DualSense Edge Tester: Check Drift Before Swapping a Stick Module

Measure each DualSense Edge stick module for drift and edge reach, and see which inputs a browser can read on Sony's pro controller.

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Connect your DualSense Edge, then press ✕

Plug it in with a USB-C data cable (the braided one in the case works), or pair it over Bluetooth: hold Create and the PS button until the light bar blinks. Switch to the default profile first, so the browser sees raw stick values. Browsers only reveal a controller after a button press. Nothing is sent anywhere.

DualSense Edge

Not connected yet: the diagram shows the DualSense Edge layout and lights up as soon as it sends input.

Left stick–

Right stick–

Left trigger

Right trigger

All buttons and axes · 0 buttons pressed

Press every button once: each one gets a tick when it registers. Values show analog pressure from 0.00 to 1.00.

Health tests

1. Stick drift

Measures where each stick settles when nobody touches it, and checks for buttons or triggers that read as pressed. Pass: under 5% of full travel. Warning: 5–10%. Fail: 10% or more.

Not run yet.

2. Circularity

Rotate each stick slowly around its outer edge. Measures how far the edge strays from a perfect circle. Pass: up to 10% average error. Warning: up to 20%. Fail: above 20% or a direction that can't reach 75% of full travel.

Left

Right

Not run yet.

3. Vibration

Plays a rumble. The strong motor is the heavy, low rumble in the left grip; the weak motor is the finer buzz on the right.

Connect a controller to test vibration.

4. Input update rate

Estimates how often the browser receives new data from the controller while you move a stick.

DurationConnection

Not measured yet.

More tests for PlayStation controllers

Connect a DualSense, DualSense Edge or DualShock 4 directly for what the standard gamepad connection hides: motion sensors, touchpad, battery and the true report interval, plus adaptive triggers and lights on a DualSense. Your browser asks which device to allow, and the permission lasts until you close the tab. This page only reads the controller and sends effect commands (trigger effects, light bar, player lights), never calibration or firmware, and it resets them when you leave.

Decoded from published formats (the Linux hid-playstation driver and SDL); not yet tested on a real controller. Over Bluetooth, deep mode switches the controller to its full report format until it reconnects, and asks first: if another app or game stops seeing it, turn the controller off and on.

Not connected.

Motion sensors

Tilt and turn the controller: the model follows it, and the graphs show the gyroscope (turn rate, degrees per second) and the accelerometer (g) on each axis. Put it down flat and run the rest check to measure gyro drift.

Gyro – · Accel –

Touchpad

Draw on the touchpad with one or two fingers. Each finger gets its own colour and the ID the controller gives it; a dead strip shows up as a gap in the lines. Press the pad to test its click.

No touch yet.

Adaptive triggers (DualSense only)

Pick an effect, then press L2 or R2. Resistance pushes back from the start point; click is a section of resistance that gives way, like a trigger pull; vibration buzzes the trigger from the start point. The bars show where each trigger is.

EffectTriggersStart point 30%Strength 8

–

Light bar and player lights

Light bar colourPlayer lights

Battery

The level the controller reports, in 10% steps, and whether it is charging. It updates live, so plug in a cable to check the charging port.

–

Report interval

How often the controller sends a report, from the controller's own clock and from the time each report reached this page. This is the report interval, not end-to-end input lag: it leaves out the time a press takes inside the controller, in the game and on the screen.

Controller health report

Selling or buying a used controller? Run the four tests, press every button, then share the report link in your listing or message.

Connect a controller to start the report.

Connect your DualSense Edge

USB: the braided USB-C cable from the case carries data, and its housing locks into the controller so it can’t be pulled out mid-game. Any USB-C data cable works.

Bluetooth: switch it off, then hold Create and the PS button until the light bar blinks, and pick the controller in your Bluetooth settings.

Before testing, switch to the default profile. Custom profiles can set stick and trigger deadzones and sensitivity curves, and they are stored and applied in the controller (PlayStation), so a browser sees the processed values. A profile with a 10% deadzone would hide 8% drift entirely.

What a browser sees on the Edge

Chrome reads the Edge exactly like a standard DualSense (Chromium): the 17 standard buttons plus the touchpad click, both sticks and the analog L2 and R2. The two back buttons and the Fn buttons have no index of their own: a back button appears only as whatever standard button its profile maps it to, which is handy for checking that a back button works at all. The trigger stops and the adaptive triggers are outside the Gamepad API, but a trigger stop shows up here as L2 or R2 topping out early. In Chrome or Edge on a computer, Connect for more tests reads the controller directly: the motion sensors, touchpad and battery, and it can play adaptive trigger effects.

Testing and swapping stick modules

The Edge’s selling point is that a worn stick doesn’t mean a repair: each stick is a module you can replace yourself (PlayStation), and either module fits either side. Sony lists them at $19.99 each in the US.

Run the drift test on the default profile with the controller on a table. Note which stick fails.
Run the circularity test. A module that can’t reach full travel in one direction is worn even if it rests at centre.
If one stick fails, swap the two modules and test again. If the fault moves to the other side, it’s the module; if it stays, the controller itself needs service.

The Edge’s shorter battery life is its other well-known weakness: a teardown found a 1,050 mAh cell, about two thirds of the standard DualSense’s (Gizmodo). For the standard controller, use the PS5 controller tester.

How the browser numbers the DualSense Edge’s buttons

Browsers describe a recognised controller with the W3C standard gamepad layout, which numbers buttons by position, not by the symbol printed on them. This is the map the tester uses for the DualSense Edge; the list under the diagram shows the same numbers live.

Button	Position	On the DualSense Edge
0	Bottom face button	✕
1	Right face button	○
2	Left face button	□
3	Top face button	△
4	Left bumper	L1
5	Right bumper	R1
6	Left trigger	L2
7	Right trigger	R2
8	Back / select	Create
9	Start / menu	Options
10	Left stick press	L3
11	Right stick press	R3
12	D-pad up	↑
13	D-pad down	↓
14	D-pad left	←
15	D-pad right	→
16	Home / guide	PS
17	Touchpad / capture	Pad (the click only: swipes aren’t reported)

Frequently asked questions

Can I test the back buttons and Fn buttons?

Not directly. Browsers read the Edge with the same 18-button layout as a standard DualSense, so the back buttons and Fn have no numbers of their own. A back button shows up only as the standard button its profile assigns it to.

Why does my Edge show no drift in one profile and drift in another?

Profiles apply their stick deadzones and curves inside the controller, before the browser sees the values. A large deadzone hides drift; the default profile shows the raw stick. Test on the default profile.

How much is a replacement stick module?

Sony sells DualSense Edge stick modules separately, at a US list price of $19.99 each. Either module fits either side.

Why does the Edge's battery run down so fast?

It has a smaller battery than the standard DualSense: a teardown found 1,050 mAh against 1,560 mAh, and reviewers got about 4 to 6 hours of play. Test it on the cable, which also locks into the controller.