even comes with a dedicated charging station that brings with it “easy click-in charging.” The original DualSense remains one of the best PS5 controllers around, but this V2 model looks to enhance things further by patching up its biggest weak spot.
Should the upgraded model materialize, this would certainly involve a switch from the paltry 1,560mAh battery utilized by the original DualSense – an element that has long frustrated fans trying to get their game on for long periods. Many players are lucky to see eight to ten hours of life on the DualSense V1 – this writer typically gets the lower end of that range before having to whack it back on charge – so the promise of more time swinging around in top PS5 exclusives like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, or exploring the Dark Place in the best games like Alan Wake 2, is excellent news.
Of course, a few extra hours isn’t quite the major leap we were hoping for. For comparison, the Xbox wireless controller is rated for up to 40 hours of playtime on a single set of AA batteries, though it lacks many of the more sophisticated features the DualSense packs such as haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. At the very least, 12 hours is plenty of time to play through the likes of Like a Dragon Gaiden and The Callisto Protocol from start to finish – the time spent on charge serving as a reminder that we should probably go out and touch grass at some point…
The question then becomes ‘what of the DualSense Edge?’ Sony’s premium controller dropped in January last year boasting remappable buttons, adjustable triggers, and swappable stick modules. However, the pro-grade pad also came with a battery capacity of just 1,050mAh – a massive downgrade even to the DualSense V1, and the biggest qualm we had with it in our PS5 DualSense Edge review.
Now a year on from launch, we’re hoping that Sony will find a way to give the Edge a bit more juice too. Though judging from the fact that it doesn’t already use the same 1,560mAh battery as the standard DualSense tells us the tech firm may have to do some re-jigging internally to make it work.
With a potential DualSense V2 on the way, now’s the perfect time to keep an eye out for any PS5 controller deals that may spring up for first-gen models. If you’ve been looking to grab a second pad to play some of the best PS5 co-op games with, or use as a backup during those long periods spent exploring the best PS5 open world games, then your options could very well be about to expand.