PS3 How to spot a fake PS3 controller without looking at the insides ?

all ps3 controller (fake or not) have reset button. now the thing if it works or not is depending if the button is broken or not.

for identifying PS3 controller if its fake or not without doing a full teardown of the controller it is basically bring a power bank, and plug it in,.now if it charge or not, if its not, then its original, if it charges then its 100% fake.

original controllers will only charge on a USB aware devices (that can do a USB handshakre) like a Smartphone with OTG support, your PC, your TV with USB port etc..... everything except a dumb USB charger.
 
Other ways include:

  • The stiffness of the analog sticks, the sticks don't go all the way to the right
  • The font on the Select and Start buttons are different than the official controllers, same goes for the port numbers
  • Build quality of the shell is different
  • The fake controller disconnects after a certain amount of time REGARDLESS of your console's controller settings
  • Using dshidmini's GUI will tell you if the thing is fake or real
 
usually, at least from my experience with fake controllers for any console, you can usually tell just by the feel of things like the buttons. after having not used my gold, fake ps3 controller for a while, the buttons have started to stick for some reason. it's almost as if they're stiff. my led controller has no issues though. I also bought a fake wii u pro controller once, and I could tell by the size of the box (slightly smaller), and the feel of the dpad (felt cheap).
 
pinky said:
usually, at least from my experience with fake controllers for any console, you can usually tell just by the feel of things like the buttons. after having not used my gold, fake ps3 controller for a while, the buttons have started to stick for some reason. it's almost as if they're stiff. my led controller has no issues though. I also bought a fake wii u pro controller once, and I could tell by the size of the box (slightly smaller), and the feel of the dpad (felt cheap).
Click to expand...
Here in Brazil there is some counterfeit ds3 impossible to distinguish from a real ds3 without open it. To avoid to buy fakes, I only buy the mexican model, because usually fakes are from usa/european models.
Forgot to mention about the USB handshake: probably this is a secure way to check if it's fake or not.
 
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jcorrea said:
Here in Brazil there is some counterfeit ds3 impossible to distinguish from a real ds3 without open it. To avoid to buy fakes, I only buy the mexican model, because usually fakes are from usa/european models.
Forgot to mention about the USB handshake: probably this is a secure way to check if it's fake or not.
Click to expand...

with that being said, I guess there really is no way to do what the op is asking. maybe search ebay or something for oem when looking up dualshock 3 or six axis. though, there's still no guarantee.
 
I had this issue myself when I've purchased my "refurbished" PS3. It came with a "brand new" PS3 controller but upon touch it felt cheap, light and then I realized it was a fake. Then I've confirmed it while trying to play a game with Sixaxis.

If you can't connect the controller or open the box to test it as many already said, your only options are:
  • Check the box. Sony stoped producing PS3 controllers years ago and there aren't brand new controllers in box for sale (if there are, they are sold at very high prices).
  • Chek the top of the box. There must be security seal stickers on the sides.
  • Check the PS button. Fake ones have a more faded out darker tone on the white ink.
  • Check the manual. It has a lot of misspelled words.
I'll upload some pictures of my fake PS3 controller for you to make your own conclusions. Hope it helps.

1631057200284.jpg 1631057200321.jpg 1631057200360.jpg 1631057200400.jpg 1631057200434.jpg 1631057200467.jpg 1631057200504.jpg 1631057637079.jpg
 
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Another thing to check out are the words "SELECT" and "START". On the fake controller, those seem to be left aligned instead of centered as in the original one. Minor details that give you more tips and clues.
 
well for me i know its official controller when i use the analog sticks

this an exemple :
there are some games when you like you move the analog stick slowly like you walk in real life like watch dogs or any game

when you move the stick on official controller it will follow you and feel like its conforts when you move the stick on fake controller it will not follow the same you will feel the stick harder i mean if you move a little to the right you will see stick go to most right same for other directions,i hope you understand what i mean but put it in my mind this is only my opinion
 
Louay said:
when you move the stick on official controller it will follow you and feel like its conforts when you move the stick on fake controller it will not follow the same you will feel the stick harder i mean if you move a little to the right you will see stick go to most right same for other directions,i hope you understand what i mean but put it in my mind this is only my opinion
Click to expand...

I didn't knew that PS3 had haptic feedback.
 
Louay said:
well for me i know its official controller when i use the analog sticks

this an exemple :
there are some games when you like you move the analog stick slowly like you walk in real life like watch dogs or any game

when you move the stick on official controller it will follow you and feel like its conforts when you move the stick on fake controller it will not follow the same you will feel the stick harder i mean if you move a little to the right you will see stick go to most right same for other directions,i hope you understand what i mean but put it in my mind this is only my opinion
Click to expand...

Indeed, if you play a fighting game like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter you will notice that the analog sticks don't have the 8-way direction but 4-way instead.

EDIT: I'll leave here a link to a very thorough comparison of real and fake controllers. https://imgur.com/gallery/kIRJQTt
 
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I think users underestimate the fake copies of DS3s. Some of the fake DS3s have bad analogue sticks, bad quality buttons, unresponsive PS button, poor batteries etc. But some knockoffs were quite good with better analogue sticks, good quality buttons and batteries. The knockoffs are not homogeneous brand which are same types. There are good knockoffs, there are bad ones and there are terrible ones.

In good knockoffs, the sticks are pretty much like original ones. Of course these are still different from official Sony product but its hard to differentiate by common users.
 
The best way is plug the joystick to computer, the original one will show "PLAYSTATION®3 Controller" (or something like this) on device manager.
 
OK, I received a DS3 today...opened it up and the battery is one of those blue ones...DSHIDMINI also reports that it is fake....is it really fake ?
 
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