With the lack of PlayStation 5 for years a little looser lately, chances are you are a new PlayStation 5 owner. There’s a lot to love about Sony’s latest console; However, if you’ve spent a lot of time gaming, you know that the DualSense gamepad’s battery isn’t one of them.
But fret not: there are a handful of settings and best practices you can consider to improve your DualSense controller’s battery life. Note that this guide does not apply to the Standard, Standard, Vanilla, DualSense controller that comes with the PS5 the chic new DualSense Edge controller (which seems to have even worse battery life, believe it or not).
Continue reading: Here’s how to get more out of your $200 PS5 DualSense Edge controller
Optimize haptics and adaptive triggers
While the technology that makes the DualSense adaptive triggers The work is cool, additional motors require additional power from the already taxed battery. And the same goes for the haptics/rumble of the controller.
Luckily, the PS5 includes some settings to tweak both within the labyrinthine menus of the consoles’ operating system. How to find them:
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Press the PlayStation button to bring up Control Center and navigate to Accessories > DualSense Wireless Controller > Controller Settings > Vibration Intensity / Trigger Effect Intensity. Here you’ll find two self-explanatory options, including the ability to kill the adaptive triggers or haptics entirely.
Even with the trigger effect intensity set to weak, I find that the resistance of the L2/R2 triggers still communicates the novelty of the feature (and isn’t that annoying in my opinion). Vibration Intensity controls the overall intensity of the controller’s haptics. I prefer medium but you can set it to weak or off.
The best battery savings come when both the adaptive trigger and haptic features are turned off entirely, but that might not be as fun. Setting both to low or a combination of low and medium lets you split the difference between less drain on the battery and a fun tactile feel when something’s happening on the screen.
Make sure your controllers are charging while the PS5 is asleep (and get used to plugging in the controller).
Do you know what shit is? Turn on your PS5 only to find it didn’t charge its controller. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.
You’ll know your PS5 is in sleep mode when an orange light glows after you shut down your PS5. To enter sleep mode, use the controller’s PlayStation button to bring up the horizontal control center. Navigate to the power icon and select “Enter Rest Mode”.
Now let’s make sure your DualSense controller is charging in sleep mode.
Go to Settings > System > Power saving > Features available in sleep mode and select whether the front USB ports should always be powered or only for a period of three hours after entering sleep mode.
You’ll know your controller is charging in sleep mode when its LEDs (finally a use for these things) are pulsing softly orange. Whether you set it to charge for three hours or “always” is up to you; In general, the controller should be fully charged within three hours.
Within the same power saving settings you’ll also find settings to keep your PS5 connected to the internet when it’s in rest mode, which means the device will download updates while it’s asleep. This won’t improve battery life, but it can save you time.
Make sure your controller turns itself off (and turn it off when not in use).
Another way to extend battery life is to ensure that your controller turns itself off after it hasn’t been touched for a while. From the home screen, navigate to Settings > System > Battery Saver and the third option is “Set time before controllers turn off”.
You have four options here that will force your controller to turn off if left untouched for 10, 30, or 60 minutes (or never). The right setting for this depends largely on your application.
If your computer is used exclusively or mostly for gaming, there shouldn’t be too many scenarios where your controller goes unused for 10 minutes or more (although death stranding may differ). If that’s you, it’s best to go for the fastest option and have your controllers turn off after just 10 minutes of non-use.
It can also be helpful to manually turn off the controller when you know you’ll need it for a while (e.g. while the console is downloading a big game or update). To turn off a controller, use the controller’s PlayStation button to bring up Control Center and navigate to Accessories > DualSense Wireless Controller > Turn Off. Make a habit of doing this whenever you don’t need the controller for a while, and that time adds up.
However, if you enjoy using your PS5 to watch movies, it might be a bit annoying to have a controller that turns off during an average TV episode. A 30 minute shutdown might be best. However, if you use your PS5 as a media center then you really should consider a media remote. It becomes easier to control different streaming services and guarantees that the battery life of your DualSense is only ever used for gaming.
Turn down the speaker volume (and turn it off in games)
That little speaker on your DualSense sure is neat. But what’s not neat is that it needs battery power to work. You can adjust the overall performance to lower the volume and thus use less voltage from the battery. Press the PlayStation button to bring up Control Center and navigate to Accessories > DualSense Wireless Controller > Controller Settings > Controller (General) > Controller Speakers.
As you move the slider, you will hear the volume change in the controller speaker. To my ears roasted from live performances, it sounds like it’s essentially turned off at the lowest setting, but that could get you in trouble if you’re not careful.
Some games use DualSense’s built-in speaker, so double-check the sound, controller, and accessibility settings of various games you’re playing to make sure the in-game controller speaker is also turned off – otherwise you may be missing it Sound hints depending on the game. The location of this setting varies from game to game.
In returnFor example, see the Controller Speaker setting under Audio. Here it is a slider that you can adjust. But in a game like demons soulsFind the “Controller Speaker Mode” toggle in the settings under “Controller”.
Get a super-long USB cable (and use the USB-A connector)
The charging cable that comes with the PS5 gets the job done, but it’s a bit short. Let’s face it, since battery life on a DualSense controller is just as bad, if not worse, than the DualShock 4 – RIP DualShock brand – you’re going to be charging this thing a lot. The best course of action is to pretend it’s the ’00s all over again, and prepare to play at least some games over a wired connection from time to time (you’ll survive, I assure you).
I would suggest a USB Type-A to USB-C cable that is at least 9 feet (2.7 m) longwhich is roughly the length the original Xbox offered. However, USB cables can travel quite a distance before getting in trouble. USB 2.0 (that’s the rectangular USB-A slot on the front of your PS5) can be up to 30 meters long. Go as long as is convenient for your space.
Also, there are some urban myths floating around about whether or not the USB-C port on the front of the PS5 charges faster. Without very tightly controlled testing over multiple charge cycles, it’s hard to say a thing or two. But as a best practice, you’ll want to stick with the front Type-A when loading controllers, as the USB-C connector is better used for things like ultra-fast external storage.
Turn off the lights on the controller
Perhaps my least-loved aspect of modern consoles is the obvious need for manufacturers to stick lights on them. Little else ruins the mood of a dimly lit room and a great game like a damn LED penetrating that warm blanket of darkness (which I never want to come out of).
While you can’t completely turn off the lights on the DualSense, you can dim them to a much more tolerable level of brightness if you so choose.
Press the PlayStation button to bring up Control Center and navigate to Accessories > DualSense Wireless Controller > Controller Settings > Controller Indicator Brightness. This allows you to select the brightness level of your controller’s lights.
While you can’t completely kill it (and the shape and touch bar mean a quick flick of Gaffer Tape won’t do the job like it would on an Xbox pad), you have the choice of low, medium, and light. Go ahead and face it Set it to at least dim or medium.
With all of the DualSense’s many features, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the battery life is so poor. While we can all hope for the day when a better, more power-efficient controller arrives — or battery technology finally moves beyond lithium-ion — these settings tweaks and best practices will reward you with a controller that lasts at least a little longer than it does would out of the box.
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