Understanding Your Grade
Your grade evaluates the geometric perfection of the thumbstick module's outer boundary.
A+ (Esports Ready) means the stick achieves a flawless circle, critical for consistent diagonal movement in games like Apex Legends and Rocket League.
F (Defective) indicates severe asymmetry, meaning diagonal inputs will hit their max value prematurely or not at all.
Since you're using a PS5 DualSense with a Hall Effect module, you can expect the underlying tech to be extremely precise and symmetric.
The DualSense ships with conventionally-sourced stick modules, but its firmware applies a fairly aggressive circular deadzone correction that hides minor rim error in normal gameplay. That means an A- or B+ grade from the raw data is often invisible in game — only significant asymmetry surfaces as diagonal slowdown. If your DualSense grades poorly, re-test the other stick before deciding: a one-sided result points to a single defective module rather than a systemic design problem.
Hall effect sticks measure stick position with a magnetic field instead of a physical wiper dragging across a carbon track. Because nothing rubs, the module keeps its geometric precision for far longer and shows almost no rim-to-rim variance when new. The practical result on a circularity graph is a tight, evenly distributed ring: your diagonals reach maximum extension together, with little wasted input near the corners. The trade-off is that calibration is digital, so a poor grade on a Hall effect module usually points to a firmware zero-point offset or a loose joystick gate rather than worn carbon.
Hall effect modules stay round because the magnetic Hall cell reads position without contact, which means the failure modes are digital rather than mechanical. If a Hall stick grades poorly, look for a zero-point offset in the controller firmware or a magnet that has shifted in its holder — both produce a clean, uniform error rather than the patchy ring of worn carbon. Since there is no track to wear, a Hall module that grades badly on day one is almost always a calibration or assembly issue, and re-running the test after a firmware reset frequently recovers a full A-grade ring.
For the DualSense, also note that the touchpad and haptics draw no stick power and cannot influence the grade; if the grade changes dramatically between runs, check that the stick is returning fully to the gate and that the pad is not in a low-power state where adaptive-trigger motors are drawing the USB negotiation priority. The DualSense's aggressive internal circularity correction makes it the most likely of the five to show a flattering grade, so compare the raw data behind the letter — a B+ with a clean, symmetric ring is a genuinely healthy pad.
Beyond the module itself, the DualSense's haptic actuators and adaptive-trigger motors draw power from the same bus as the sticks, and a pad running its rumble during a measurement can shift the sampled position slightly — so measure with vibration disabled and both triggers untouched. The controller also re-centers its sticks at power-on, which means the first reading after a fresh wake is the most accurate baseline; if you grade immediately after heavy use, wait for the pad to settle. The DualSense is the newest pad in the set, so a genuinely asymmetric ring here is more likely to be a manufacturing defect in one module than years of accumulated wear, and testing both sticks before any decision will usually isolate the faulty side.