How are PS Vita's buttons? (3 years old)

Only seen it on videos and such and the buttons seem quite small. Does this somehow affect gaming for people with bigger hands?

I never really seem to have any issue hitting the wrong buttons even with way I play. Only issue with the Vita is the terrible Home, Start and Select buttons. Sometimes when I press them I just end up putting my thumb nail between the button and case.

The square-circle-cross-triangle buttons are a little small, but they haven't given me any problems. The shoulder buttons are fine and the D-pad is great. I agree with @yadilie though, the select and start buttons are terrible. They are not only tiny, but they are recessed for some inexplicable reason, and that makes it hard to press them. Thankfully, you don't need to very often. I have no problem with the home button because it's a bit larger.

They are smaller, but are perfectly fine.

The only buttons I dont really like are the shoulder ones because it feels like they stick a bit but other than that all the others seem fine to me.

I'm wondering about this too. I just bought a Vita from Ebay on Sunday and it should be here by the end of the week. The only thing that really concerns me are the sticks, they don't seem very...comfortable?

They are smaller but perfectly fine. They squeak a little. The select and start buttons suck, both in placement and tension. They are flush with the bezel but require quite a bit of push to respond so you really got press down with a finger nail on them. Unlike the user above I find the Home button to be fine. I wish the triggers weren't so loose. It feels like there is one spring in the center as opposed to two on the edges, so it wobbles more than it should. D pad is super great.

i got big hands, there are great. The only button i did not like was the select, start, and ps button. Dpad is fantastic.

@jayeh: They'll take a little getting used to just because of the fact they're so small compared to what you're used to.

They were a bit weird at first since they are pretty much miniature DS3 buttons, but I got used to them fast and they are great.

I have big hands and the Vita buttons get a big thumbs up.

Im gonna make a bold claim, dpad is the best dpad ever made.

100% Accurate

The buttons are fine, even for bigger hands.

The overall design philosophy of "ergonomics that work for a brick will surely work for a handheld" is actually the issue you should specifically take a look (try) at, I think, when pondering whether or not to buy this. Have not yet figured out how to really use the shoulder buttons without loosing good grip or switching to something quite uncomfortable. Might just be me though.

yes

I don't own a Vita but the face buttons are like freakin beads. DSi/3DS has small buttons too but at least they're flat.

vita dpad is EXCELLENT. face buttons are fine. start / select are weird. shoulder buttons aren't the greatest but work ok.

Overall the buttons are fine except for the shoulder buttons, which are way too squishy and wobbly.There were times in Uncharted where I thought I was pushing the shoulder button to shoot, but it was just wobbling on it's spring, not fully going down. You have to push it a little harder than other buttons, and push it in the right spot, for it to register.

Its not a deal breaker, just something to get used to.

I find it to be far more impressive than I thought it would be. Granted, I've only played Rayman Origins for it but I haven't any problems thus far.

Facebuttons are great. Dpad is great. Touchscreen is great. Sticks are good. Gyros are good. Bumpers are wobbly and unreliable. Back-Touchpad is hot garbage.

PSP L/R buttons get a little delicate after tons of use, so maybe Vita's L/R buttons were designed to counteract this.

Basically this. Sticks are good for what they are but the d-pad is basically the best one ever imo.

@kablui: Try the PDP trigger grip. The triggers feel kind of awful when you use it but the vita is a lot more comfortable to hold without a lot of added bulk.

I don't care for the amount of throw on the shoulder buttons, considering they are a binary click and not analog. But, yeah. The start, select and home buttons aren't great. But, the smaller scale of the face buttons has never had a negative effect on my gameplay experience.

They are your standard buttons.

I know that this thread is old, but I had to comment because I disagree with everyone. I have an updated vita. The dpad and buttons are ok, but they are clicky, and they feel nowhere as good as the psp dpad face buttons. I had trouble playing Crypt of the Necrodancer (a rhythm game) with the vitas dpad. I couldn't get the presses in time. It worked much better when I swapped the controls to use face buttons for movement.

In general games seem harder on the vita,I think because of the controls. For example, the ratchet and clank hd collection and Spelunky are both much easier using a regular controller. The controls don't make much if a difference for many if the vitas games though.