The PS4 controller: touchpad, speaker and headphone jack, on 2013 technology
Indicative price captured on Amazon on September 21, 2026. It may have changed: check it on Amazon before buying.
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Thirteen years after launch, the DualShock 4 is still one of the most broadly compatible controllers on the market: PS4 natively, PC over Bluetooth or cable, and support in virtually any emulator or game with controller input. When something has been around this long, support stops being a problem.
You can plug any headphones straight into the controller, including the IEMs on this same site, and have chat and game audio without touching the console. It's a convenience PC controllers usually don't offer.
The touchpad is still underused, but in the games that do use it — maps, inventories, gestures — it replaces several buttons. On PC, many emulators also use it as an improvised mouse.
Scores from 0 to 10 assigned by our editors from the spec sheet and compared within each category. These aren't manufacturer figures: they're our judgement. You can read the method in how we choose.
| Sticks & triggers | |
|---|---|
| Stick type | Potentiometer (the technology before Hall effect) |
| Trigger type | Analog |
| Adjustable dead zone | No |
| Response curves | — |
| Adjustable trigger travel | No |
| Back buttons | None |
| Latency & connectivity | |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth + micro USB |
| Polling rate | — |
| Polling interval | — |
| Battery life | — |
| Ergonomics & build | |
| Weight | 210 g |
| Vibration | Classic dual-motor vibration |
| Headphone output | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Motion sensor |
| Compatibility | PlayStation 4 (and PC over Bluetooth or cable) |
| Other | |
| Warranty | 1 years |
| Other listing details | |
| Touchpad | Multi-touch and clickable pad on the front |
| Speaker | Built-in speaker alongside the 3.5 mm jack |
| Charging | Over micro USB, even with the console in rest mode |
| Buttons | 20 |
| Sticks | Sony states no Hall effect or TMR: these are potentiometer sticks, liable to develop drift with use |
| Context | A 2013 design; still the standard PS4 controller and a common choice on PC |
Fields with no data show as “—”: it means neither Amazon nor the manufacturer publishes that figure. We'd rather leave it empty than estimate it.
This isn't the controller for that: on top of a controller's inherent disadvantage against mouse and keyboard, its potentiometer sticks and lack of adjustable dead zones leave it behind any modern Hall controller at half the price.
Millions of hours of Rocket League have been played on this controller, so it works. But it's precisely the game that wears sticks out fastest, and here there's no Hall, no TMR and no replaceable modules: drift arrives sooner or later. An 8BitDo Ultimate 2 costs less and doesn't have that problem.
Comfortable, with a headphone jack and compatible with PC and PS4. Minecraft asks nothing this controller can't give, and for playing on the sofa it's still perfectly valid.
It works on PC over Bluetooth and is very familiar, but for its price there are controllers with Hall sticks that will last considerably longer. It makes sense if you already have a PS4 and want a second controller.
Ideal for: Someone who needs a spare PS4 controller or a highly compatible one for PC, and prioritises universal support over stick technology.
It's the most established product on the whole site: 124,042 reviews at a 4.6 average. That figure speaks to a reliable, hugely popular design sold for over a decade. One caveat: the rating reflects years of satisfaction with a 2013 controller, not that its technology matches today's Hall or TMR pads.
The quality is a 10/10, joysticks are really smooth when moving around, really easy to use like the others, connected to my console really quick without any hassle, the battery last really long almost the entire day, button reactions are really precise when playing fast paced games, overall I give this product a 5 star rating.
Bought this for a friend and he’s been very happy with it. Connected easily, works perfectly, and all the buttons and controls respond well. No issues so far.
Good
Works great 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Reviews reproduced from the product page on Amazon on the capture date (September 21, 2026). We haven't edited or translated them: they're what the listing itself shows.
