Sony's Response To The DualSense Edge's Disappointing Battery Life Is A $200 Facepalm
Sony is accepting preorders for its premium DualSense Edge wireless controller for the PlayStation 5, which releases in about five weeks (January 26, 2023). It sports several upgrades over the standard DualSense controller, though they apparently come at the expense of battery life. Sony acknowledges this in a statement, in which it says the best solution for gamers who need a longer runtime for their wireless controller is to...wait for it...plug it in.
That response is sure to elicit some eye rolls, as tethering a controller to a console with a cable defeats the purpose of going wireless. But barring a revision with a bigger battery or perhaps a firmware update that optimizes battery drain, it's the best (and only) solution for players who have decided to plunk down $200 for the DualSense Edge and need it to last longer than it does.
In a statement provided to various news outlets, Sony explains that the battery life on the DualSense Edge is "moderately shorter than the original DualSense wireless controller because we've included many more features within the same form factor and ergonomic design."
To Sony's point, the DualSense Edge is a configurable wireless controller with customizable controls that allows gamers to fine tune stick sensitivity and reduce dead zones, it has the ability to save multiple profiles and easily switch between them with a dedicated "Fn" button, and it boasts replaceable stick caps, stick modules, and back buttons.
Some of those features shouldn't (and undoubtedly don't) impact battery life, but the fine tuning capabilities can and evidently do. According to The Verge, which spent some hands-on time with the DualSense Edge at PlayStation's US headquarters, Sony wasn't willing to talk specific numbers in relation to battery life, only that it will be somewhat shorter than the standard DualSense.
"We wanted to strike a good balance between wireless operating time and delivering robust, high-performance features. Additionally, the longer USB braided cable is also great for competitive players who prefer playing with a wired connection to avoid wireless interference—this option preserves battery life," Sony explains.
Here's hoping the battery life hit won't be all that noticeable, and/or that Sony will be able to somehow add more runtime through a firmware update. As someone who has preferred Microsoft's Xbox controllers for years, my preference suddenly shifted with the release of the PS5 and the DualSense—it's an awesome controller...so long as it's holding a charge.
