Nacon's $229.99 PS5 Controller Puts Settings on a Built-In Screen

Nacon has announced the Revolution 5 Unlimited, an officially licensed wireless PlayStation 5 controller with a built-in screen. It is priced at $229.99 for preorder through Nacon's online store. The Verge

Nacon claims it is the world's first officially licensed PS5 controller with a built-in screen. That claim covers licensed PS5 hardware with an integrated display, not third-party gamepads in general.

The screen is functional, not decorative. It adjusts joystick sensitivity and remaps buttons directly on the controller, with settings stored on the hardware. The point is to change tuning without leaving a game to open software elsewhere.

The display also manages audio. It can mix sound from multiple sources, so music from a phone and game audio can play together through wired headphones plugged into the controller. Balance is set from the controller face rather than from a phone or console menu.

The layout uses asymmetrical sticks, with the left and right sticks at different heights. The sticks use tunneling magnetoresistance, or TMR, which tracks changes in a magnetic field instead of using sliding contacts. Nacon describes them as drift-resistant, because the design removes the wear path that causes stick drift in standard potentiometer designs.

The controller works with PS5, PC, and Android. Nacon also offers an iOS and Android app to adjust thumbstick response curves, audio EQ profiles, and right-stick RGB lighting. The app and the on-controller screen provide two routes to the same settings.

Looking at what this means for players who live in settings menus, the shift is where setup happens. Pro-style controllers have settled on response curves, dead-zone tuning, remapping, and EQ presets, usually adjusted in a PC or mobile app. Putting a subset on the controller shortens that loop. Sensitivity and remap changes become adjustments made between rounds, not tasks done before a session.

In my view, the audio mixing deserves as much attention as the screen. Many players already run music, podcasts, or voice chat from a second device while playing. Routing that mix through the controller keeps volume and balance within reach and avoids audio juggling in console menus, where background audio control stays limited.

The broader context here is reliability and serviceability. Drift is still the failure players notice first. Moving away from carbon-film potentiometers toward magnetic sensing reduces mechanical wear. TMR is a newer gamepad version of that approach, different in design from Hall effect but aimed at the same outcome. At this price, buyers will expect that drift resistance to hold through long-term use, not only in early testing.

Worth flagging is the tradeoff in asymmetry and added features. Asymmetrical layout is a preference, not an upgrade. Some players will choose it at once, others will not. The screen adds control surface but also adds power draw, firmware complexity, and another part that must survive drops, travel, and long sessions. Its value depends on whether on-device tuning becomes habit rather than novelty.

What this enables, if the implementation is sound, is a controller that carries its setup with it. Tuning, remapping, lighting, EQ, and mix can travel with the pad across PS5, PC, and Android. That portability helps players who change platforms often and do not want to rebuild profiles each time.