Some people might find the more hefty controller a bit jarring at first since it's heavier than the standard Xbox One controller by a few ounces.
In fact, the extreme flexibility of the Series 2 has the additional benefit of making the controller highly accessible, meaning that more people can use it to play PC games. Never want to take your thumbs off of the thumbsticks? Simply assign the face buttons to the back paddles and you're good to go. For those who haven’t used them, they control how far you need to pull the trigger, so there’s no wasted effort or time in competitive shooters, where milliseconds matter. The four additional back paddles are a neat feature too and can make for some interesting controller layouts.
The returning hair-trigger locks are still among one of my favorite things about the Elite. It makes the controller that much more versatile, which is essential given the high price of admission.
The Series 1's surprising lack of Bluetooth is something that drew major criticism, but thanks to the Series 2 adopting Bluetooth, you now have a market-leading PC controller and something that’ll pair with a phone to play the Apple Arcade offerings or mess around Project xCloud beta. It comes with a bunch of custom bits: 6 thumbsticks, 2 d-pads (cross-shaped and faceted) 4 rear pedals and one tool for adjustable thumbstick tension. Finally, with project Xcloud and Apple Arcade bringing some great games to mobile devices, you can easily pair the Series 2 controller via Bluetooth.
The most significant changes in the Series 2 over the Series 1 (which we also loved) include a neat little carrying case that doubles as a portable USB Type-C powered charging station for the controller's new rechargeable battery, which has around 40 hours of juice. We've tested a good deal of today's top console controllers and PC controllers to find out which ones are worth cheating on your trusty keyboard and mouse with. Just think, with the best PC controller in hand you can sit back, relax, and get into a chilled gaming session, rather than hunching over the keyboard and ruining your posture. The Witcher 3 (opens in new tab), for example, actually has a far more straightforward control system when played with the best PC controller. This is true even for games held to be PC classics. Some games that have been ported from console to PC end up with a monumentally confusing control systems, so join the best gamepad club is the way to go for those. And while you might begrudge the fact, sometimes a controller is simply the best tool for the job. Driving games are the big one, as most keyboards don't offer pressure sensitive keyswitches, so an analog stick is your best bet for accurate movement. Simply plug your controller in with a USB-C cable and begin playing games.Games with certain control schemes are just better suited to a controller, such as Elden Ring with it's half-assed mouse and keyboard controls (opens in new tab). There aren’t any particular benefits to performance, but it’ll at least save your controller battery from draining over hours of use – and you don’t need to connect via the Bluetooth menu either.
While most gamers will opt to connect the DualSense controller to a Mac via Bluetooth, you do have the option of connecting it via USB-C to USB-A on older Macs or USB-C to USB-C for Thunderbolt 3-enabled machines. It’s worth noting that if you want to use the DualSense controller with your PS5, you’ll have to turn the console on and connect the controller via USB-C cable to re-establish the connection.