Are knock off PS4 Dualshock 4 controllers really that bad? 

That one in a million chance when you buy a knock off controller that's as good as the original.

The problem is when you spend full price on a controller thinking you're getting a real one, but get ripped off with a fake one. It has happened to me recently, and it sucks. It would be worth it, if I actually paid $20 for it but I paid full price for a fake and at that point it's not worth it.

I discovered a pretty interesting trick using an android phone to differentiate between fake and original. Hold down (ps + share)btns and then go to your mobile phone bluetooth settings and connect to the ps controller which will be shown as "Controller" After connecting,if the ps controller continues blinking white,then its a fake controller. Because originals show blue light after connection.

I need a knock off just for some player 2 action, unless you're bringing your own dualshock 4.

You know sometimes the inside is almost the same as the original one, the exception being the microcontroller board. That being said, you can sometimes salvage the inside of a fake to fix the original one if you know what you are doing

If there was ever a knock off 20th Anniversary controller, I bet they'd be selling like hotcakes.

As someone who has been taking apart loads and loads of different controllers for different machines to clean and service them over the years, I can safely say that for each generation that has passed the build quality of the official controllers no matter the console brand has gotten worse and worse. I had to clean up and fix both a Dualshock 4 and an Xbox One controller which had drinks spilled on them making the buttons sticky and unusable, and while they both were hilarously cheaply built the Xbox One controller takes the cake as the worst official controller ever built when it comes to buildquality imo. The darn thing was nearly impossible to take apart without breaking it! Every screw was hidden behind weak plastic tabs that could snap clean off by just looking at them. But eventually I got it apart and somehow still in one piece and things got even worse! The circuitboard inside was total trash with weak solderjoints and components that wasn't even soldered on to the board at all! The 3,5 mm audiojack was just sitting there relying on the pressure from the case to hold it in place and make contact with bare pads on the board! "Is this a joke?" I thought to myself when I saw that! And then the wires to the rumblemotors kept snapping off from the board and they were almost impossible to solder back since the solder just wouldn't stick to it. Then it was a nightmare to put it back together as well since the darn wires to the rumble kept snapping off all the time! Total rubbish! Quality has taken a huge dip on the official stuff nowadays. I mean if even a super-cheap knock-off controller can keep up with an official one nowadays, you know you have a problem with your design :p Sorry for the long comment, but thought I wanted to share my thoughts on this subject :) My favourite controllers will always be the 6-button Mega Drive, SNES and the Dualshock 2. The worst imo are the N64, Dreamcast, Xbox 360 and the very early Sixaxis controllers for the PS3.

They're also doing knock off Switch pro controllers now, they're nigh-on identical too!

I remember getting the knockoff PS3 controller way back ago. It was working quite ok but it didnt had the sixaxis sensor built in :P Times are changing I guess

I had a few knock offs for the ps3 and the biggest problem I came across with them was with the analogue sticks. When the sticks are rotated on an official controller they made a smooth circle but the knock offs made octagons. I found this out playing Okami. Do you know if it is the same for the ps4 ones?

The real problem with knockoff controllers in my experience is the QA and the sensitivity/precision of the analog sticks. If you try playing an old game like GTA San Andreas and aiming with the knockoffs, it's nearly impossible. The buttons will also not register as consistently or will sometimes not register unless you press them harder or from certain angles, which is actually very important to not taking you out of the game.

The problem is that if you happen to buy this from a second retailer claiming it’s an original and they take the full price as the original. They are false marketing for smaller retailers that want to make a buck extra.

Knock off controllers are a big no, there's always something up with em and they die. I went through 3 Wii CCPro fake's in 6 months, had several fake nun chucks fail, had a fake PS3 controller which eventually died and the buttons were raised too much. Avoid knockoff controllers, buy cheap buy twice. Edit: see even the reviewer had switched back to the original controller, tells you all you need to know, the fake is inadequate

My guess is these are controllers that were produced during off hours from the same factory as the originals. Sony, Nintendo pay for certain hours to manufacture controllers. Someone running the factory will run production during hours Sony, Nintendo don’t pay for to make these “knock offs” They probably skimp on some parts and skimp on quality control too. Still, for $20 I’d say its worth a flyer if you need another controller, or a color that has been discontinued.

I'll have to keep these in mind whenever I get around to finally getting a PS4. Definitely would be a good spare or second controller if a friend comes over.

I repair controllers. Today, I found out that one of my black ones was a knock-off and I only realised after I took it apart because the motors were loose and making a noise. It had a different motherboard, battery and analogue modules which is why the analogue sticks feel looser. It fully works, (touchpad, buttons & speaker) and so far seems not bad at all. Original ones have noticeably better build quality inside. I think the only way to tell fakes by comparing the font of the PS button which is slightly thinner on the fake and comparing how the analogues spring back. Maybe some knock-offs are better than others.

Mark, You forgot : - Does it power on the console? - What about the battery? mAh 's ?

I don't have a dualshock 4 knock-off but a dualshock 3 one. When I bought i thought it was legit, as it looks and feels almost identical. I only noticed when I replaced the battery with a bigger one. The knock-off has a simpler PCB and is easier to dis- and reassemble. Another big plus for the dualshock 3 knock-offs is that you can charge these with a phone charger, that won't work with an original dualshock 3 as these require the USB data lines to be connected. That alone makes the DS3 knock-offs better than the original.

Seems the copycat firms are getting better... 👌

I really agreed with the XB1 comparison tbh. I use both, and the quality just didn't feel the same, and the internal chassis reflects that too

From what I've read about the bootleg pads is that they just don't last very long. Many reviews tend to say that one or both analog sticks died within a few months of use. Also, you can get brand new official PS4 controllers for only $42. I think it's worth it for the piece of mind. I'm still using a couple DS4's which I bought in 2016 and use nearly every night.

Parts market in Shenzhen, massproduction makes the original parts dirt cheap, lower quality parts cost more due to less volume, they also sell variants without Sony logo.

You can definitely feel a sensitivity difference in the analog sticks on some of these cheaper knockoffs, and that one can really bug me the most, because a good sensitivity in those sticks is really something you'll notice when later using something which isn't as tight. Doesn't take much to notice the difference, and doesn't take much more for it to affect your aiming/etc.

Take it apart , I'm curious if the p.c.b is identical? ...

the knock off controllers are actually much worse, i bought one and the joysticks became wobbly and shaky after just a week, the sensitivity of the joysticks were horrendous and the battery life is a joke, i would much rather spend £60 on a normal official controller than £20 on a cheap ass worthless piece of plastic.

I got a knock off one and I felt the quick change in quality when I held it. And the packaging was the same. It says there's no micro USB but there is. And the code in the back is accurate with what the guy in the vid said

I bought the same fake brand it’s really different when it comes to smoothness in aim

The dualshock 4's dpad inst awful, its actually pretty good, its even the preferred controller of some of the best fighting games pro's (where a good dpad is literally the most important aspect of the controller)

I realized mine was fake once you pointed out the micro usb not included. And the fake one the joysticks only last about three months.

I can't help but wonder if this is detected as an authentic Dualshock 4 if you plugged it into the PC. At this time, you can't find authentic Dualshock 4 controllers new in stores anymore but I keep seeing knockoffs.

I have a Berryblue and a Death Stranding PS4 controllers unused and unopened, but since the general quality of these controllers seems to be so bad, I think I'll just use them anyways, at least the Berryblue one. I won't lose anything.

i just got mine and the only problem i see is that i can seem to make the audio pass thru via controller audio jack. thats all the issue i got. the rest it works great. Ps i us it on PC and Android only. i dont own a ps4

how long does the battery usually stay?

I think the PS4 controller feels cheaper to bring the cost down as it has a touch pad (that is barely used from what I can gather) but it's still hard to justify the price, especially as I've seen XB1 controllers for almost half the price of a PS4 controller brand new and I personally feel they are one of the best controllers, period while PS4 is just okay to me.

I have posted before about this. I now have 3 fakes, which I bought as faulty to repair. The sellers did not realise that they were fake. After opening them up I found that the PCB film ribbon and especially the charge port ribbon cables are better in the fake ones because they are more durable and the end of the charge port ribbon cables do not wear out at all if you connect and disconnect repeatedly (which the original ones often do). The analogue stick modules in fakes are also better in my opinion, where they have a cube outer body made of metal with metal inner springs. This is unlike the fully plastic ALPs analogue modules in Sony controllers. When connected to USB game controller or Gamepad tester, the default zeroed analogue positions in fakes are usually centred better. The inner rod stick under the rubber/plastic outer analogue stick is usually metal (unlike plastic in the originals) and thinner which is why the springiness feel is different. There is also a greater range of motion where you can fully move diagonally left and up (and right and down etc) at the same time (Gamepad tester shows you can have the maximum -1.000/1.000 position for left/right at the same time when moving diagonally). You cannot have full range of motion for up and left diagonal movement with originals. I also find the touchpads are normally more responsive and accurate in fakes. The shell, buttons and inner rubber buttons are slightly quality better in original ones, along with the mono speaker sound quality (but this might be my imagination). All buttons, triggers and inner rubber buttons are interchangeable from real to fake apart from the outer PS button, where the original PS button has two plastic lips (left and right) to keep it in position and the fake has one lip on the top middle. The 'PS' font is also very slighter thinner on the fakes and the back sticker and serial numbers are usually different too. The originals use a range of slightly different PCB mainboards for both the V1 and V2 controllers ( labelled JDM 001, JDM 055 etc) and the fakes use the same PCB board for both their V1 and V2. The fake PCBs have a square chip with Nuvoton written on them. The only area where the fakes compromise quality to save money is the battery, where they have a slightly unprofessional looking 600mAh battery, wrapped in plastic film instead of the sturdier grey plastic 1000mAh as in the originals. The good news though is that this battery is interchangeable with the V1 original batteries as they have the same connector (as opposed the smaller V2 battery connector). I believe that as fake products go, the unoriginal PS4 controller has to be one of the best fake products of all time. If they did not pretend to be Sony and rebranded themselves as a 3rd party, I would recommend them. If you find that you have an unoriginal PS4 controller, watch a tear down video, get a PH00 screw driver, swap the battery for a grey V1, 1000 mAh Sony battery and you will have a decent controller. Be careful with V1 (Gen 1 and 2) L2/R2 trigger springs though - they just fly out and disappear!

the light on the knock off one shines white bc it wasn't paired up, the original one does that too

I own one of these. It's pretty darn good. Much better than all those 3rd Party Controllers.

You're unfortunately leaving out one very huge difference between the knock off and official....you can not attach back button or Strike pack.

this is bad a analysis. There's more to "quality" than textures. just take the two controllers apart and see for yourself. Then try the drop test. I assure you your genuine controller will still be working after a few drops on hard floor while your knockoff will be throwing sparks. Next, the knockoffs always( ALWAYS) have worse analog sticks. the sensitivity will always be shit because the motors they use are cheap. Lastly, lot's of sellers are trying to pawn off these controllers as legit and this is my biggest gripe with them. If they clearly marked they were 3rd party then cool but they don't. They all try to pass them off as genuine and people have a right to be upset if they get duped into buying these. They don't even have features like auto-fire or anything which is the only reason I would ever consider a 3rd party vs genuine. You give these knock-offs too much credit and people should know what they are getting. Any real gamer will end up needing to replace it because lack of sensitivity or it flat out stops working.

I honestly was about to search this up and it was in my recommendations.

You should have connected both controllers to a computer. Using the built-in Bluetooth. I think if I would have cut Corners anywhere and make a fake, that would be it.

DS4 is so much better than XONE controller at least in my opinion.

Most fake controllers have a greyish hue on the ps button.

Man they work pretty good for being fake I got scammed with a fake one yesterday I had my suspicion so I opened it up & sure enough it had different build & the battery was smaller. Been playing call of duty with it & I'm surprised at how good it works the official ones still feel better tho but for the price I would still recommend a fake one if you can't afford an official one.

The only thing I don't really like a lot on the X1 controller is the DPad... Oddly enough, the 360 DPad is pretty good to me, maybe because I got used to it. Nonetheless, yes, the X1 controller is a lot better built than the DS4, the only good thing I have for the DS4 is that I can connect it to my Vita lol If only the X1 Pad have a better DPad to me, I will be pretty much in love, because also the fact it got removable bateries means no leaking and good replacement path Nothing more to say, good video! So the repro is not bad, because the problem I have with the price of those controllers is absurd, more considering the fragile they feel...

Hard to believe that a shady clone have more quality than the licensed third party controllers, power A for example sucks really bad, a friend bought an elite controller from that brand and came with drift, when they send him the same controller again, came with drift too

the original controllers in my country are waaaay too expensive, and i'm a pc gamer, i bought a knockoff controller for 15$ and i don't really want to play shooter games with it i only want to play games like AC and dark souls, and i play a lot of ps2 and ps3 games on the emulator so i really needed one and what can i say? best 15$ i ever spent.

I have a knock off PS4 controller I got for like 20 dollars at an outdoor flea market and it gets the job done. I can’t complain with it.

Where I live, retailers sell those knock offs as originals.....my only issue with the knock offs is that it won't work non all android phones when paired. But it works on iOS and certain android phones.

I’ve noticed that my Knock Off controller has a much longer delay on the Joysticks than the real one. When I want to move or turn camera using the joy sticks, it takes so long that it makes me play worse

I have the wireless and wired version they work just fine at the moment. For the money we can't complain, only nothing beats the real deal ;) Mine did not have the Sony Decals.. ow those Chinees are very NAUGHTY !!!

I wish there is comparison for latency & weather it have dead zone issue or not.

Did you just call the thumb sticks triggers?

The PS4 d-pad is still way better than those on X-box controllers.

I hope you respond but I used to have a knock off but my brother took it off me because I kept asking why it felt so choppy and sensitive was it the same for that one?

I’m looking for a fake controller so I can be really rough on and don’t have to worry about it being expensive to replace

One thing you don't know that is an issue with knockoff controllers: If you reset your ps4, (or have a crash from a game like anthem and it needs to repair the file system) during the process you have to plug a controller via micro USB to continue. The PS4 will not recognize the knock offs . That is the only downfall I found.

You got a better knockoff then the ones that are out there. I wouldn't recommend using a knockoff. Take it apart and compare the parts. The knockoff cut corners on every single component. If the knockoff actually works I wouldn't give it 6 months before something malfunctioned. Also they don't use the same moldings as an official Sony controller. Unless you feel like buying a knockoff controllers ever 6 months I'd recommend a real Sony. Also, Sony's new back button attachment won't work on a knockoff. Sony is a better value. You'll get at the very least 2 years out of it. After 2 years usually the joystick module gets dirty and stos working properly. It's an easy fix. With a knockoff any of these can go out in the first 6 months, Touchbad, joysticks, triggers, buttons, battery, usb port, etc... Don't waste your money on knockoffs. If you don't want to purchase a Sony then purchase a reliable 3rd party brand who's willing to put their brand on their product. Don't support these companies who illegally brand their products as something they aren't.

Also they wrote connect with only one "n" on the packaging XD

Every off brand controller I have had never work well for me .

Can a fake ps4 controller 3rd party connect to a PC?

The fakes have deadzones in thumbsticks.

Be honest, last week I bought one from shoppe, u know I got one from official store last year, after compare about the two controller, I think there's just some physical experience gap, not to much , just a little, but the price between em .... I think it was worth buying. lol

How did it perform in actual gameplay though???

I need a DUALSHOCK®4 to play cod mobile with, will a knock off work or do I need a original ?

If you are PC gamer and need cheap controller - buy fake Dual Shock 4, cause its way better than something like Logitech's awful pads. I was really surprised how much they improved their fakes compared to DS2 days.

Did anyone realize this man is showing 2 knockoff controllers both black and gold are knock offs because of the fact that the headphone symbol is on it and ext a real controller has neither etched in not saying its a bad controller just saying tho.

an obvious way is to check the back part, on real the one it says sony interactive entertainment, while the fake one's usually have sony computer entertainment

Great Video. Were you able to test if they had identical battery life? I'm still using a dualshock 3 and it has a rating of 20-30 hrs, compared to dualshock 4's 4-8 hr. I saw some dualshock 4 knockoffs with only 1-4 hr rating, but the majority of these sellers don't list any specific info. Unfortunately the link in description is dead too.

I need one for when the buddy’s come around! Where can I buy one?

I have an original gold one that's fairly new but lately it's been playing up, when I saw this video I had to check. They look identical but serial number was diffrent and the back texture, might get a knock off next time cause og ones still break down quick.

U literally cant buy any controller cause it will stick drift after a few weeks, so i dont know what to buy

So is there a link where we can buy these????

The problem is that some people sell copys as an original sony...

Simply Knockoff is for poor gamer you see

So if there was a knockoff with usb-c, it would be better than the dualshock 4 hands down?

When you connect a game controller in steam does its say ps4 controller or generic?

I bought one from music magpie. The right analog stick moves by itself and somehow the L2 trigger seems to make the right analog stick move without actually physically moving it. It was 54GBP as well I paid more because I expected better quality. Honestly I wouldn't mind paying less soong as the buttons did what they're supposed to do 👀. Almost every retailer is out of stock atm for some weird reason and I get offered some bundle with fifa 21 which I'll never play

Dual shock 4 controller s are constantly on sale. I have way too many. No need for knockoffs.

On the box the word connect isn’t spelt correctly

They dont review it but most of the Headphone jacks on these controllers dont work properly.

So basically the fake 1 doesn't hve sony logo on the top

Try them in game... theres a input delay on the fake pad it's not worth getting if you play online

i just ordered a knock off ps4 controller on ebay for like 23 bucks. hopefully mine will work no prob lol

I have three original PS4 controllers. All of them broke (R2 button not working, right joystick drfting to the left, left joystick is sometimes not responsive, player walk forward on his own and vibration motor loudly rumbling)

I really don't think slightly subpar Dpads aren't that big of a deal in Modern gaming. Dpad today seems more as a menu tab. Thinking of the games I have currently, RDR2, Mad Max, Ace combat 7, Need For Speed Payback and Heat, Battlefield 1,4 and 5 you're using the sticks.

Quick question i just bought a ps4 controller online. Turns out it is fake. Will it still work fine?

did you check the touchpad on the knock off to see if it works besides just seeing how it felt? I bought a knock off recently and it turned out the touchpad wasn't even connected.

Don’t ever disrespect me like that PS4 is life

The problem is the analog are terrible and they mostly use bad audio chip inside that produce terrible sound. The audio alone is a huge deal breaker just buy a original licensed controller.

It's unfortunate to buy a fake and pay $65 for it thinking it was real. Everyone always says "does it matter if it works?" It does matter to me. The hardware could be different inside. However, if I'm just buying a controller for the kids, I would pay around $30. I remember the kids using my controller and saying "why is it lighter?" I said "It's fake" and having to tell a kid that it's fake. It's just odd.

Your video helped soon as u said use the cable

would be interesting if the knock off can be used for psvr games like astrobot 🤔

I know this is going to be a unpopular opinion, but I have a (what I was told is a fake) DualShock and it feels just as good to me as my genuine one, so I use that instead. I didn’t pay anywhere near msrp so I’m ok with it

Where can I get this?

This guys obviously a Xbox fanboy

The PS4 controller is so poorly designed and made that's why the difference is so minute.

Thanks for this. Ive been needing a new controller for a while. And was curious about knock off controllers. Where I live knock off controllers are half the price compared to the official controller. The only difference with the knock offs here is they are missing the PlayStation symbol on the button. Its bullshit how expensive the official ones are. I'm not paying $90-$100.I'll get another official one eventually but as long as the knock off works for like a month or two I dont care haha.

Awesome video. I ended up here after the Sony repair and replace website wouldn't recognize the serial number on the back of my broken dualshock 4 controller. As it turns out, the serial is EXACTLY THE SAME number you put at the bottom in this video, 😂 In my opinion, don't buy knock offs, mine lasted a miserable 2 weeks before both analogue sticks completely broke. My original jet black controller however is still working reasonably well 2 years on.

Anyone would think Sony gets their parts from the same factories the fakes were made in XD srsly though, for 1/3 of the price its perfect for 2 player or a spare to use while your main charges when the battery dies.