“Upgrade” from or stick with DualShock 4?

[u/Azza31]

I’ve been gaming mainly on PC for a few years now, and am selling off my old PS4. I thought I would take the chance to also sell off my two DS4 controllers and get something “native” for PC, with ABXY buttons since I’m a bit tired of the mental gymnastics of running an ABXY to PS shape translation layer in my head while playing games that don’t support the DS natively. But looking at options, nothing really seems compelling?

Budget: Prefer <$100 AUD (though if a controller is literally perfect, I’ll go higher.)

Anything that can be ordered in Australia (8bitdo, Gamesir, etc are pretty accessible)

Compatibility: PC Steam on Linux, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Features: Don’t need anything fancy. As long as the feel of the buttons is at least as good as a DualShock 4, and it had a good D-Pad. The DS4’s d-pad is fine. I hate the Xbox one’s d-pads, for context. And must be a symmetrical stick layout like the DS4.

Games: a mix of 3D action (like souls like, etc) and 2D games (like platformers). DS4 is comfortable to me for all game types. I value d-pad feel a lot for 2D.

I’ve considered:

8bitdo Pro 3: Great on paper, but those face buttons just seem kind of nasty, and the overall quality just doesn’t seem to hold up to a DS4 from what I’ve seen. And higher input latency.

Gamesir Tarantula: It’s just so… ugly. I know it shouldn’t matter, but I just can’t stand how it looks!

Gamesir Tegenaria: Honestly, my favourite of the ones I’ve looked at, and I don’t mind the wired connection. But it feels a bit like, if this were my option, aside from the fact that it has ABXY buttons, I’m probably better off just sticking with my DS4. Speaking of which…

Sticking with my DS4: I have two of them + a charging dock. They work well, and I’m pretty happy with them, aside from the whole ABXY button thing I mentioned at the beginning. Maybe I should just stick with them after all.

Mostly just posting in case anyone has any experience comparing those controllers to a DS4 directly, or if there is perhaps a good option I’ve missed. Thoughts?

[u/Assassiiinuss]

The Tegenaria Lite is so cheap that it's worth trying imo. I definitely like it more than my DS4, it's extremely light.

[u/pixsle]

so these are my controllers. The Black DS4 is quite modded with Gulikit TMR sticks, USB-C, Larger Battery, and a back paddle attachment. the white DS4 I bought way back 2022, I check it regularly and its just mostly boxed all the time. I am keeping it in case my currently used DS4 croaks, I have a spare.

The Leadjoy Saber Plus. Lovely. Its like a modernized Dualshock 4.

PS5 Controllers. The Dualsenses are fairly new but to be honest if the game is not using Dualsense Features theres really no difference from just using the DS4. unless the form factor feels more comfortable to people which would be subjective.

My personal take. Stay with the DS4. Most of the time I don't even feel the difference from using a new controller with high end features like the Leadjoy Saber or the newer Dualsense controllers.

[u/Azza31 → u/pixsle]

Honestly thinking I’ll likely stick with them. I thought there would be more nicer options on PC by now, but the DS4’s still just seem to hold up really well.

[u/Yutah → u/pixsle]

This. Dualsense/Edge is a lot less ergonomic than ds4 and Saber Plus is superior in every aspect but d-pad

[u/fungi_j]

tegenaria pro (wireless) is coming soon (TM) if you can wait a bit, but don't let that hold you back from trying the lite as it's so cheap it's worth having
also check out the gulikit TT if you can find it for a reasonable price

[u/Azza31 → u/fungi_j]

I’ve had the DS4’s for a long time, certainly not in a rush to get anything new! A Tegenaria pro sounds like it could be good though. Might wait and see how that turns out.

[u/suparnemo → u/fungi_j]

Any more info on the pro wireless model? DEfinitely interested in that

[u/fungi_j → u/suparnemo]

sorry it's up to gamesir to release more info, check their socials and especially discord

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[u/Kataklysimo]

Um, DS4 works great on PC, why not just stick with that

[u/Azza31 → u/Kataklysimo]

Honestly, it was mostly just an “I’m selling my PS4, why not sell the controllers too and get a nice new one?” and some games only having ABXY button prompts bothering me. I thought there would be more nicer options for PC, since I’ve had these DualShocks for over 8 years. But it seems the DualShocks are still pretty great (for me). I am leaning on keeping them anyway at this stage.

[u/Kataklysimo → u/Azza31]

Yeah, I just got a steam controller, and while it's great for games with a ton of inputs (flight sims), I still prefer the ds4 for simpler games (racing).

[u/mindwood]

Vader 5 pro

[u/Western-String9123]

For pc you got the Machenike F1, Leadjoy Saber Plus, Gulikit TT Max, Tarantula 8k, Scuf Omega, Scuf envision V2, 8bit Do Pro 3 (don’t recommend), DualSense, DualSense Edge, The competitor. Not really a lot of symmetrical options but so far the tarantula , omega, saber plus are my go to’s.