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DS4 build quality is garbage. Why would Sony make such a cheap controller?

Pimpbaa

Member
If your triggers are sticking they are most likely broke. The triggers pivot on small little plastic pegs and when one of these pegs breaks off the trigger, the trigger gets pushed to the side and thus sticks. There are replacement triggers on ebay. A temporary semi fix is to remove the springs from the triggers because they are what pushes the triggers to the side. But this makes the triggers mushy and too sensitive. It's bullshit they break in the first place tho, the little plastic pegs are way too small.
 

Joco

Member
The controller needs a redesign. The shape and feel of it are fine, but the battery life is unacceptable. Hopefully Sony releases a version without the LED light and a battery with a higher capacity.
 
Thread inspired me to go ahead with the XB1 stick mod as I had a spare XB1 controller, lol:

HKRP3tN.jpg


Once I figured everything out, wasn't too bad.

Still deciding if I want to keep them in or not as having higher sticks does screw with the intended ergonomics of the controller. It's why I couldn't handle KontrolFreeks (even CQCs)
I can say for sure tho that official OEM XB1 sticks REALLY do perfectly fit on the DS4's analog shafts (O___o)
 

Sushi Nao

Member
Agree with everything in the op. I'm on my 3rd ds4 in a year and a half, and this latest one is starting to go too. Biggest problem I've had with the ps4.
 

GavinGT

Banned
Battery swap (which almost doubles battery life) is literally 4 screws (easily visible, so wont void warranty) and then you plug in the new one, it takes 5 minutes tops and costs ~$10. if you can change the battery on the wii u gampad, you can change the battery on the ds4

5 minutes, LOL. Don't leave out the part about the pressure tabs, which can easily take 30 minutes of frustrated effort to circumvent. And then the triggers with the tiny springs that can pop out and leave you on your hands and knees searching for another hour, not to mention the time spent figuring out how to put them back in. Also, there's the fact that many of the battery vendors are out to scam you with shitty batteries. This is hardly a simple task.
 
Yeah, I tried one out at a demo station and it definitely feels really cheap and flimsy. The Xbox One controller is a very noticeable leap in build quality.
 

Kieli

Member
I can notice the analog stick rubber wearing off. As well, the mini-USB hub in the front of the controller is somewhat loose. It's why I now don't bother to take the cord out of the controller.

Honestly unacceptable given it costs $75 CAD.
 

KingBroly

Banned
I can notice the analog stick rubber wearing off. As well, the mini-USB hub in the front of the controller is somewhat loose. It's why I now don't bother to take the cord out of the controller.

Honestly unacceptable given it costs $75 CAD.

I'm not happy with the constant increase of controller prices, tbh. I'm not really seeing any added benefit to gameplay from these things.
 

Tobor

Member
Hundreds of hours on my launch DS4. It's perfect.

Second controller I bought is perfect as well.

I'm fine with the build quality.
 

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
They are crap... bad design, horrible battery life.. sticks that peel.. triggers that break.

I've broken 2 with normal use in less than a year.

Strange as I never replaced a DS3.. though I went through a few 360 pads.. but I used them considerably more.. and threw them a few times.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Yes, really not a fan. The battery life is simply unacceptable for a standard controller, and it feels cheap overall.

What hurts the most though is that they went with the crappy standard dualshock d-pad when they could easily have implemented the GODLIKE dpad from the Vita. :(

Sony cheaped out on this one, unfortunately.
 

MilkyJoe

Member
From a purely anecdotal stance, my local Game has an Xbox and a PS4 set up for people to try out. Either the Xbox never gets played with or the PS4 pads are really bad quality. I mean they are in proper tatters.
 

stay gold

Member
Just got my new PS4 today, hoping the sticks hold up better than the awful launch ones.

Also I had forgotten that Sony insists on having 2 foot long charging cables. What size house are these things designed for exactly?
 

Sjefen

Member
Only problem I had so far with one of my two DS4 controllers is my youngest child spilled some sugary juice over my x button. Now its sluggish as hell....DS3 was way worse, dont know how many I bought over the years
 
Just got my new PS4 today, hoping the sticks hold up better than the awful launch ones.

Also I had forgotten that Sony insists on having 2 foot long charging cables. What size house are these things designed for exactly?
I use my samsung galaxy S3 battery loader to charge my PS4 controller. I have a power socket near my couch. It's an easier (and safer) solution that doesn't involve me grabbing my USB cable out of the closet every 8 hours to connect it my PS4.
 
Had mine since launch with no issues. Have a total of 4 I cycle through so I never notice battery issues. I just put them in a drawer when done and zero issues.
 
Can't judge on durability since I rarely play, but I think they're great. Definitely an improvement over DS3 - it has a variety of different surface textures, nice weight to it, etc etc.

Is OP used to leather-wrapped controllers made of aluminum or something?
 

bosseye

Member
I bought my PS4 a couple of months after launch - the pad has been fine thus far, probably thousands of hours of gaming since purchase. No issues with the rubber, triggers etc, long may it continue.

My only gripe is battery life. I seem to get barely 4-5 hours from a charge.
 
For the PS4 Controller, here's my hotfix list.

For the crappy degrading joysticks, buy replacement Xbox One joysticks from a chinease vendor on ebay for like 1/3 bucks. Alternatively, you can buy plastic cover, but I found these have bad texture and give the controller a cheap feel.

For sticky R1 and L1 Buttons, stick a knife and remove the buttons, put a drop of oil (wd-40) into the shafts where the button go up and down after cleaing things with an air can. They won't stick after that.

If your R1 and R2 button start acting up, order a rubber pad kit from a chinease vendor, should cost you three bucks again... Or if you're cheap like me and have a "Shoo Goo" tube, place a an thin layer of shoo goo on top of the rubber pad to protect it from Sony's bad trigger design, which makes them cut into the rubber after a while.

Finally, for battery life, you can buy higher capacity batteries from ebay.

All in all, for ten bucks, if you're a do-it yourself kind of guy, you can fix most of the issues... Which ends up being a better deal that paying for shipping to Sony or buying a new controller in the long run.
 

Albo

Member
My r2 trigger's already creaking and worn 1 month after I bought my ps4. Granted I do a lot of intensive commands on it while playing fighting games but still I didn't expect it to happen this early. I tried the pencil trick but doesn't seem to have worked and I'm to hesitant to open my pad up.
 

nib95

Banned
My r2 trigger's already creaking and worn 1 month after I bought my ps4. Granted I do a lot of intensive commands on it while playing fighting games but still I didn't expect it to happen this early. I tried the pencil trick but doesn't seem to have worked and I'm to hesitant to open my pad up.

You don't have to open it up. Creaking triggers just means one or more of the screws on the back of the pad are improperly tightened or torqued. I never had creaking issues till once I myself tighted one corner screw on the back a little too tight. Soon as I loosened it a bit, the creaking went away.
 

Bluenoser

Member
My original controller that came with my launch PS4 seems like it's made of some cheap rubber that will eventually tear off with use (hasn't yet) but the 2nd controller I bought seems like it's made differently and the sticks are holding up fine. People complaining about the sticks, are they from a launch PS4 or even from separate DS4 controllers bought later?

The way I understood it was Sony took the feedback and improved them, but maybe I'm wrong.
 
The cheapest crap on the DS4 is the label on the back (with the UPC code and model number). Did they print these from stock labels bought at Office Max? The print rubs off in like a few weeks of use. My launch DS4's label is almost completely white now. Not that it's a big deal, but it's indicative of the quality of these controllers. I have to imagine that they are engineering a new DS4 rev.
 

Riptwo

Member
I've already had three DS4s break on me, and it's a pain to get Sony to fix them every time. I had the R2 buttons break on my two launch controllers within a week of each other, and after shipping them off to Sony, only one replacement was returned to me. It took an extra month to convince them to send me my second controller again.

While I was down two controllers, I picked up a couple of new white ones, and now the left joystick on one of those has stopped reliably working. It doesn't seem to recognize the proper "up" position, and trying to run in nearly any game means that it'll repeatedly glitch out and switch between walking and running every few seconds.

Since the NES era, I've prevously only had one controller fail on me (a Halo Reach LE with some dodgy soldering), so I'm getting pretty fed up with the DS4, no matter how much I like the feel of the controller.
 

Liamc723

Member
My original controller that came with my launch PS4 seems like it's made of some cheap rubber that will eventually tear off with use (hasn't yet) but the 2nd controller I bought seems like it's made differently and the sticks are holding up fine. People complaining about the sticks, are they from a launch PS4 or even from separate DS4 controllers bought later?

The way I understood it was Sony took the feedback and improved them, but maybe I'm wrong.

I've had 4 controllers since launch, and every single one has had the left thumbstick rubbed away. I'm getting a 5th controller in a couple of days. It's ridiculous.
 

ZeroEdge

Member
While I was down two controllers, I picked up a couple of new white ones, and now the left joystick on one of those has stopped reliably working. It doesn't seem to recognize the proper "up" position, and trying to run in nearly any game means that it'll repeatedly glitch out and switch between walking and running every few seconds.

This is happening to me as well, my main DS4 that came with the system is fine the extra one I bought (during Launch) has the left stick rubber peeling, and has stopped reliably working in the "up" position as well. It really pisses me off seeing as how much these cost especially in Canada. I was thinking about pulling it apart and checking the sticks but I'm guessing that won't do much seeing as it's not registering the direction correctly, I kind of want a white one but I'm worried it'll just break on me again...
 
I'm in the bought launch PS4 and the DS4 is still immaculate in my hands camp. Love the way it feels. Hefty with a nice textured grip. The only gripe is battery issues, but I bought a usb extension cable so it doesn't matter if its wired or not for me.
 

Rezae

Member
All this constant talk of the DS4 build quality is pretty disheartening. I have 2 DS3s that are 7 years old still going strong.
 
All this constant talk of the DS4 build quality is pretty disheartening. I have 2 DS3s that are 7 years old still going strong.
DS3 sticks weren't that robust either.

My first DS3/sixaxis controller's left analog stick didn't center correctly anymore after 3 or 4 years of intensive use. They didn't peel but I still had to buy a new one because of that.
 

Radec

Member
Mine's still ok.

Sucks for those who isn't tho.

Btw, Can you use the sticks of the DS4 to the Xbone's?

I have an xbone controller which I rarely use but I still need it to be operational if ever I swapped the DS4's sticks. Will they fit well in the Xbone controller ?
 
I still have my launch controller and a white DS4. The rubber on the left thumbstick on my launch controller is starting to come off but the white DS4 is chugging along like a champ. While I haven't experienced any issues theres enough people experiencing issues which tells me sony needs to take a look at it. Hopefully a redesign is incoming.
 

gatti-man

Member
Only problem I had so far with one of my two DS4 controllers is my youngest child spilled some sugary juice over my x button. Now its sluggish as hell....DS3 was way worse, dont know how many I bought over the years

Just so weird I played tons of killzone on my PS3 and never burned through a controller and went through the entire generation on my day 1 launch ps3 and controller. This gen both controllers fall apart in less than 2 years.
 
My original DS4 had the rubber peel off of the left stick, but I bought a blue one a few months back and it's held up fine. The quality control for the first ones seems to be pretty hit or miss.
 

pieman

Neo Member
I have warn controllers out before, but never broken one, I have now broken two DS4 controllers with the right trigger failing in both.
 
Hundreds of hours of using one on my PC and I've had zero issues with sticks peeling. My hands are sweaty as fuck too, so I have no idea what's up with the ones that are falling apart.
 
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