PS5 DualSense controller works with PS3 and Nintendo Switch, but not PS4

With DualSense already available at retail in the United States, days ahead of PlayStation 5’s launch, consumers have been able to test the next-gen controllers on multiple devices. On YouTube, user MidnightMan has played the DualSense on two different PlayStation consoles and showed their tests to learn how it would work on them.

The DualSense controller is recognized by PlayStation 3 as the console is compatible with any generic Bluetooth controller. PlayStation 4 doesn’t recognize the controller, making it natively unusable on the current-gen machine.

Players should not be disappointed as the DualSense controller has never been promised to be working on previous generations’ consoles, unlike Microsoft did with its Xbox controllers.

It’s worth mentioning that DualSense 5 can be easily connected to PC via USB and used for PC games or even PlayStation 4 titles through remote play by having the console turned on. It’s a workaround to a problem we don’t think Sony will ever bother to fix, as they’ll likely don’t want DualSense to be playable outside of PS5, but it does work.

Customers have also tried and played the DualSenses controller on Nintendo Switch, but that requires a third-party adapter and introduces a level of latency that makes it less enjoyable.

DualSense lacks its newest features on all these devices, such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, that aim to make it so unique.