PlayStation 5 Gamers Urged To Change One Setting To "Fix" Their DualSense Battery Life

2 days ago 10

The DualSense right next to a PlayStation 5 console.

Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more.

A “fix” for the DualSense’s battery life has been issued for PlayStation 5 owners, even if not through official sources, like Sony or PlayStation. Despite being one of the most innovative gamepads of recent years, the main controller used for PS5 consoles does have a series of issues. One of the most notable ones is the drift problem with DualSense, which often requires players to send their controllers to maintenance.

Another issue that may start affecting players after five years into this generation of consoles is the battery life of the DualSense controllers. With drained battery lives, the gamepads’ playtime may be reduced until they gradually lose the capacity to hold any type of charge. This is a natural process, but user Modyfikator89 on X presented a trick that may help prolong the controller’s lifetime.

You Can "Fix" Your DualSense Battery Life

Activate The PS5 Controller’s Power Saving Mode

The PS3 easter egg from The Last of Us, Ellie from TLOU Part 2, and a silver DualSense Controller in a collage image.

In the post, they highlight that you can make some adjustments to a controller setting on PS5 consoles that can extend its battery life. According to them, a helpful trick is to activate the DualSense’s Power Saving mode. By doing this, you can force the DualSense controller on your PlayStation 5 to automatically turn off after it has spent a set amount of time unused – the user suggests setting it to automatically turn off after 10 minutes.

This isn’t a guarantee that your DualSense will have an increased battery life, but it is a way of putting less strain on the controller. While the controller is on, its battery system is operating, and, therefore, there is some strain being applied to it, which reduces its overall battery life. If you ensure it turns off while you’re not using it, you could force it less and, therefore, make its overall battery life last longer.

Moreover, even on a short-term scale, you can reduce its battery usage, which increases how much time that specific charge will last. If the controller is on even while it’s not being used, it will continue to drain energy. If it turns off after a few minutes of not being used, you can save the battery you would spend and use it when you return to your play session on PlayStation 5.

PlayStation 5 Gamers, Take Note

The Feature Isn’t Necessarily New

A PS5 console and DualSense controller in front of artwork for various games blurred in the background.

This is not a trick that is specific to PS5 consoles. In fact, the Power Saving feature has been available for the past two console generations. Even so, it’s an ongoing feature that doesn’t necessarily come activated by default and can really help your short-term and long-term DualSense battery life last longer.

It isn’t much of a secret, like the recently issued new console feature that improves the console’s power consumption, but it is a great tip that all players should be putting to good use. There are still a few years to go before we get a glimpse of the PS5, so it’s best to ensure your PlayStation 5 and its DualSense controller last until then and beyond.