(From Reddit by the user "u/Renegade_Soviet")
this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2026
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If I learned anything, it's that these things are inconsistent as fuck. I have a few legit ones that wouldn't pass all these tests either ๐ซ . For example, they do charge from wall sockets depending on the adapter used to plug them in. The spacing/location of the printed texts are also off sometimes. And I also got them in both 5V/500A and 3.7V/300A (both EU ones).
But they where bought new from reputable stores by me or people I knew back in the day, some even came with the console. Definitly legit controllers.
Most of mine are European versions, which also come in many varierities. Half of them I haven't found documented on sites like VGCollect. One is an American one.
Either way, it makes it hard to judge realness for sure. Other than obvious fakes, I haven't found a perfect way to tell for sure without tracing back the specific controllers origin. I never opened them up tho, so that might be more clear.
I'll have to double check, but I have charged my controllers from a usb source before. I've also charged them while plugged in to PC's and Mac's unless I just don't remember correctly.
Are there any places that known to sell good ps3 controllers ?
gamestop?
Even the official charging hub goes into a wall socket. It all depends on the adapter used. Oddly enough, even 2 adapters with supposedly the same output can differ, so the difference isn't that simple. It probably also has to do with the continuity of the output and other such things (the listed output is generally a max, but not always reached continously. That's why some adapters will charge laptops better than others despite being marketed as the same output). I find Sony products rather picky anyways, my headphones also refuse certain adapters (and I tested 3 different ones).
We don't have gamestop where I live. Nedgame or Used Products has them somewhat regularily. There are also some smaller lokal retrogaming stores througout the country, which are generally the nicests.
But I don't think any of them check this thorough to see if they're real or fake. They filter out the obvious B-brands but the better fakes generally fall trough. It's always best to go in person and check it yourself. And like said, even then it can be hard to determine at times as even official ones can be rather inconsistent.