Home Gaming Upgrade you PS4 controller with better Xbox One parts

Upgrade you PS4 controller with better Xbox One parts

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Dualshock 4 with Xbox One parts - Yeah, it's possible

Let’s not beat around the bush. For all the things Sony nails with the PS4, the Dualshock 4 is the black sheep. It’s the one part of the entire current-gen experience that Sony decided to leave out in the cold, with questionable build quality meaning you’ll probably be looking at some upgrades a few months into use. The biggest culprits are the two thumbsticks, whose rubber wears and tears after just a few intense gaming sessions.

Thankfully you can do something about it, but it means amalgamating your Dualshock 4 with some undeniably superior Xbox One parts. The Xbox One thumbsticks are miles ahead of the Dualshock 4, so it seems obvious to just replace one with the other right? It’s not a new idea, but Digital Foundry have documented the whole process so that you can (possibly) do it yourself this weekend.

All you’ll need is a screwdriver, some replacement thumbsticks (which you can get from Amazon for next to nothing. I couldn’t find anything locally) and nerves of steel. Getting the Dualshock 4 open doesn’t look easy, and there’s so much that could go wrong as you try. With a little care and patience though you can pry the two pieces of plastic that make up the controller apart, and carefully work your way to the thumbsticks.

The Xbox One thumbsticks are an exact fit for the Dualshock 4, so there’s no reason to worry about compatibility. Digital Foundry also attempts to replace the middling battery in the Dualshock 4 with one that has double the capacity, but curiously found that it made no difference. Despite having more juice to work with, the controller went flat in exactly the same amount of time – which makes that upgrade superfluous, unnecessary, worthless, extraneous, gratuitous, ancillary and redundant.

Still if you’re looking at a more permanent solution than just slipping some covers on, this could be the perfect way to breathe life into your worn Dualshock 4 again. I certainly want to try it myself.

Last Updated: February 29, 2016

49 Comments

    • Commander Admiral Chief

      February 29, 2016 at 11:34

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        February 29, 2016 at 11:38

        What’s even funnier is you’re posting those with your “caveman” tag.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          February 29, 2016 at 11:38

          XD

          Reply

        • Commander Admiral Chief

          February 29, 2016 at 11:38

          xD

          Ooooga booooga consol man feeeks problim

          Reply

          • Pariah

            February 29, 2016 at 11:48

            Pretty good Afrikaans accent there man. Nicely done!

          • Commander Admiral Chief

            February 29, 2016 at 11:56

            *prrrittie
            *eksent
            *wêr
            *naaislie

        • Commander Admiral Chief

          February 29, 2016 at 11:48

          A few years ago, I was working at a project site, a very cold building, I came across an area were the workers took the live and neutral cables out of a heater, wrapped around the pins, and pressed into a dedicated power plug (red)

          One simple bump away from a total electrical bomb

          Reply

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            February 29, 2016 at 11:58

          • Commander Admiral Chief

            February 29, 2016 at 12:01

            Points for totally disregarding personal safety, regulations and common sense though.

            Worst thing….a support call was logged for the label printer not working.

            WELL THERE IS YOUR PROBLEM RIGHT THERE, YOU ARE SITTING ON A PRIMED BOMB
            (one of those oil heaters was ‘plugged/wired’ in there)

  1. Alien Emperor Trevor

    February 29, 2016 at 11:35

    Since when did the console war become a thumb war? O_o

    Reply

    • Commander Admiral Chief

      February 29, 2016 at 11:38

      …because of the limited actions?

      No, wait…

      Because of the limited capabilities of the consoles?

      Reply

    • Commander Admiral Chief

      February 29, 2016 at 11:39

      Since 1 2 3 4?

      Reply

  2. Guild

    February 29, 2016 at 11:43

    XD the guy in vid suffers from some serious hand shakes there. Wonder if he had someone behind him, ready to kill, if he broke the controller

    Reply

  3. Captain JJ the "saviour"

    February 29, 2016 at 11:43

    The PS4 might be the better console, but I seriously prefer that Xbox controller

    Reply

    • hairyknees

      February 29, 2016 at 12:27

      This ^

      I LOVE The Xbone controller. It’s so goddam comfy and perfect!

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the "saviour"

        February 29, 2016 at 12:29

        Yea man. Dat comfort.
        I’ve got one for my pc – the 360 one 🙁 , but also great.

        Reply

        • hairyknees

          February 29, 2016 at 12:36

          I grabbed the One a while back on special 🙂 cost me like R500-600. NO RAGRATS BRUH!

          I use it for EVERYTHING that isn’t MOBA or FPS 😛

          Reply

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            February 29, 2016 at 12:44

            Eh, Whaaah? R500-R600 a controller? I had to fork out R999 for my wifes’ PS controller…Which is why I’m forcing her to play games 8-12 hours a day, to recoup the costs…

          • hairyknees

            February 29, 2016 at 12:47

            Yup! Was end of 2014/early 2015 I think 🙂 before the Rand was absolute trash 🙁

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            February 29, 2016 at 12:57

            I remember walking into a Dion Wired a while back and I saw it going for R599, dammit, I should’ve bought it there and then…

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            February 29, 2016 at 13:17

            Dude. That’s a giveaway price from them. Dion Wired is always 20% more than most other places

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            February 29, 2016 at 13:23

            Exactly!! But because of that, I refuse to support them, everything has a rounded value that was thumbsucked using some form of inflation based on the outer rings of Saturn…

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            February 29, 2016 at 13:50

            I once bought an MS desktop set three stores down from them for half the price. R600 versus R300

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            February 29, 2016 at 13:53

            That is my exact experience, the mark up those guys have is simply ridiculous…

          • Darren Peach

            February 29, 2016 at 13:52

            Graphics Cards have a 100 percent markup just because……………..

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            February 29, 2016 at 14:10

            Yep!! Luckily we have alternatives, I prefer to use evetech, their prices are good and you get great warranties on anything you buy there, also, when buying from a brick and mortar shop, you pay for their floor space…

          • Darren Peach

            February 29, 2016 at 14:34

            The one downside to PC gaming. Back when I was still heavily into PC gaming, I never knew the best place to buy hardware and you could never buy Gfx cards over 12 months unless you used a credit card. Give a gamer with very little impulse control, me, a credit card and there is bound to be trouble 🙂

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            February 29, 2016 at 14:39

            That’s true… I used to buy my hardware from shops all of the time, it became so expensive that I could’ve bought the same PC twice from an online store, that’s when I decided to not walk into shops to buy hardware ever again…

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            February 29, 2016 at 12:50

            Damn. I would’ve loved to get one myself!
            I especially enjoy the odd ARPG with a controller these days. Pity many of them don’t have controller support on pc though, regardless of being on console.

        • Zander Boshoff

          February 29, 2016 at 19:16

          I also have a 360 controller for my pc which is lovely. i borrowed a friends ps3 for a weekend and after 3 hours my hands were sore. Never had that issue with xbox controllers

          Reply

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 1, 2016 at 09:06

            PS controllers are quite small. I have a PS3 myself and I hate the controllers. The PS4 is definitely better, but still not quite there.

  4. Pieter Kruger

    February 29, 2016 at 12:24

    ROFL!

    Reply

  5. Pieter Kruger

    February 29, 2016 at 12:31

    Putting Ferrari wheels on a Tata doesn’t make it a Ferrari……????

    Reply

    • Commander Admiral Chief

      February 29, 2016 at 12:33

      LOL

      Reply

    • hairyknees

      February 29, 2016 at 12:35

      xD

      Reply

    • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

      February 29, 2016 at 12:41

      That is a terrible idea, as the mags won’t fit in the wheel arches, also the centre of gravity on a Tata is about as good as that of a giraffe…

      Reply

  6. hairyknees

    February 29, 2016 at 12:35

    Yassis that oke shakes like a mother trucker

    Reply

    • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

      February 29, 2016 at 12:40

      I wonder if he has a Diesel Motor under the hood…

      Reply

    • Commander Admiral Chief

      February 29, 2016 at 12:44

      I’m expecting the same level of shakes after the next game I have lined up for you to review

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the "saviour"

        February 29, 2016 at 12:51

        Tell me!

        Reply

        • Commander Admiral Chief

          February 29, 2016 at 13:37

          It is called………wait and see

          Reply

  7. eXpZA

    February 29, 2016 at 12:55

    The guy has the shakiest hands in the video. It made me so nervous.

    Reply

  8. Darren Peach

    February 29, 2016 at 13:06

    I will not tolerate this totally biased but completely true opinion regarding the totally cheap and utterly unreliable input device for the PS4. Having gone through more then one controller both on the PS3 and PS4 and never the same for the Xbox 360 and Uno, I have to totally disagree that the PS4 is inferior in any way whatsoever. Having said that, Sony are blthering Idiots for messing up the essential input part of the whole Idea of console gaming. Red Ring aside, feeling anxiety over my PS4s controller is sucky.

    Reply

    • Darren Peach

      February 29, 2016 at 13:49

      I am also feeling anxious about the use of “then” as opposed to “than” in this context.

      Reply

  9. iusedtobe(a)regular

    February 29, 2016 at 13:38

    Im in the minority, I know, but I prefer the PS4 controller, it feels far better in my hands than the xbox controller, which brings me to my next point, its actually all subjective and opinionated anyway.

    Reply

    • Darren Peach

      February 29, 2016 at 13:50

      I feel dirty inside when I use the Xbox controller……..

      Reply

  10. Cole Train

    February 29, 2016 at 20:51

    Hilarious

    Reply

  11. joeyhiatt77

    March 4, 2016 at 17:04

    Those were wire cutters dude

    Reply

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