DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment - paddles for your controller at a budget price

[Steve]

This is quite a neat device: -

 

 

It attaches to the DualShock 4 via the headphone socket and gives you 2 programmable paddles on the back of the controller. It has a built-in OLED screen, so you don't need to use an external app to do the mappings and it has a headphone socket of its own, so you don't lose out on that functionality and there is apparently zero quality loss.

 

It's obviously very basic compared to an Xbox Elite controller, but TBH, the thing I like the most about the Elites is the paddles, plus this device is cheap ($30/£26) and works with your existing controller.

 

Here's a review: -

 

[TBearOne8III]

i heard about this but didnt realize that it was a sony product. I thought it was a 3rd party option. anyway, i think its a good deal. i've never played with a scuff or even an elite controller, but there are games where it would be nice to not have to work so hard just to press a button. like in spiderman, you have to press the down arrow to heal during combat. problem is, your in combat. that left thumb is glued to the analog stick trying to dodge or whatever. it would be nice to have that back button mapped to the down arrow.

[Steve]

I've pre-ordered one so I'll let you know how it is.

 

Once you use a controller with paddles, there's no going back IMO. It takes a little while to get used to it, but once you do, that's it.

[Steve]

I got mine earlier and have played around with it for a bit. For the money, I think it's very good.

 

Attaching it to the controller is easy enough, and it's powered by the controller's battery.

 

It's a simple device to use. You can store up to 3 presets. The lower part of the screen is actually a button, so you double-click that to cycle through your presets. Holding the button down allows you to change the mappings, so when you're in edit mode you just click the left or right paddle and it will cycle through each control, then when you've selected the 2 that you want, you just press the main button again to save it.

 

It feels decent in your hands. The paddles have a nice click to them and the positioning is good.

 

I have a few criticisms though: -

 

1. I really wish they could have made the screen forward-facing, instead of being on the back. Maybe they were pushed for space, but it does look like there'd be room for it on the front, given that it's only tiny. That would have made it easier to see what you're doing and which preset you have selected.

 

2. It would have been cool if the controller vibrated 1-3 times to denote which preset you've got selected, cos then you could switch to the one you want without looking at the screen. As it is now, you have to flip the controller and look at the screen to be sure you've got the right preset selected.

 

3. I'd have liked the option to disable presets, for example, if you only ever use 2 presets, it would be nice to disable the other one, so you're just cycling back and forth between preset 1 and 2, instead of having to cycle through 3 presets all the time.

 

There are some reports on Reddit that it causes the controller to randomly turn off. That has not happened to me, but I've not used it for very long at all.

 

All in all, unless the issue with the controllers turning off is widespread and can't be fixed with an update, I think it's definitely worth buying one of these if all you're looking for is a controller with paddles for the PS4. You're using your existing controller, the device is cheap, runs off the controller's battery, and it's easy to use and does what you want.

[TBearOne8III]

sounds dope. might have to check it out.