DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment – PlayStation 4

So, yeah, I just got this *much anticipated* , sold out everywhere, item this morning and thus far is a whopping “meh” of a device.First off the good: It’s high quality, it’s sturdy, the buttons have a nice tactile feel. It’s easy to setup and change button configurations. It’s basically everything you’d expect from a Playstation product. Oh, and the fact it’s only $30, if you can find it, makes it an attractive buy.Now on to the bad: It’s useless for it’s intended design, IMO. There are only two buttons (which is fine) but they are skewed out to the left and right instead of down, like every other paddle style controller. They actually impede the way you would typically hold the controller and it becomes uncomfortable to use. After using the Elite and a couple of Sony third party paddle controllers, this is extremely disappointing. I’m currently playing through Nioh 2 and it actually makes the game harder to play due to the way the paddles are designed. It literally feels better to just use the standard DS4.Bottom line: If you need extra buttons, don’t want to spend for the third party versions, and aren’t very particular, I guess it’s an alternative for the price. If you’re someone used to Microsoft’s Elite controller or one of the many PS4 paddle alternatives, you’ll be let down.

I think I am going to be sending this back. After about a half hour of play, my hands are extremely uncomfortable and cramping. The buttons feel big and bulky, and make it hard to get a proper grip on the controller. I have used thinner paddle mods on Xbox controllers and those are much more comfortable. Sony has a nice idea here, but was not able to execute in product design.Button mapping works great and it would be a decent product other than the unnatural grip/feel. I have medium hands FYI. Maybe if you have giant hands this would be more useable? I don’t think I could ever play well with these, even if I got used to them. Definitely disappointed.Update: So, after using other back button mods/attachments, I have found this attachment to be much more bearable. I think there is definitely a “break-in” period where your hands have to get used to gripping the controller differently, but once you are used to it, it is a very nice accessory. Performs well, and despite the slight awkwardness (compared to a standard grip on the controller) the benefit of the additional buttons far outweighs any negative criticisms that I have. Changing my review to 4 stars, because it isn’t perfect, but pretty good. I would recommend.

It works well. The remapping feature is nice, the paddles have a satisfying click, and they respond very fast.The downside is that there are only two back buttons instead of 4, so it’s not quite Elite/Scuf functionality. If using it to play Call of Duty, you’ll only get jump/crouch or reload/weapon swap, depending on which 2 you prefer to remap.Also, it is quite THICK. It adds over a third of an inch of thickness to the back grip area. Your middle finger normally rests on the top grip of the controller, but it now feels somewhat awkward because of the thickness and the contoured design of the back buttons, requiring you to hold it slightly different. And using an analog stick extender like the Kontrol Freek (pictured) makes it feel even more awkward. I had to adjust a bit to it, but it still worked well. I think Sony could have have come up with something better, like the magnetic removable paddle systems on Collective Monds Strike Pack, or an Xbox Elite style.But it’s only $30. DO NOT PAY THE RIDUCULOUS RESELLER PRICES.

With this attachment; you are able to map two programmable buttons to paddle buttons to the back of the controller without disabling the buttons programed.Able to program any button the duel shock controller except the share and touch pad buttonVery ergonomic. Takes a while to get used to if you never use a controller with back paddles before.This makes it more convenient when playing first person shooters where you don’t have to move your thumb off the right thumb stick to press the jump button throwing off your aim (especially in games that has double jumps, slides and/or jet packs).Good for RPGs where you can map any of the D-pad buttons for item use, or other special abilitiesFor racing games you can buttons to shift gears or use weaponsOr if you don’t like to use claw method when holding the controller (for L2, R2); it’s more ergonomic to use this attachment.There’s no input lag when using.Able to use this wirelessly.It uses the controller’s battery. Has same battery life as if you were to use controller regularly without attachment. Unless you keep touching the LED program buttonsLED is not on all the time, only on when you need to adjust somethingNo need to plug into PC/laptop, or go into Ps4 settings to map buttons.Tap the LED on back to change up to 3 profilesHold to go to edit/map button screen, cycle through buttons you want with paddle buttons, then click LED to set. Single button mapping only. Not able to do multiple inputs, or turbo functionality.To physically install align audio jack and pres in. Once in, it fits like a glove.Button has good click to them. Not too loose and not too firmThere’s an audio jack pass-through for those who use wired controllersIt does have a little weight. When attached will weight about same as X1 controller with batteries insideIf you use dock charging stations, some 3rd party ones where you dock from bottom may get in the way with attachment onMay not fit some 3rd party controllersIf you’re looking for a more comfortable gaming experience, or one that gives you a slight advantage when gaming it’s a very good purchase. Way better than purchasing a $100+ controller* with back paddles. *Note that some of these $100+ controllers may have extra functionality such as swapable/modular thumbsticks/D-pad with sensibility adjustments, extra padding on grip, able to program multiple inputs into one button, more than 2 paddles, etc. But if you just want back paddles on your controller without the other extras it’s a very affordable. Let’s hope the attachment is backwards compatible with PS5.

First some background. I have used many “pro” controllers, own multiple versions of scuff, steam controller, both versions of the xbox elite. This paddles are the real deal, they are bulky and your hands will need to adapt as they need to do when you get a controller with a new form factor. Yes, not as comfortable as an elite controller but for $30, best investment ever. After a 30 min gaming session my hands were adapted and was doing as good as with my scuff impact! If you want to experience what it is to use one of the expensive third party controllers get this. I can tell you it beats everything but a brand new scuff impact, a battle beaver or the new xbox elite controller. All else falls below this.