Xbox or PlayStation? That’s why Microsoft’s controller has the edge

When it comes to the question of whether PlayStation or Xbox is better, not only the console but also the controller plays a decisive role for many gamers. Both controllers have their own merits, but the Xbox controller is superior to the PS5’s current DualSense controller in one aspect in particular.

A comment by Gregor Elsholz

In some ways, the DualSense controller is the PS5’s hardware showpiece. While the Sony console finds an equal or even better competitor in many other aspects with the Xbox Series X, the DualSense can, thanks to the detailed haptic feedback and adaptive trigger technology really shine. The Xbox controller, on the other hand, looks almost old-fashioned – but in one respect Microsoft offers gamers much more.

PS5 & DualSense: Looks are the problem

By now, arguably every joke imaginable has been made about the looks of the PS5: Sony really wanted to know for a change in this generation of consoles, designing it as some kind of clumsy behemoth that became a meme within seconds of its reveal. The optional faceplates make the whole thing even worse, because colors that take some getting used to like Cosmic Red, Nova Pink, Starlight Blue and Galactic Purple draw even more attention to a design that would last have looked chic as a concept for a futuristic thought transmitter in a 1970s sci-fi movie.

Visually, the DualSense is still clearly the best thing about the overall design of the PS5, but unfortunately it can’t carry everything either – and in the colors mentioned, the controller looks nice in and of itself, as you really want him at an ironically illegal rave infiltrate

Do you disagree? Amazon has the DualSense in Nova Pink:

Xbox allows custom controller design

Unlike Sony, Microsoft’s design department did the bare minimum when it came to the Xbox Series X – the Xbox looks as simplistic as if it were drafted three minutes before closing time on a Tuesday evening been. But what the console itself lacks in originality, the customize-your-controller option makes up for it.

The Xbox Design Lab lets me design my own controller as colorful or monochromatic as I want it to be. It even gives me the option of slapping my gamer tag or a catchy saying on it – no thanks, but nice that it’s possible. So I can decide for myself how elegant, over the top, boring, pretty or ugly the controller should be – because in the end I alone am responsible for it. It’s an option that Microsoft has offered in the past and would suit Sony pretty well these days, given the company’s relatively troubling recent design choices.

PlayStation or Xbox? A matter of taste

Of course there are enough people who the sharper Boomerang design from the DualSense to the slightly fuller curves from the Xbox controller prefer – both are aesthetic preferences that I neither want to question nor judge. My colleague Jasmin, for example, has a completely different opinion on the Xbox design.

All I wish for from Sony is the freedom to design the DualSense controller superficially according to my ideas, if I have to live with the PS5 in my living room. Inside, the DualSense is already a beautiful controller, packed with unique features. I would love to give it a worthy makeover on the outside.

Xbox is also ahead of the PS5 in other respects – the PlayStation could definitely use a practical next-gen feature:

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