If you were hoping after the recent PSN outage that this week’s State of Play would coincide with some apologetic hardware deals, I’m not sure you’re going to be happy. The DualSense Edge has dropped in price, returning to its lowest-ever cost at Amazon and bringing back its Black Friday discount. Unfortunately, that isn’t quite as exciting as it sounds.
What it equates to is that the DualSense Edge is less than $10 under its regular price right now, going for $190 at Amazon. If you’re sensing sarcasm from me, or any pinches of salt, it’s because last month marked two years of this controller being on the shelves. That’s two years of Sony refusing to let down its discount hair so that people can actually climb up and afford its PlayStation pro controller goodness.
At first, seeing measly amounts come off what is one of the best PS5 controllers was pretty funny. But it’s been two years now. Other officially licensed PS5 gamepads with more functionality than the DualSense Edge are priced lower, or at the same level as this, and all of those have seen generous discounts by this stage. Even Razer’s $249 Wolverine V2 Pro has dropped to below $190, and if Razer can do it, Sony definitely can.
Should you buy the DualSense Edge?
For all my angst about its stubborn pricing, I do recommend the DualSense Edge to anyone who feels like the regular PS5 controller doesn’t give them enough functionality or comfort. The magnetic back paddles and rounded grips of the Edge add so much to a revolutionary gaming peripheral, and no other officially licensed PS5 controller has access to adaptive trigger resistance or haptic feedback.
On the other hand, it is hard to ignore some of the competition that’s compatible with PS5 and PC. The Victrix Pro BFG and the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro both give you four back buttons, so they’re a lot better suited to competitive play. Nacon’s controller is the same price as the DualSense Edge, but it also gets you Hall Sensor thumbsticks that are immune to the drift issues you’ve probably encountered with the regular DualSense. PDP’s excellent BFG controller is priced even lower at $179, and it has a modular design that lets you flip around its facial components into the configuration that works for you and the game you’re playing.
For as comfortable as the DualSense Edge is, I struggle to recommend it over those other two options, particularly for the amount of value for money they can net you when playing competitive or really difficult games. They also get discounted more frequently – and get genuine discounts while they’re at it.
The good news is, as the DualSense Edge continues to age, the likelihood of it seeing more affordable prices is only going up. As I’ve hinted, it actually hurts Sony to keep its homemade pro controller so expensive because it just serves to make the other options better. I have hope because the Elite Series 2 controller on the Xbox side stayed pricey for ages, but in the last year or so you almost never see it at full price.
If you’re still searching for your dream gamepad, read more about the best PC controllers, the best Xbox Series X controllers, and the best Nintendo Switch controllers.