Stick circularity test
Turn each stick slowly round its edge. The test draws the edge it reaches, says how far that sits from a perfect circle, and names any direction where the stick stops short.
Press any button on the controller
Browsers show a controller only after a button is pressed, so that pages cannot list your devices unasked. Wired or Bluetooth both work.
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Try a current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on a computer, Safari on an iPhone or iPad, or Chrome on Android.
The controller was disconnected. Connect it again and press a button; your results are kept.
Result: No problem found so far
Press every button, then run the checks below: the result is written here as you go.
Sticks
The rings are dead zones: the inner one 10 %, which many games use, the outer one 24 %, Xbox's standard for the left stick (27 % for the right).
Drift check
Put the controller down and do not touch the sticks. The check reads them for three seconds.
Range check
Push each stick to its edge and turn it slowly round, two or three times.
Buttons
Press each one. A button turns blue while held and stays ticked once it has worked.
Triggers
Press each trigger all the way down. A trigger reports how far it is pressed, not just on or off.
Rumble
Each button runs a motor for one second. The tab must stay in front while it runs.
This browser cannot run this controller's motors: Firefox and the browsers on iPhone and iPad run none, and Chrome and Edge on Windows do not run a PS5 controller's. The rest of the test is not affected.
Report
For a return, a warranty claim or a sale: print it, save it as a PDF, or copy the text.
How it works
- Plug the controller in or pair it, then press a button so the browser lists it.
- Push the left stick to its edge and turn it slowly round, two or three times, keeping it pressed against the rim.
- Do the same with the right stick. Once a stick has passed through all 36 directions, its number replaces the count under the range check.
- Read the drawing: the blue line is where the stick reached, the outer circle a perfect edge.
- A direction still short? Press «Start again» and turn the stick once more, firmly. The report keeps what the last turn found.
What the results mean
- What the number means
- For each of 36 directions the test keeps the furthest the stick reached, then averages how far those points sit from a perfect circle. A stick that meets the circle all round reads close to 0 %.
- Past the circle is the gate, not wear
- Many sticks turn inside a slightly square gate, so at the diagonals they read past the circle and the number grows. Games scale that away; it is the shape of the gate, not a fault.
- Inside the circle is a fault
- A direction where the stick stops under 90 % of its edge is named as short. In a game the character walks instead of running that way, or the camera turns slower. Worn rings, dirt or a sensor out of calibration cause it.
- Compare the two sticks
- Both sticks of one controller are the same part, so they should read close to each other. One that reads far from the other, or a stick fitted in a repair that does, is worth a second look.
Questions
What number is good?
There is no single standard: it depends on the stick's gate. What matters more is that the stick reaches its edge in every direction, which the range check confirms with «Full range».
Why does the line go past the ring at the corners?
Each direction is drawn as far as the stick reached, so a stick that reads past its edge at the diagonals is drawn just past the ring. That never counts as short.
Can calibration fix a short direction?
Sometimes. Some systems can recalibrate a stick, the Switch in its own settings for one. A direction that stays short afterwards is wear or dirt, not a setting.
Does the speed I turn at matter?
Slow is better. The browser reads the stick once a screen frame, so a quick flick can skip directions; two or three slow turns fill them all.