Unfortunately, eBay and other online marketplaces are rife with fake controllers originating from China and the Middle-East. These fakes, while convincing, are of much lower build quality. At the time of writing these fake controllers are lingering around the £25 mark (there’s a reason they’re so cheap!). I’ve put together a quick comparison chart to help you spot these yourselves…
At first glance you may not be able to tell the difference between these two controllers, but one is in fact a fake, with a completely different motherboard inside. Keep scrolling to learn how to identify these fakes.
Printing is perhaps the easiest giveaway. The writing above the Share and Options buttons will be misaligned and not centered. Note the “A” of “SHARE” is centrally aligned with the button with one of our genuine controllers.
The fake controller may have triangle, circle, cross and square buttons which appear washed out, with lines thinner than they should be. Note the inconsistancy of the width in the circle button print in this example.
The fake controller may be using cheap Chinese screws instead of genuine Sony screws. Also, note the poor joinery quality (the join is much more visible) between the two plastics in this example.
The fake controller may be using analogue sticks not machined as precisely, leaving evidence of manufacture. When they click in they will feel more “plastic” compared to a genuine model. In-game, these analogue sticks will be much more inprecise.
A fake Dualshock 4 has a fairly convincing box, however certain elements may look strange. In our example the SONY logo looks stretched.
Sony never ships their Genuine Dualshock 4 controllers with an included USB charging cable. If yours comes with one, you definately have a fake!