The PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller is a feature-packed input device that can offer some of the most immersive experiences in gaming — but it’s not exactly known for stellar battery life. Luckily, there are a handful of ways in which you can improve your PS5 controller’s battery life, and we’ll tell you what they are below.
Everyone needs to take a break from a gaming session sometimes. If you plan to be away from your console for a bit, you don’t want the controller to remain on for an extended period of time, as that will eat through your battery unnecessarily. As such, you should head into the PS5’s system settings and adjust the power-saving option so your controllers turn off automatically.
Every DualSense comes with a light bar around the touchpad, which has a variety of features for letting you know certain things in a game. When multiple profiles are signed in at once, this light bar even displays specific colors to let you know which player is assigned to which controller. However, this always-on light can drain a small amount of power over time, so you’ll want to go into the PS5’s controller settings and reduce the brightness to improve your battery life.
The DualSense offers some unique in-game feedback options via a small microphone on the front of the controller. While this can increase immersion in certain games (or even act as a microphone if you don’t have a headset), it can have a minor impact on your battery life. If you’re not actively making use of this somewhat niche feature, head into controller settings and turn the volume all the way down to get a little extra play time.
There’s no denying that the DualSense provides some of the coolest haptic feedback we’ve ever seen, beautifully matching the feeling in your hands to events happening on screen. But all that vibration drains more power than you’d think. You can reduce this intensity in controller settings, or turn it off altogether if you prefer.
Like the haptic feedback, the DualSense’s adaptive triggers are a unique and compelling addition to gaming on a PS5, granting you tension on your triggers for immersive experiences with things like firing guns or pulling large objects in-game. But unsurprisingly, this can also have a slight effect on your battery life, so if you’re not terribly interested in this feature, hop into controller settings and turn it off.
Though the DualSense features the option to use a wired headset, anything plugged into this headphone jack is drawing power. If you can possibly do so, use a wireless headset instead to stop that small but noticeable power drain on your controller.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.