PS5 Is Probably Telling You to Charge Your Controller Way Too Early

I noticed that after an update previously it seems to last longer and then after the next update where they changed the stupid charging logo it seems not to last as long, nonidea what's going on, I don't bother plugging it in until the battery is fully drained, does my head in

Maybe that's just the optimal place for a recharge? With the life of the battery in mind.

This would make a lot of sense. Sometimes it feels like I get the low charge notification after just a couple of hours, which doesn't seem right at all.

@zupertramp most modern batteries last longest if you keep them between 40% and 80% charged, so that fits.

Yes I have noticed this. Usually on Returnal. Because that game gets me into a bit of a hypnotic gameplay loop, I lose track of time. I usually get the low battery notification and then forget I received that notification 5 minutes later and continue playing. Not once has it switched off! I've continued gaming for a good 3-5hrs after and the controller has been alive and kicking.

Hopefully something that'll be addressed in a patch, but no big deal as is.

I find that I consistently have ~1 hour left after the charge notice and my controllers die. It seems to be working as intended for me. I get ~6 hours of play time on a charge. Maybe a little more or less, I haven't actually sat down and calculated it.

Absolutely. It's annoying because I've learned to ignore it, then forget it has the low battery until I'm in the middle of something and it dies on me. Led to some grisly deaths on Nioh Collection.

@get2sammyb Mostly a devil's advocate kinda thing.

One thing I will say is, having owned easily 20+ controllers since the PS3, I've never had a PlayStation controller stop working for a bad battery so idk how much anyone should worry about battery longevity. Usually it's something else that gives first.

@Ear_wiG This is a common misconception and can actually hurt your battery. The optimal battery charge is between 20% and 80% (not lower, or higher) for the longevity of your battery.

Yes I thought the battery life was getting shorter somehow. Thanks for pointing this out.

@ThomasHL @adrianthealchemist Yeah I kinda learned this when my phone battery started pulling a hulk a few years back, with it being so bloated it was beginning to push its way out of the back cover. But this is because I would get all OCD about it being charged to 100% as much as possible. Now I try to be more chill with all my battery powered electronics.

That makes a lot of sense. I noticed a few weeks ago that my controllers were consuming battery too fast, but as it turns out it's only the notification that is broken.

@adrianthealchemist that's really surprising as it's just never happened to me, even with my son who does these obscenely long multiplayer stretches almost daily that make me question where I went wrong as a parent.

But interesting to hear someone else it has happened to. I wondered.

The dualsense and battery charge has been all over the place for me since the last update. Sometimes I'll turn on the PS5 and both controllers will be completely dead despite one being fully charge and the other at about 50% when I turn the console off. Then like you say, I can keep playing for a few hours despite the indicator saying that the charge is completely empty.

I still don't really use the rest mode overnight as it often turns itself off or crashes by the time I come back to use it. I wish they'd address these issues. I still don't know if my PS5 is faulty with the rest issue or if it's a firmware problem.

I usually have at least one charger right next to my couch so I've never really mind plugging it while I finish my game session

I noticed this after the most recent update myself. I’ll only play for a few hours on a full charge before getting a low battery alert. I just swap it with my other controller. Probably a simple fix, but something they should take care of.

I noticed the battery lasts a while after the warning comes up saying the Dualsense controller battery is low. I've been ignoring it and continue playing my game until I'm ready to quit and take a break. After that I put the controller on the charging stand and it's fully charged and ready to go the next time I turn on my PS5. None of my Dualsense controllers have died on me while playing a game. I usually use my controllers until they are fully dead and then charge them so mabey I should start doing that with my Dualsense controllers also. Having the charging stand makes it easy to charge and display my controllers so I think nothing of it.

I had noticed that notification was popping up awfully fast lastly, and I've only been playing a PS4 game without the fancier features.

I accidentally found this out the other evening. Turned the PS5 off after 4 hours of play. The charge said I had 'one' bar left. Played the next evening for 4 hours after forgetting to charge, and it was the same when I'd finished. Strange.

I've noticed the speaker seems to absolutely batter the battery. I turned it off in returnal and essentially doubled my batt life.

@adrianthealchemist I don't use rest mode anymore and I have one controller always charging while I play with the other. The fact that both controllers are completely dead when I switch on the PS5 sometimes tells me there's something else going on. It's only happened 3 or 4 times, so it's not a major issue, just a bit odd.

My dualsense can last up to 11 hours from 100% to zero. It's nearly the same as dualshock 4 which isn't good if we compared it to dualshock 3.

I've commented on this before. Since one of the previous updates to the controller, the battery just doesn't last as long as it used to.

Maybe they just want the battery to last longer my not allowing it to drop below 10%, which for lithium batteries isn’t good.

@adrianthealchemist Maybe. Even so, I'd rather have it as 20% of battery left and a notification suggesting me to recharge to optimize battery health than a fake "battery is too low" notification.

@ShogunRok I just got my charging station and I always put my controller on it after gaming session is over.
Am I doing this wrong?
Should I play it until it is discharged, or it is ok?
Kinda afraid I decrease battery life with such actions.
Could someone comment?

@RenanKJ that's a fair point.

Its not a good idea to let a Li-Ion battery almost dissipate before charging. The instruction to charge "early" will be to preserve long term battery health.

Also by the same token its not a good idea to leave a battery fully charged and unused for long periods.

Keeping a battery between 20% and 80% is roughly the best place to keep a battery for long term health

@Blacksmith1985 @get2sammyb - Personally, i'd edit the article before people start thinking they can ignore the advice and play till the charge runs out and long term, it shortens their battery life/capacity.

Its well documented by device manufactures guidance to not allow devices to completely dissipate to preserve long term battery life and charge capacity.

@zupertramp I've had at least two Dual Shock 4 controllers keep very minimal charge, so eventually had to replace them. Iirc they were the earlier model and not the revised ones that came out later. This also happened with a couple Xbox 360 controllers too, or at least the rechargeable battery packs that you could get.

@ThomasHL

They do but it’s not a big deal on the Dualsense. It’s a super simple battery to change.

I’ve had to take both of my controllers apart to change trigger springs (they broke in half, L2 on my pack-in pad and R2 on my second pad) and replacing the battery is simple. It’s a very easy controller to get apart.

The only time I really worry about battery longevity is in devices where replacing the battery is a pain in the ass. Most modern phones, for example.

Speaking of springs, Sony needs to issue an updated spring design. I avoid using the haptic triggers; I only use them in games like Returnal in the hopes it will avoid snapping the springs. Turns out it doesn’t help. I still turn it off for Call of Duty since that game series is notorious for destroying controllers in my past.

I’m glad you guys have brought this up and I’m not the only one. I absolutely get 4-6 hours of play time when after it starts flashing. I had just picked up a charging dock about a month or two ago and shortly after that I noticed it. I though maybe the charging stations tripped something in the controller... nonetheless I had searched the net and could not find anything on this... so awesome for bringing this up... only a matter of time till it patches I’d guess.
Another issue I notice.... sometimes it says I don’t have enough space to download a game update when I have close to 100 gigs free.... I go in and delete something small and then the download will start... after it finishes it doesn’t even put a dent in my available storage... maybe this has been brought up before but yeah... something to keep an eye out for.

@Stuffgamer1 I'm pretty sure the recent-ish firmware update changed the feedback you get in ps4 games, and perhaps uses more battery there.

@Mjoen

That’s caused by a relic of the PS4’s installation type. Oftentimes the file is compressed and then has to be decompressed.

I needed 110 gigs free to reinstall FF7R to upload my save for the PS5 version next week. The game takes up only 87 gigs.

@Old-Red I've had this issue a few times since the last update. Controller has plenty of life left when turning the console fully off, when I come to play the next day it won't even turn the console on without being plugged in. Something is causing it drain at random overnight

I noticed a while ago that the controller seems to keep living hours after the notification pops up.

@zupertramp I’m thinking the same

All these battery comments are making me realize I’ve been incorrectly recharging my batteries for years. I feel like an idiot.

Yea I've noticed that, I was just thinking it's got a poor battery life. I'm just gonna run it down in future.

Not something that’s even on my radar as it makes zero difference to my usage of my Ps5

@Th3solution I know right, at least we've got some exercise from all the naked ritual controller battery charge dancing we've been doing over the years.

@zupertramp @ThomasHL Temperature and usage are by far the biggest factors (and charging voltage, though there's not really a way to change this, and it's most likely already at an optimal level). But Li-ion batteries work optimally when discharged a little amount. The more you discharge it, the lower the life cycle. There's not really an optimal range. But it's not something to worry about, as I said, temperature and usage are by far the biggest contributors to battery life cycle. Modern battery tech is a lot different from what you're used to 15-20 years ago. There's no recommended charge level, or battery memory that requires you to discharge it all the way. It doesn't really matter anymore.

@JohnnyShoulder yeah I imagine it happens but it's the mechanical components that always go first for me. As I'm now just owning my first Xbox I'm pretty curious how it goes with the controllers.

Fwiw it seemed like the Dualshock 3s were much hardier than the 4s. And I haven't heard great things about Dualsense either, in terms of longevity, which seems like a bad sign this early on. We'll see though.

@Octane yeah my sense was that the more you let them discharge, the longer they need to be plugged in to charge so the hotter they get. Or alternatively, if you're like I was and need them 100% all the time you plug them in and leave them too often thus similarly building up excessive heat.

But whatever the case, I typically just try to follow manufacturer instructions these days.

Yup, my Dualsense has been outright dying from an empty battery because I keep forgetting that it warned me and just keep on going.

@Old-Red 😂 Absolutely. Always good to look at the bright side, lol.
If all this is true then it’s actually a small miracle that my Vita even turns on. I always drain it completely when I use it, then plug it in and often store it after a full charge for month and months. 😪

I find it depends on the game and how much the controller is 'in use' whether thats by haptics or constant connectivity. Some games last 4 to 5 hours where as some only last an hour after battery low. Anyone else noticed this?

I charge my controller when the batter bar is blinking during my gaming or after I’m done playing. Definitely going to buy the black dual sense controller later this month for back up.

I have two controllers and swap as needed otherwise they are charging, I also charge both when I go to bed.

I disagree. In my experience, when I get the warning my controllers usual shut off within 60 seconds or so and when I try again they immediately turn off.

@zupertramp You see I've never had a controller fail due to a mechanical fault, as far as I can remember anyway.

@Th3solution I'm pretty sure it was only till a few years ago the advice was to drain the battery before recharging them. Batteries in phones and other moble devices these days are best recharged little and often. I doubt they will explode or anything, but it will shorten the life of the battery.

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah, I feel like at one point the advice was opposite where we were told to fully drain and then fully recharge as often as possible otherwise the battery formed a “memory” of short charges and lost capacity. Not sure if battery technology changed a few years ago or there was just a bunch of voodoo misinformation out there.

Yep I’ve noticed this 100%

Can confirm still juice in the tank even after it hits zero.

I didn't know the 20 - 80% rule about modern batteries, so thanks to those who have mentioned it. I was still of the old school drain it till it's dead viewpoint, but now I know better!

Huh. Yeah the DualShock 4 always had pretty weak battery life even on the mark II model from new. Wouldn't take much for it to go from three to two bars when gaming. Lowering the glowbar to minimum and keeping the internal speaker at half or less helped, but not much. Not surprised to hear that the Dualsense is much the same.

Battery life on Xbox controllers seems better, both last and current gen. Even using a third party battery pack/dock I tend to get more life out of a single charge than with a DualShock 4 with the One controllers, more so with the Series models, and battery metering by the OS is almost always accurate. It even disables rumble support when the battery is really on empty point so you have that haptic loss as a reminder you need to change and charge soon. Maybe Sony should copy that feature. I'd take the form factor of the Xbox controllers over the last few Sony attempts as well, despite not always being as durable (although with how fragile the Dualsense is I think the tables might have turned there).

As others have stated, follow the notifications if you want long battery life.

I have two controllers that I switch between once one needs a charge, I've really noticed a regular low on battery prompt since playing returnal can't think why 😆

Am I the only person that just automatically puts my controller on the charging station by default. Play for 20mins or 4 hours.. just that’s where the controller lives, on the charging station

My SKY remote does that, months in advance

I don't agree. I could get more juice from my DS4 after I got the battery warning than with the Dualsense.

Nah nothing busted.,. This gives the user ample time to continue playing for a good few hours before the controller dies.

This seems like a sensible, clever idea, nothing worse than the low battery warning coming on at the start of a gaming sesh and it only lasting 30 mins.

@ElMarko Same here

Am I the only one who still cannot find a retail PS5?
I’ve been trying daily since launch and have not even once been able to get one in cart.

I noticed that I could get 5-6 hours of gameplay on my DS4 after the batter low indicator, its nothing new, but yes, the PS5 is telling us a lot earlier then what the DS4 did.

@Blacksmith1985 I do exactly the same, once I've finished playing, I drop the DS4 onto the charger.

I got the official Sony charger when I first picked up my PS4 and when I drop the DS4 onto its charging slot, sometimes the light starts to pulse to say it's charging and some sometimes the light fades on and off just once, indicating that it isn't charging. I assume that there's some logic in the charging block to determine how much charge is left?

@sanderson72 yep, seems like it. I also noticed this.