PS5 DualSense breakdown reveals internal upgrades for new colours

A new teardown video has reportedly revealed that the newly coloured DualSense controllers have received some internal upgrades, which haven’t been announced by Sony.

Starlight Blue, Nova Pink and Galactic Purple coloured DualSense controllers all feature these new internals, however, the original revisions, the Cosmic Red and Midnight Black, do not.

Unfortunately for those looking for some more battery life out of their DualSense, the new controller colours use the exact same battery packs according to the analysis.

The most significant change, however, are the new springs that are used in the DualSense triggers. As shown off in TronicsFix’s video, the newer springs are longer and appear more robust. Weak springs were a common failure point on launch and launch window PS5 controllers.

While the controller’s main board is slightly different, TronicsFix couldn’t find evidence that these changes would have helped improve stick drift which has been a known issue for the DualSense since launch.

While there are some minor part changes, it’s unclear if this will actually help with the issue, as it tends to develop over time with extended use.

Last year it was investigated why joystick drift occurs in DualSense and other controllers and suggests that PS5’s analog sticks have an operating life of around 417 hours.

According to the video by popular tech channel iFixIt, DualSense uses the same off-the-shelf joystick hardware as many other platforms’ controllers, including PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and more.

Each of these platforms have also seen drifting issues occur for some users, with Switch Joy-Cons, Xbox controllers and now DualSense all facing class-action lawsuits over the issue in the US.

Valve‘s new handheld, the Steam Deck also saw reports of drift, however, the company has said that it managed to fix the issue via software update.