The Nacon Revolution 5 Pro Controller is quite an expensive alternative controller for the PlayStation 5. It’s one that has a mass of of features, however does feel like its missing something when compared with other controllers of similar prices!
Picking up the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro Controller, it’s instantly quite weighty and the initial design is interesting! Most notably, the thumbsticks are off center, following the design of an Xbox Controller more closely than a PlayStation controller. The D-Pad, at default, is a rounded, big button and the thumbsticks have a nice amount of texture to them, however these are customizable: Inside an included box, there are tons of pieces that you can easily swap in and out to make the controller more like something you specifically want to use. The D-Pad can be swapped to a more traditional cross layout, the thumbstick tops can be popped out and changed between three styles; a tall, large thumbstick top, a concave one and a rounded one, depending on how you like to play. All of the buttons, regardless of which you pop on, are very responsive. I quite like the circular design and the smoothness of the D-pad.
These different options lend themselves well to different playstyles, allowing you to decide how fast you want to be able to move the thumbstick around. The thumbsticks also have Hall effect sensors, which ensures that there won’t be stick drift through normal gameplay, giving you a bit of added assurance. Having a controller within this price range, you’ll likely not want it to end up dead due to drift.
On the front of the controller, there are also the Options and Share buttons on either side of the touchpad, as well as the PlayStation button and mute button on the center bottom of the controller. Moving towards the front of the controller, the triggers make a nice noise when used and are textured at the bottom, which make them feel nice when you play. On this side, you can also find a toggle to change between wireless and wired mode, as well as charging port (USB-C) and a multi-function button for remapping the buttons and swapping profiles.
Below the L2 and R2 buttons, there is a built-in trigger stop that allows you to toggle between full range or short range actuation. This is something you may take advantage of if you play shooters, where you can change how fast the trigger activates, to make sure each shot is quicker. The controller has a battery life of around ten hours of play, which feels true to the controller, and is quite a good chunk of time to use your controller in.
Along with the trigger stop on the back of the controller, there are more buttons! There is a toggle to switch between PS4, PS5 and PC for this controller. There is a profile button to switch between the various default profiles (there are four pre-installed) for your controller, but you can also create your own custom profiles, configuring them using your PC and the Revolution 5 app. A third toggle, with A and C above it, switches you between classic or advanced control. Classic mode allows button mapping, trigger travel data range and audio controls through the touchpad, whereas advanced mode has more intense customization when paired with the app on PC. In the app, once you have connected your controller to a computer, you can also adjust a bunch of things like trigger sensitivity, dead zones, change the color of the light ring around the right thumbstick and so much more, so it is worth checking out the app if you want to get the most out of your controller.
I’ve played with a lot of pro-style controllers, like the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro controller, that have had the S1 and S2 buttons on the back of the controller, where your entire hand almost covers them, and I found that I spent a lot of time accidentally touching these buttons, but the S1 and S2 on this controller are more towards the middle, allowing just one finger to really be able to push it easily instead of the palm of your hand. The S3 and S4 buttons are slightly below this, also towards the center, which for me is very comfortable and means that I won’t be pressing them when I do not mean to. I can see that this can be a big difference between other pro-controllers, so it does come down to preference, but I always found the larger buttons to be very clunky!
As I said, the controller itself is quite weighty out of the box, but this is another thing that you can customize. On the back of the controller, you can remove a panel and reveal small weights that also are stored in the box with your extra swappable parts for your controller. You can pick a 10g, 14g or 15g weight to put on each side, giving you a more weighty controller to play with. The weights are meant to make the controller feel less front heavy and more balanced in your hand, so if you feel the top is a bit top heavy, you can adjust this for more comfortable long term play.
The Nacon Revolution 5 Pro Controller does have built-in Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and on-device controls for volume. This means that you can bypass the PlayStation 5 (and 4) console restrictions for Bluetooth Headphones, as they pair directly to the controller. This is useful if you want to have non-PlayStation compatible headsets to play with.
This controller does feel like it’s missing a few features that you’d expect in a Pro controller aimed at PlayStation 5. Firstly, there isn’t built-in rumble or any way to check the battery status when playing on the PlayStation 5, which feel like defaults that just should be included. The controller also doesn’t have a built-in microphone or built-in speaker, if those are things you are after.
With that said, I do like the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro Controller. It’s a controller that feels very customizable and giving the opportunity to connect to your favorite headset, directly to the controller, does feel like a bit of an upgrade. Overall, it does feel like a good product, but you might find yourself missing some of the features like rumble if you play games that often use that to add to the experience.
You can purchase the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro Controller from their website.
Comments are closed.