PS5 DualSense controller offers a new level of immersion — here's a look inside

PS5 DualSense controller
(Image credit: Sony)

While the Xbox Series X has been able to easily and verifiably boast about its performance advantage on the PS5, Sony has put a lot of weight behind more subjective experiences like its 3D audio and the advanced haptics in the PS5 DualSense controller.

We'll have our own hands-on impressions of the PS5 DualSense soon, but a teardown has by TronicsFix offers us a glimpse inside the next-gen controller to reveal how it manages to deliver a new level of interactivity with your games (via Engadget).

In the video, you can see the DualShock 4 internals compared to the DualSense controller and while the layout remains similar the difference is night and day with every mm of space filled in the DualSense. 

Some of this is the roughly 50% larger battery, but the haptic motors in the bottom section of the controller jump out at you with the controller precisely molded around them. By comparison, the simple vibration motors on the DualShock 4 are roughly half the size. As the teardown continues the motherboards show similar discrepancies with considerably more and much larger chips on the DualSense controller.

One set of components that, at least according to this teardown, appears to have gone virtually unchanged are the analog sticks. While DualShock 4 owners haven't seen the degree of drift issues experienced by Nintendo Switch owners, it has been a prevalent problem so it's a little disheartening to hear there weren't upgrades there.

By far, the most visually impressive pieces of the PS5 DualSense are the adaptive trigger mechanisms. Inside, is a spiraled gear that is controlled by the motor on the triggers to adjust the feel and resistance. Holding the DualShock 4 trigger system up next to it puts them in stark contrast with literally nothing more than a simple direct trigger on the older controller.

DualShock 4 trigger mechanism next to PS5 DualSense adaptive trigger mechanism

(Image credit: TronicsFix)

Another positive note for the teardown, is the overall ease of repairability for the controller. There was little adhesion that would cause breakage during a repair and is modular enough to allow for individual pieces to be repaired or replaced.

As I said, look out for our PS5 review soon including our reviewer's thoughts on what the new PS5 DualSense controller is like in action.

Sean Riley

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more.  Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.