PlayStation Back Button: Tech review

PlayStation Back Button: Tech review

PlayStation’s back button is a smart piece of kit.

Sure, with a few months to go until the launch of the PS5, you could argue if it’s necessary or ponder if this is going to be built into any new controller and we are being conditioned early on.

Regardless of that, it’s testament to how easy it is to handle and set up that it fits and sits so easily in the hands just moments after you’ve opened the package.

Clipping into the headphone jack of the handheld, the back button sits tightly and snugly into the controller’s form without feeling chunky.

A LCD display in the back helps you set up the controller to how you want it to be. Jumping around in platformers or blasting the X button in shooters, you can configure one of the back paddles to how you want it.

The problem with the set up display is that if you miss your desired coordinate, you have to scroll all the way back through, rather than simply rolling it back. It’s a minor flaw in a relatively smooth set up but it’s one that niggles rather than majorly irritates.

And that’s really it - after hours of playing, the ergonomics make sense and probably will help long term with RSI.

But for a reasonable price, the back button is a nice to have, rather than a need to have immediately- it’s not exactly a game changer, but it does add up to something that long term will be useful rather than consigned to the back of the gaming cupboard.