Nacon Revolution 5 Pro Review: A customisable PlayStation controller

Verdict

The Nacon Revolution 5 Pro is a great wireless controller. It’s comfortable to hold for extended periods and responsive on its supported platforms. There are lots of potential options for customisation, while its additional software is reasonably easy to use. It may not be the best for PS5 users though, as its lack of adaptive triggers and haptic feedback at such a price.

Introduction

The Nacon Revolution 5 Pro adds another compelling option to the growing range of controllers designed specifically for PlayStation.

This is more of a pro-grade option, coming with a lot of the functionality and customization associated with similarly priced options, including the first-party DualSense Edge and the Scuf Reflex Pro.

Priced at £199.99/$199.99/€229.90, it’s up there as one of the priciest controllers available for its supported platforms, but whether it’s enough to be the best of the best is a different story entirely. Let’s have a gander and find out.

Design

• Comfortable in hand, but small
• Convenient swapping of analog sticks
• Plentiful amount of buttons

Compared to its competitors, the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro is a smaller-feeling controller, despite its chunky exterior. It’s available in either black or white, although the latter colourway is more of a two-tone, with its side grips covered in a rubberised black coating.

In-keeping with the more affordable and Xbox-compatible Nacon Pro Compact Controller from a couple of years ago, the Revolution 5 Pro feels quite small in my hands. It’s comfortable to hold with its smoother plastic finish and rubberised elements, but isn’t as comfortable as the standard DualSense in terms of PS5 controllers.

Despite that smaller stature, the Revolution 5 Pro offers a bevy of buttons at pretty much every angle. On the faceplate, it opts for more of an Xbox and PC-style layout with a D-Pad occupying the space where the left analog stick would be on a standard PlayStation controller.

Elsewhere, there are the usual pro-grade features around the back including lockable triggers and extra clicky buttons. There are also a pair of buttons at the base of the grips, which can be a little difficult to hit, unless you hold the Revolution 5 Pro in a specific way.

As with the likes of the Xbox Elite Series 2 and Sony’s own DualSense Edge, Nacon’s controller is made so you can easily swap out the thumbsticks and D-Pad with the array of different options contained within a small box inside the carrying case. As opposed to swapping out the entire module with some of Thrustmaster’s controllers, it’s the individual thumbsticks that pop out with some force and can then be swapped out with either some smaller flat sticks or thicker ones. Swapping them is easy enough, although you must ensure that you line the stick up with its respective slots, as it only goes in one way.

With the Revolution 5 Pro, you can also slide off a cover on the back of the controller stems to add more weight to the controller, if you choose. There are three pairs of weights to choose from: either add two 10g ones, two 14g ones, or two 16g ones. This is an interesting option if you’d prefer a heavier controller, although it is a concern if you want a lighter one.

Around the top side is where the USB-C port for charging and wired connectivity lives, as well as a toggle switch between wired and wireless connectivity, as well as a multi-function button that can be used changing EQ settings and to help pair the controller to a relevant device.

Performance

• Responsive on both PS4 and PC
• Lacks key features for PS5
• Convenient connectivity on both wired and wireless modes

In testing the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro across a range of titles on both PC and PS4 including Assetto Corsa, Gran Turismo 7 Counter Strike 2 and Call of Duty Warzone, it felt reasonably responsive with its hall effect analog sticks, as well as familiar button and trigger placement. It’s an excellent controller to use for general gaming, although the lack of rumble in my PC testing did leave it feeling hollow where I’m used to more precise feedback.

The controller’s lack of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers make it a much less compelling option for use on a PS5 than even Sony’s stock DualSense. It also lacks any sense of rumble on PS5, while it is present on PC and PS4, according to Nacon.

In both CS:2 and Call of Duty Warzone, the Revolution 5 Pro’s lockable triggers proved handy for offering snappy gunplay, while the additional buttons on the reverse of the controller were useful for quick access for moments such as throwing a grenade in the heat of battle. In the likes of Gran Turismo Sport, those reverse buttons also came in handy for mimicking the experience of using a paddle shift for changing gears, offering a responsive experience.

The compatibility on offer here is solid with convenient operation over both wired and wireless. The Revolution 5 Pro played nicely with both my PS4 and PC using either the bundled USB-A receiver or over a wireless connection. There is also Bluetooth, although it’s used for pairing a wireless headset to the controller, as opposed to connecting the controller to a PC, for instance.

The option for both wired and wireless means is convenient, and it may seem like a silly thing to pick up on, but the fact that you can use the controller over a wire and it still works is useful, given some peripherals are strictly wired for charging.

That last point is particularly important, given that you’re likely to be charging the Revolution 5 Pro a lot more than some of the competition. Nacon rates the controller to last for up to 10 hours on a single charge, which sits above Sony’s rated runtime of the DualSense Edge, but far behind the 40 hours expected runtime of Microsoft’s Xbox Elite Series 2.

There is some additional software for a whole host of functions, which is available for both Windows and macOS. Nacon’s software is reasonably easy to navigate, and allows you to create separate profiles for each platform. Button remapping is simple with the software’s UI, while you can also adjust dead zones for triggers and the analog sticks, as well as customise the intensity of the rumble. Inside Nacon’s software, there are also other useful quality of life functions for extending the controller’s battery, which disable its vibration, lighting and noise reduction on a connected microphone.

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