The Sony PlayStation 5 comes with a brand new controller called DualSense, which features a new design and enhanced tactile feel. In our short test period of the console and controller, we really found the controller quite impressive, except that its full potential is limited only to a few PS5 titles. The glory of DualSense seems to be short-lived, although we are now reading reports from users complaining about deviating the joystick.
We’ve seen this notorious problem before, specifically on the Nintendo Switch JoyCon controls, but in this case, the issue has reached a whole new level. According IGN, a U.S. law firm sued Sony with a class action claiming that PlayStation 5 DualSense controllers are defective due to the diversion and calling Sony’s conduct “fraudulent, misleading, illegal and unfair”.
If you don’t know what a controller or joystick drift is, it’s a defect where the console detects movement on one or both of the analog sticks on your controller, even when you’re not touching them. To understand more about this problem, i solve this published a detailed analysis of the controller by disassembling and examining the various components within it.
According to the analysis, the joystick modules are manufactured by a Japanese company called Alps (formerly Alps Electric, now Alps Alpine), specializing in input and detection devices. They are not exclusive to the DualSense controller, as iFixit claims it is the same hardware used in almost all popular controllers, including the DualShock 4, the Xbox One controller, the Nintendo Switch Pro controller and even the new Xbox One Elite controller.
That said, the real problem (possibly) lies in a smaller component called a potentiometer. Each joystick has two of these: one to detect up / down movement, while the other detects left / right. The way a potentiometer works is that a strip of material with a known uniform strength value is taken with a terminal at each end to apply a known voltage across the strip. A third terminal called a wiper is added, which slides back and forth along the strip. Based on the location of the wiper, the voltage reading on the wiper changes. The pot cleaner used in the DualSense controller works in the same way, except that instead of moving in a straight line, it slides around a semicircular track made of printed carbon film. The joystick movement rotates two small axes, each connected to a cleaner. The position of the wipers is translated into voltage values, which are read by the controller to determine the position and movement of the joystick. In addition to these, the joysticks also include a spring that brings the handles back to their original center position and a push button that most controllers offer on their joysticks.
Image: iFixit
There are several reasons why these joysticks exhibit ‘float’ behavior. First of all, iFixit says the potentiometers’ suggested life cycle is not up to par. The Alps specification sheet for the RKJXV series, a ThumbPointer (stick controller) made for gaming purposes, suggests an operational life of 2,000,000 cycles. Apparently, variants of this model number are listed next to many joystick replacements for PlayStation, Xbox and Switch Pro Controller. An iFixit engineer went on to calculate controller interactions by testing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) with ten different 30-second intervals, noting that about 100 full pot revolutions per minute were done. If you didn’t play a first-person shooter as intense as COD, you would still have an average of 80 full spins per minute, which is about 2,000,000 spins in 25,000 minutes, which means only 209 days playing a conservative 2 hours a day. If you increase a level with 120 revolutions per minute, it will drop to 139 days at 2 hours per day. This hypothetically means that Alps is evaluating your joystick with a life span of only 4 to 7 months. Although these numbers don’t really mean that all joysticks on a DualSense controller would start to fluctuate, this can be a potential failure factor.
Several other factors may or may not lead to the deviation of the joystick, as listed by iFixit. One of them may be the wear of the pots, since the wiper pad against the resistive pad creates imperfections, thus bringing changes in the voltage readings at the terminals. Another reason may be the fatigue of the spring, in which the self-centering mechanism can stretch over time, creating a new central point. In this situation, the potentiometers continue to read the relative position of the joystick accurately, but the position itself is not correct. Other potential factors for the deviation of the joystick may be the stretching of the material over time and contamination due to dust, dirt and moisture.
In any case, it is better to base your expectations and calculate some repairs or even a replacement in your budget, in case you need one in a few months. If you plan on getting your hands on the new PlayStation 5, be sure to check out our refueling guide.