Based on the description on their site, the controller includes a built-in battery: "8.39 Wh Li-ion battery, 35+ hours of gameplay… "
That was disappointing for me. Specially condidering the Steam Frame’s controllers make use of AA batteries: “One replaceable AA battery per controller, 40hr battery life”
AA Batteries might not be as convenient to use, but being able to replace them is a great advantage. All my Xbox360 controllers still work fine, but none of my PS3’ Dualshock 3s.
The official docking station could be used to recharge (rechargables) AA batteries so the functionality could remain the same.
Not downvoting you, but you’re not being reasonable. Serviceable means actually serviceable. It might be “better” to use AA batteries but if they can’t, the next best thing would be that it can be serviced by the actual end consumer. And yeah if you’re planning on fixing your own things you may need to own a screwdriver.
I don’t think you understand. I’m not talking about service. No one is talking about normal use. We’re talking about swappable batteries. Remember like we had in phones back in the day? I swap the batteries on my current controller every few days. It’s not unreasonable to expect modern controllers to have the same functionality they had 20 years ago…
Except that you don’t have to swap the batteries on a built-in rechargeable battery every few days. You plug it in when you aren’t using it, and swap the batteries every few years when they stop holding a charge. I guarantee you the time spent swapping AAs every few days will far outweigh the time you spend using a screw driver to replace this battery at the frequency it requires.
And what happens when the controller dies? That requires:
I don’t have a charging station in my couch.
I guarantee you it doesn’t. Not to mention those screws would become stripped in a matter of weeks.
Man is gaming 24/7 and has zero downtime where he could plug in a controller. That’s dedication right there /s
We’ve already been over this. I don’t want to be tethered to a cable.
Sounds like your use case is unique and does not match the use case of the vast majority of users. Maybe you should look for another controller that meets your very specific requirements more closely.
I already have one, but thank you for the suggestion.
OP and several others have expressed similar sentiments in this thread so I’m obviously not alone in the “vast minority”.
Every controller I own (dual shocks, dual senses, 8bitdo’s, switch pros) lasts me an entire day of gaming at least. Plug them in at night and you’re good.
I suppose your phone has never died because you forgot to or didn’t have time to plug it in? It’s just yet another device that I have to worry about managing the battery.
Maybe once a year? Plugging a cable in for 20 min isn’t asking a lot.
What happens if your controller dies and you’re out of AA batteries?
I don’t run out. They’re rechargeable.
And if you forget or don’t have time to plug them in to recharge?
They’re always charged because I put them on the charger when I rotate them.
Since you’re already managing charging things, what prevents you to put your controller to charge when you’re done playing?
You’re so close to getting it…
I would leave a device on charge permanently. That would use excess electricity.
Definitely not. All modern chargers are made to negotiate with the charging device for power and voltage, including sending none because the device is full.
I, for one, still don’t understand why you want to swap batteries. I’m assuming you’re talking about rechargable AA batteries, and not the environmental disaster that are single use batteries. How’s taking the batteries out, going to the charging station, swapping the batteries, returning and installing them back into the controller less convenient that just dropping the controller onto the recharging puck when it’s not in use?
So you have some special conditions where you can’t recharge the controller between sessions?
Because I don’t want to be tethered to a cable.
Because then I have to be constantly concerned about the state of the battery at any time. I have enough rechargeable devices to be worried about.
Just have the magnetic puck exactly in the location where you leave your controller when not playing and done, never think about the battery and don’t swap things.
So you’d rather swap batteries than put the controller on a charger - which they showed to be crazy easy to do? You’re still not making much sense.
LOL I don’t know how to be more clear about this. Yes, I would absolutely rather spend 10 seconds popping the battery door off and swapping out the batteries than spend an hour tethered to a cable, and MUCH rather than spending 10 minutes walking around to find a screwdriver to do it…
You’re not making much sense. Why wouldn’t I want that?
Why don’t you just charge it when you’re not using it? Then you spend zero time on batteries.
The new Steam Controller’s batteries are supposed to last dozens of hours per charge and comes with a charging puck. It doesn’t take a genuis to figure out that you just charge it when you’re not using it.
And even if that’ll wear down the battery faster, it’s not enough that you’ll go from 35hr of charge to 2hr in the span of a year. Hell, that’d probably take over a decade to happen.
You’re getting downvoted because you’re being a complete idiot. Quit being defensive about it and just move on.
No, but it does require attention to charge levels and remember to plug it in, which is not something I want to spend my finite mental bandwidth on.
Just because you disagree with me doesn’t make me an idiot. You downvoting and acting like a jackass when someone disagrees with you does, though.
Brother, what do you think you’re doing here? You cannot accuse me of “being defensive” while you’re doing the exact same thing…
Are you kidding me? You’re the one getting downvoted to hell and continually arguing with people and digging your hole deeper. I told you to quit getting defensive and move on because you’re wasting your “limited” mental capacity pointlessly fighting a losing argument with strangers on the internet. It doesn’t take a genuis to realize that walking away and doing literally anything else is more productive.
This is really telling of your overall mental capacity. The obvious thing is to have a normal place that you set the controller down and just put the recharge puck there. 2 minutes of setup, then you never have to think of it again. I set my controllers by my TV, maybe you set yours on an end table. Either way, just put the recharge puck there. Not that hard to figure out unless you’re missing half your frontal lobe.
And don’t even bother replying. Unlike you, I can realize when it’s not worth arguing with people. So you’re getting blocked so you can’t waste more of my time. Too bad you won’t get the lesson.
Stop it with the ad-hominem attacks.
They’ve been aggressive and stupid the entire time they’ve been in the thread. It’s not ad-hominem, it’s the truth.
And you’re not righting wrongs, you’re just tone policing. And like the dumb asshole you’re trying to defend, you’re not worth spending more time on. Bye
oh got it, so it’s only cool to have a discussion when everyone agrees with you? That’s nice.
So why aren’t you doing that?
It is, my mental capacity is reserved for more important shit.
As I’ve said previously, there’s no power on my couch, and no way to get it there without creating a trip hazard.