The PlayStation 5’s DualSense gamepad is an incredible feat of engineering, with a mind-boggling number of features for a console’s stock controller, even compared with the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons. It’s also nearly singular, as Sony has been less welcoming to third-party controllers than Microsoft or Nintendo. I say nearly, because there is one alternative: the Scuf Reflex series of gamepads.
Scuf offers three controllers that work with the PlayStation 5, and they are effectively built on the same platform as the DualSense. Two of them, the $199.99 Reflex and $229.99 Reflex Pro, have all of the DualSense’s features, including adaptive triggers (the most expensive model, the $259.99 Reflex FPS, lacks adaptive triggers along with vibration, in favor of instant triggers for better performance in first-person shooters) and programmable rear paddles. We tested the Reflex Pro, and it indeed acted just like a DualSense with some welcome upgrades. However, it’s very expensive, especially when it has fewer customization options than the $179.99 Xbox Elite Wireless Controller, $99.99 Victrix Gambit Dual Core Tournament Controller, or $49.99 8Bitdo Pro 2. Though to be fair, none of those gamepads work with the PlayStation 5.
Paddles on a DualSense
The Reflex Pro looks and feels almost exactly the same as the DualSense, sharing the same long, curved grips and large, trapezoidal touchpad. Even the direction pad, face buttons, and triggers are effectively identical to the DualSense’s, with the only visual distinction from the front being the circular home button instead of a PlayStation-logo-shaped one.
You’ll get another hint of how different the Reflex Pro is from the DualSense by pulling up the grips’ front tips. The plastic panel below the touchpad and between the outer grips comes off, letting you pull the convex analog sticks out and replace them with the concave sticks also included with the controller. Both sets of sticks are black plastic with rubber-coated tips, and while they seem very light rattling around in the box, they’re exceptionally secure when clicked into place. The tips feature pleasant, two-tone textures with smooth centers and slightly ridged sides that let you keep your thumb angled in a given position when you’re pushing the stick from the edge.
The Reflex Pro’s back is where the controller really sets itself apart. A wide bump near the gamepad’s top holds four programmable paddle buttons that extend down against the grips’ inner curves. When holding the Reflex, your middle fingers sit naturally between the two paddles on either side, letting you easily pull any four of them at any time. They’re much more comfortably arranged than the four vertical paddles on the back of the Scuf Vantage.
You can physically remove any of the paddles by pulling them firmly out of their holes on the bump. The bump itself doesn’t come off, but it sits in the natural “dead zone” between where the index fingers rest on the triggers and the middle fingers rest on the grips. In fact, I didn’t even notice it when I played with the paddles removed. The paddles themselves are simple, black plastic levers that are functional and solid-feeling, but not quite the metal paddles on the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller.
The grips on the Reflex Pro distinguish it from the normal Reflex. They’re textured to make the controller easier to hold than the smooth grips on the Reflex. That’s the only real difference between the two controllers, though, and probably isn’t worth the extra $30 for most people.
Manual Programming With Few Options
A button on the rear bump switches between three control profiles, glowing blue, red, or green to indicate the mode. Each profile features presets for FPS games (all face buttons), sports games (direction pad left and right, and circle and square), and racing games (all direction pad buttons), but you can manually reprogram any paddle for any mode and set up your own profiles. Reprogramming the paddles is a manual affair, but simple: hold the profile button down until it blinks, then press the paddle you’re mapping and the button you want it to activate at the same time.
This leads us to one of the biggest disappointments about the Reflex: There’s no customization software. Your only control tweaks are mapping the rear paddles, and they must be manually set. You can’t remap other controls, adjust sensitivity curves for the analog sticks or triggers, or program macros. These features aren’t available on the DualSense either, but the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller has those features, as do the 8Bitdo Pro 2 and Victrix Gambit. A gamepad this expensive should have these options.
Besides the removable paddles and alternate concave analog sticks (one short, one long), the Reflex only comes with a fabric-wrapped USB cable. No carrying case is included, disappointing to see in a $200-plus controller.
The Scuf Reflex Pro is designed for use with the PlayStation 4, and can be connected via Bluetooth to iOS devices, Macs, and Windows PCs. However, it registers as a DirectInput controller rather than an XInput controller on Windows, meaning you’ll have to rely on Steam’s PlayStation compatibility mode or separate software like DS4Windows.
The lack of software doesn’t hurt the hardware, however, and the Reflex Pro feels fantastic. The textured grips and stick caps are a pleasant upgrade from the standard DualSense, which was already an incredible controller. The rear paddles are comfortable and reliable, and conform ergonomically to the middle fingers.
Playing on the PlayStation 5
Everything else about the Reflex Pro is identical to the DualSense, including the impressive new features Sony packed into the controller, which I tested with Astro’s Playroom on the PlayStation 5. The adaptive triggers offer variable sensitivity and pull distance depending on the game and the situation, the rumble is just as subtle and accurate, and the built-in speaker is as loud and clear as a speaker that size can be.
I played Horizon Forbidden West with the Reflex Pro, and the gamepad worked perfectly. It behaved just like the DualSense, down to the rumble and adaptive triggers. The game’s control layout feels complete without rear triggers, so I removed them for testing, and this made the Reflex feel almost exactly like a stock DualSense.
Souls games tend to benefit from rear triggers due to the game’s inputs for weapon swapping, so I played Elden Ring with the Reflex Pro, as well. I assigned the far left and far right rear triggers to L3 and R3 to control crouching and locking into enemies, and the middle left and right triggers to the left and right inputs on the direction pad to left me switch between weapons in my right hand and between shield, bow, and torch in my left hand. The controller worked just as intended, letting me keep my thumbs on the analog sticks while swapping my equipment, which I couldn’t otherwise do in the game.
An Exceedingly Expensive Alternative
The Scuf Reflex Pro is a nice upgrade to the stock DualSense, but it isn’t a very significant one. Of course, Sony already packed a startling number of advanced features into its PlayStation 5 controller, and maybe there isn’t much further it can be taken. The rear paddles are convenient, and the swappable thumbsticks are pleasantly textured,. Otherwise, the Reflex Pro is nearly indistinguishable from the DualSense. That doesn’t really justify spending more than three times as much as the DualSense, especially when the Reflex Pro doesn’t come with a case, and lacks an app for more extensive customization.
Still, there are no gamepads besides the Reflex and Reflex Pro that do everything the DualSense can do, and that makes them worth considering if you want a rear-bumper upgrade to the standard PS5 controller. If you want to game on Xbox, the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller remains one of our favorites, and the 8Bitdo Pro 2 stands as our pick for Nintendo Switch gamepads. The Elite has more swappable parts and a case, while the Pro 2 costs less than the standard DualSense. Both controllers have apps for even more tweaks, and can be used on PCs without relying on driver wrappers or customization modes. The Victrix Gambit Dual Core Tournament Controller is another good pick for PC and Xbox, though it’s wired rather than wireless. For PS5, though, your choices so far are the DualSense and the Reflex.
