https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Ac4PYXDzCm9vKLF8AM4kDd.jpg
(Image credit: Sony)

PS5 DualSense controller may get wireless charging and extra buttons add-on

A bit more button for your buck

by

With the PS5 launch on the horizon, we're at a point where we know more about the next-gen console's DualSense controller than we do about the PlayStation 5 itself. But that's not to say there won't still be a few more secrets to come for the PS5 gamepad.

A newly uncovered patent points to the potential for additional hardware add-ons for the DualSense 5, that could bring with them some much-requested features.

Chief among these is wireless charging – the ability to leave your pad on a charging surface and have its internal battery powered up without plugging in a cable.

The document's abstract details "a wireless charging adapter that can snap onto a computer game controller [sic] can be inductively coupled to a charging base to wirelessly recharge a battery in the controller."

What's not clear is whether the existing battery technology in the DualSense could support such a method, or if this would be an add-on for an as-yet-to-be-unveiled second generation pad.

Extra buttons

The patent also goes on to include and describe how the adaptor could add additional buttons to the DualSense:

"The adapter also can include keys that mirror keys on the controller so that a gamer can remove the adapter with controller from the charging base, keep the adapter on the controller, and use both the controller keys and adapter keys to control a computer game."

Sony already has some experience with a similar button-adding accessory, with the DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment adding access to a couple of extra assignable buttons. Sony's certainly not against the idea historically then, so this patent is one to watch.