CUSTOM PS5 CONTROLLER – Get A Grip Gaming Controller Review

This is a custom PS5 controller with a bunch of pro-level mods that might make it the best PS5 controller on the market, and yet, I don’t know I’m sold on it – and not just because I’ve been an Xbox kid all my life – let me explain, starting with all the modifications this thing has had done to it! Checking out Get a Grip Gaming’s website you’ll find their interactive configurator where you can go through all the options. You have eight colour options for the front shell, the same set for the touchpad, the trim, buttons, d-pad, menu and home, plus the joysticks, the joystick rings, bumpers and triggers, and of course the back shell too. But colour isn’t the only customisable option – no the real magic is under “Add-Ons”… In here is where you’ll find the 2 or 4 extra back paddles, or the 8 remappable buttons, plus hall effect joysticks, tactile face buttons, and tactile bumpers and triggers. There’s a lot to talk about there, so let’s start at the back with those buttons.

I opted for the 8 remappable buttons here, which themselves come with two button cap options, this dished concave option, or these domed convex tips which I much prefer. They just pressure fit onto the stalks, which technically isn’t ideal especially long term but it works good enough. The buttons are layed out with three per grip at the back, plus two more up top by the USB C port and triggers. They are placed reasonably well, although they don’t quite line up with my fingers making it a little awkward to press them individually. I did find I pressed them by accident too when just trying to hold the controller which isn’t ideal – I feel like the 4 paddles might actually be the better option at least for my hand size, although it’s worth noting that if you claw grip your controller the extra two up at the top would likely be invaluable, and depending on your hand size you may find these are perfectly positioned, so I won’t levee too harsh a judgement on that front. I would say that they don’t feel exactly premium, they feel pretty loose which doesn’t feel amazing. There really isn’t much travel to the switch either, and it’s clearly a little tactile switch inside the screw-on backplate (hence the lack of travel), which comes as a limitation from making this an optional extra rather than built into the design of the rear shell itself.

The buttons can be remapped – although this is where we run into the first major limitation of modding a standard controller rather than making something custom from scratch, as the process to remap them is a little finicky. You need to hold L1, R1, right on the D pad, and square to put the controller into remapping mode, then you press a ‘valid’ button, along with a custom button, and that pairs them. What is a ‘valid’ button, I hear you ask! Well, that’d be the face buttons – square, triangle, X and O, and the D pad. No bumpers, and no L3 and R3 – just D Pad and face buttons. Literally all eight can be a direct copy of an otherwise accessible button – as in there is one ‘remappable’ button for each valid button, which mostly just means you probably won’t be remapping them much once you get used to whatever layout you prefer. 

The next biggest mod is the joysticks – one of the biggest problems with basically all controllers is the damn joysticks start to drift. That happens because the joysticks are made up of potentiometers – physical brushes wipe over a surface, and that movement wears them out, gunk gets in there too and just makes it worse, and so you end up with an incorrect signal from the stick and eventually it’ll just outright stop working. That’s really annoying, so to have the option to swap them out for hall effect sticks – these use magnets and a sensor meaning there is no physical contact, and nothing to wear out, and no drift ever – is really cool. While TMR sticks are the new hotness, hall effect is still great, and these feel great to the touch. Again though, the downside of modding an existing controller means that at least on PC anyway, you can’t calibrate the sticks or deadzones, which was a bit of a problem in Assetto Corsa. Even perfectly still and centred, the game was receiving constant jittering from the stick, to the point where the steering wheel was snapping left and right non-stop. 

As a point of contrast, Razer’s Wolverine V2 Chroma and V3 Pro controllers I’ve reviewed this year – videos in the cards above if you’re interested – have a custom controller app which lets you change deadzone settings, remap buttons and even a “prevent double deadzones” setting too – and the playstation version gets a mobile app that lets you control all that too. That’s the benefit of building a fully custom controller, rather than modding an official one. It is worth noting that there is an open source joystick calibration tool you might be able to use, and of course connected to a PS5 you’ll have more settings available than I do on PC, but the disparity is pretty obvious. 

Moving on to the other unique feature, the haptic triggers, this is one for the FPS gamers. Instead of your usual trigger movement being quite a bit of travel, these ones have been basically locked in place, and a clicky switch inserted inside, so you get instant reaction from pressing them. For, usually, aiming and shooting, this should be a competitive advantage in FPS games, although there are a few things you should know about this option. Playstation 5 controllers have a feature called adaptive triggers – basically it’s force-feedback built into the trigger. It’s a niche but pretty cool feature, and of course if your whole trigger is locked in place, that isn’t going to work anymore. In fact, the motors needed for that to work are actually removed completely, so that feature is gone for good. By default anyway, the haptic motor is also removed. Again, for competitive FPS games that’s a pretty common mod, but it’s worth noting that the motor is outright removed when the controller is customised, unless you ask for them to leave it in anyway. Again, using the Razer controllers as a point of comparison, those also have tactile switches for triggers – but as slide-in options, meaning the controller can work for both FPS games, and a casual racing game for example, without having to compromise on either experience. The same goes for the vibration, as that can be controlled in their software to be turned off for FPS games, then just turn it back on for something more casual. That’s the benefit of having a purpose built controller over a modded one.

I should also note that my left trigger is really pretty stiff. The FAQs say that you just need to push on it really hard to re-seat it, but nothing I’ve tried has helped. You can see how the trigger isn’t aligned correctly – the right trigger lines up nicely with the right bumper, but the left ones don’t line up. I don’t know if this is shipping damage – they ship it in this nice hard carry case and a bubble-wrapped box so it doesn’t look like it – or an issue when it was put together, but it means it’s really stiff and often doesn’t actuate the switch. I’ll have to pop this open at some point to see if it’s something I can fix.

I should mention that the tactile face buttons do feel pretty nice compared to the more mushy standard buttons. Again for the more competitive player, this is definitely an option geared towards your play style. I would say that I do prefer the mecha-tactile switches Razer uses in their controllers though. They feel more refined and a nicer balance between tactile and still a bit of travel, and of course the clicky kinesthetic feedback is great. This one is just a little more.. Basic, perhaps. In fact, the quality in general is a little less refined than I’m used to. The custom shell is nice, but it’s just smooth plastic rather than say a nice textured grip – especially with a nice bit of rubber overmolding. Hell, the pink of the joysticks isn’t the same shade as the plastic shell, and if I’m being REALLY picky, I’d also say that the rear shell isn’t the same shade either. Also, the whole thing rattles thanks to those 8 extra buttons like a baby toy – listen. That doesn’t exactly scream quality.

The biggest problem, by far though, is the price. This exact controller would set you back £309, plus another £30 or so for shipping and whatever import fees on top of that too, so say something like £400 to your door. Even if you don’t opt for the custom colour options, you are still looking at £266 plus shipping and import fees, making this one of the most expensive controllers you can buy full stop. In the US that’d be $335 for the non-coloured option, or $384 for this beauty. For context, Razer’s Wolverine V3 Pro – the newest one with hall effect joysticks and everything – is £200, although that is a PC and Xbox controller. They are yet to launch a V3 PlayStation controller, but even their V2 Pro is now sub-£200 and I can’t help but feeling like that is a considerably better option – both in value and in quality and usage experience – than this. The Wolverine does pretty much everything this does, but cheaper, and better. It can be a pro FPS controller, AND still play racing games or platformers well. It has great customizability, and at half the price? Well that seems like a no-brainer to me. I should make it clear though that a controller is a tertiary device to me as a PC gamer, so my view on it is definitely skewed, and quite possibly limited. Based on the number of different controllers they show off on their insta and TikTok pages, there must be a market for these that I just don’t understand, so please do let me know what I’m missing in the comments below. What would make you spend over £300 – or nearly $400 – on this, over something like a Wolverine V2 Pro, or a SCUF controller instead? Please do let me know as I’d love to understand more.