Decent game controller?

mrk said:
Phantom review is up:

www.neowin.net

Hexgaming Phantom controller review: It's a Sony DualSense Edge on steroids, kind of

Hexgaming's Phantom takes the internals from Sony's controllers, throws in customisation such as stick-drift calibration, all tucked into a high-quality shell that rivals Sony's DualSense Edge.
www.neowin.net www.neowin.net
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I noticed in the hidusbf screenshot you have it set to 1000 and your bInterval is 4. My understanding is that a DualSense needs to be set to 8000 to have a true 1000Hz polling rate, the USB interface will be running at 8000Hz but the same input gets repeated 8 times. I assume with a bInterval of 4 the true polling rate is 250Hz. It should look like this:
iH5nkio.png
 
I did actually try that and found no difference in games or in measurement tools, exact same results, and seems online sources seem to vary on what they recommend too so in the end I just settled on what is shown. Maybe it's different with the Phantom vs an OG DualSense perhaps?
 
I checked gamepadla and the stick latency going from 1000Hz to 8000Hz is only 1.23ms lower, so setting it to 1000 with a bInterval of 4 is clearly not 250Hz which is a bit confusing.
8Vgi916.png
 
"Some more research later, though I am still not 100% sure on its accuracy, revealed that the DualSense controllers can internally poll at up to 8000 times per second, even if the USB polling rate is lower. This means that even at 250Hz, the controller performs very well. My findings align with this information, so I am tending to lean on this being true, though if anyone knows otherwise, please do let us know in the comments!"

DualSense is definitely not 8000Hz internally, it's 1000Hz. How would an internal polling rate of 8000Hz mean that it performs very well at 250Hz? @mrk
 
As in the internal report rate of the controller vs the USB polling rate much like how certain gaming keyboards are advertised as 8K but their internal report rate is far below whereas you can also get true 8K keyboards too.

Anyway I left that area open ended, if someone knows the correct details then they can leave a comment and the section updated.
 

The team has outdone themselves, we’ve managed to crack the code and get pure clear audio playback via loopback capture. It’s astonishing how much we’ve managed to make this with minimal to no latency.

The PS5 experience is coming soon to PC!

Checklist:
✅ - Speaker
✅ - Headphone Jack
⚠️ - Controller Microphone / Headset Microphone (Still in the works, but not hard)
✅ - Haptics
✅ - Adaptive Triggers

With some decent hardware, you should be able to stream real-time audio and haptics via Bluetooth fully wireless! There will be presets to choose from that target low latency if the hardware allows. This is not a one size fits all. I was able to stream Audio/Haptics to 2 controllers at the same time as shown in the video without issues, however this depends on your hardware and BT radio. I've tried 3, but it has some stutters.

We will also be able to capture Microphone data and utilize it via the virtual DualSense with an audio device. So you’ll be able to set that as your input in games/applications for the ultimate experience.

What does this mean for you?

Basically DSX can emulate a wired DualSense, and in the works is a virtual DualSense with a sound device. What this means is that games will see that virtual DualSense, and think it's a plugged in wired one. Games will then send Audio and Haptics to that virtual DualSense, then DSX will get that data, and send it via Bluetooth. Boom, PS5 experience on PC.
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This is pretty huge, now to just find a Bluetooth adapter that has decent polling rates for use with the controller as most appear to be a bit rubbish without having to install a PCIe one.
 
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only if you want the tweaked features, a normal DualSense will give you all the haptics and adaptive triggers and onboard speaker etc!
 
I just got the TPLink UB500 mini BT dongle from Amazon for a tenner, it was recommended on reddit as even Sony recommend it for PSVR use, well it seems good so far wirelessly connecting to the DualSense (Phantom), polling results are consistent at over 700Hz, and linearity and resolution tracking etc appears to be the same as wired mode:

tSNpL8h.png


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In games that have native DualSense support and in Windows it's seen as a DualSense no problems, movement and camera movement responds the same as wired fromw hat I can tell playing both Indiana Jones and Cronos.

However, without installing DS4/DSX, I found that some haptic feedback was not working, like in Cronos when wired in, your attacks and stomps etc have accurate haptic feedback, in Bluetooth these haptics are missing, plug in the USB cable whilst in game and the haptics return.

In Indiana Jones the haptics are all there though, so it seems picky on what games send haptic feedback signals over Bluetooth when you don't install DSX.

I will continue to play via USB, but if I ever get bored and want to go wireless, then I'll try DSX or DS4Windows and emulate wired DualSense instead. On Steam reviews DSX seems to have a bunch of neg reviews about it needing an extra paid DLC to unlock full DualSense features which is not ideal. But anyway I am happy with plugging in a USB cable and not need to faff about with charging the controller (or forgetting to).

Adaptive triggers worked flawlessly on either connection method though.

Steam recognises it too and can change the LED colours and so on like with USB connection.
 
Can I just say that I used the Phantom tonight in a game of Rivals 2 with my nephews and usually I get my ass handed to me as they play this daily and I just join them once a week for funsies, well today I did the ass handing. I think it's the feel of the face buttons and the extra movement range of the DualSense sticks that helped me play better :cry:

(I am Zetterburn)

This is fast becoming my most used controller now hah.
 
The faceplate and extras finally arrived, have to say official GameSir accessories are very nice quality, cannot complain for free, everyone should check their accounts incase they too have free coupons there to spend.

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niggyg said:
This is currently on offer. It was posted as one of the first replies to this thread a years ago, anyone have any opinions on it?

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It's great for £21. I have it and the EasySMX x10 and prefer it of the 2, and both over my Xbox Series X pad.

Edit - just checked my order for it on Amazon and i've had it and x10 around a year, it's lasting well!
 
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Alright so now that I have been gaming with the dualsense for some time now, I have some thoughts. GameSir is definitely better built, the dualsense does creak if I grip it a little tightly and it does flex a bit more due to its design. You don't expect that from a £229 controller, yeah Sony's own Edge is the same..

Having said that, the stick feel and general performance is a winner for dualsense. Whether you unlock 1000Hz or not doesn't matter, it's just better an experience and feels more natural than any other controller i have used on PC to date.

I've also remapped the 4 underside mouse click buttons on the Phantom to be R1/L1 and RS and LS as they feel great to use this way.

The adaptive triggers and haptics are the icing on the cake for me.

Now let's see how long the plastic quality lasts :cry:

This is still on the potentiometer version by the way, the hall effect version is being delivered on Monday.
 
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The green Phantom with hall effect sticks and calibration module arrived today, out of the box something felt off in games, moving the right stick left was slow whilst moving it right was normal. Fired up the calibration module and it seems it was not properly factory calibrated, ran through the steps to calibrate all 4 areas (inner, outer range, distance range, circularity) and now it's great.

In games the HE sticks feel the same as the potentiometer version, though the potentiometer version only can be centre drift calibrated with the onboard module, the HE one is full-on sensor calibration. The only annoying thing is the module is connected by a thin ribbon cable which is a bit fiddly, though I guess the calibration will only be done if there's an issue.

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Potentiometer:
Fyg9jJt.png


Hall effect:
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