How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller

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Jun 22, 2021 - 01:29:37

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Introduction

Hi All,

Are you in doubt? Not sure if it’s real or fake? Well, hopefully I can help you out then.

There are some pretty good fakes though. But eventually you can always spot fakes.

Hopefully it will help you to determine whichever it’s fake or not.

What you need

Step 1 Comparing controllers

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, Comparing controllers: step 1, image 1 of 2

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, Comparing controllers: step 1, image 2 of 2

The black controller is an original Sony V2. The silver one is fake. The front housing looks good so far.
I'm showing in picture 2 only the fake one. The tiny letters XF.LIN behind the battery capacity cannot be found on the original. Same for the letters "DW" in front of the serial code. Everything else looks the same like the original.

Step 2 The Screws

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, The Screws: step 2, image 1 of 3

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, The Screws: step 2, image 2 of 3

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, The Screws: step 2, image 3 of 3

The first picture is the original. It has the original PH00 screws installed.
The 2nd picture displays the fake one. They used PH1 screws for this one.
And as you can see in the 3rd picture, the fake ones are way shorter then the original screws.

Step 3 The light

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, The light: step 3, image 1 of 1

When the controller is searching for the PS4, it should give a bright white light, not turquoise! It's obvious that the LED/Micro USB board is fake.

Step 4 Battery and LED/USB board

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, Battery and LED/USB board: step 4, image 1 of 3

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, Battery and LED/USB board: step 4, image 2 of 3

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, Battery and LED/USB board: step 4, image 3 of 3

Now I'll open the controller and show some more fake parts! The battery is not even close to the original one. And it's an 600mAh battery. The original delivers 800mAh. Also the fake one was telling that there was an 800mAh battery in...
The 2nd picture shows the original battery. Quiet a difference.
The 3rd picture shows the LED/Micro USB board. It's obvious fake. I do not have an picture of the original one this time. There also should be text on it like (example): JDM-011 or JDM-030. There is nothing on it here. And the text colour should be in gold not in white. You can also see the fake screw holding it together again.

Step 5 Motherboard

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, Motherboard: step 5, image 1 of 3

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, Motherboard: step 5, image 2 of 3

How to identify fake DualShock 4 controller, Motherboard: step 5, image 3 of 3

In the 1st picture, you can clearly see a switch. The button should not be blue, but it should be white/grey.
You should see a motherboard name, like: JDM-040 or JDM-055. This indicated again that it's a fake.
3rd picture shows the fake motherboard again (back side).