If you have a DualShock 4 or a Switch Pro Controller, you may have wanted to control your PC games with one of those controllers or you are simply considering buying one. In this comparison we are going to show you how to connect both controls to the PC and which of them is better. Which of the two is more suitable to play on your PC?
We all have a console at home, or almost everyone, but while the Xbox controller is the standard on PC and this allows them to connect without problems to all PC games, in the case of the controllers of other consoles such as the Dual Shock 4 or the Switch Pro Controller communication is somewhat more complex, that is why we have made this comparison where we are also going to teach you how to connect the
DualShock 4 vs Switch Pro Controller on PC, connecting the Gamepad to the PC
The control par excellence for PC games is the Xbox one, this is thanks to the complete integration of said control to DirectX DirectInput libraries , but it is possible to connect both the Dual Shock 4 and the Switch Pro Controller both through USB cable such as Bluetooth.
Both gamepads can be used to control the games we have on Steam through the “Controller Settings “, which are found in the parameters menu, but the process requires having to map the different controller buttons for some games , so it can be somewhat tedious.
In the event that you are not running a game that does not use Steam then you will need a wrapper , a program that converts the signals sent to the command to signals that the game can understand, an example is the DS4Windows that, as its name indicates, allows us communicate the Dual Shock with the PC . What this program does is reinterpret the signals of the Dual Shock 4 as if it were a generic controller for PC , but it does not allow to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the PS4 controller.
Another alternative is to buy the 8BitDo Wireless Bluetooth Adapter , which makes things much easier and avoids the tedious work of remapping buttons.
DualShock 4 vs Switch Pro Controller on PC, battery and range
The battery of both controllers depends on how you are going to use it, but this is the case when the control is connected to a PlayStation 4 and not to another platform such as the PC, but you can expect an approximate duration of 10 hours on average in best case .
But if you are one of the people who does not want to be all the time connecting the controller to charge or a USB then the Switch Pro Controller wins the street with a battery that has a duration that is almost four times higher.
In terms of range, both controls have a range of 9.7 meters when used wirelessly through Bluetooth connectivity, this is because they use the same type of Bluetooth connectivity.
Which of both gamepads is the best to play on PC?
Here we have two opposing opinions. On the one hand, there are people who like to have the D-Pad higher than the left analog stick , which has been common among all the Dual Shock controllers of the PlayStation and has evolved without changes in this aspect until the Dual Sense of PS5. The other way is the one that Sega started with Dreamcast and that systems like Gamecube and Xbox continued, where the analog stick is higher than the crosshead , which we can see in the Switch Pro Controller
Depending on how you have gotten used to playing, one type of controller will be more comfortable than another , but it will not take you long to adapt. Think of it as going to a country where you drive from the opposite side, obviously at first it will be uncomfortable.
However, if we talk about certain genres then things already change, for example, the First Person Shooters had a boom on the PlayStation 3, the control of its successor was designed for that type of game, that is why analog triggers, L2 and R2, were improved for this, which are widely used not only in those games but also in speed games.
On the other hand, the Switch Pro Controller lacks analog triggers so it has a huge disadvantage in certain genres. Of course, if we use the Dual Shock 4 outside of Steam and we have to pull the DS4Windows then we will find that the analog buttons of the DS4 will work as if they were digital buttons , losing all advantage over the Switch Pro Controller.
Finally, it should be noted that if vibration seems important to you then the Switch Pro Controller is not your command since it lacks it.
