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.
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.
It doesn’t matter if it’s “asking a lot” or not, I just don’t want to do it. I don’t want to worry about it. It’s not my preference.
My preferance is to not have to change batteries constantly, so I suppose I’ll buy a controller made for people like me and you can buy one made for people like you! It all works out in the end.
What’s the alternative for phones? My last phone had about 2-3 days battery life and I ran into this issue more frequently because I didn’t need to have a routine. My current phone lasts about a day and a half, so my routine is to charge at night, but if I forget, I charge in the morning or at work.
In the old days with easy to swap batteries, I never brought a spare with me because that required more planning than charging at night. In the old old days of flip and candybar phones, they lasted a week, so recharging wasn’t a big deal.
The controller situation is different. I have both an Xbox 360 and a DS4, and the DS4 is less fussy. Why? I only need to charge it like once a week given how much I play, so it’s more like the old flip phone.
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?
I don’t have to manage charging anything. If I neglect it, and it dies, I just swap charged batteries into it. That’s the whole point.
You do are managing your AA batteries: you have a dedicated charger for rechargeable AA batteries, and you put yours to charge when you swap them out. That’s just your routine so you just don’t consider that it’s not bothering.
You could just as well put your controller on it’s charging stand/plug it when you’re done playing. Or plugging it after your gaming session when it notifies you that it’s starting to running low.
You’re so close to getting it…
You’re not…
They’reThe controller is always charged because I putthemit on the charger when Irotate them.am not using it.So the controller never dies unless you’re playing for more than a day straight, and there’s no fiddly swapping out of batteries. The only downside is that you might need to replace the battery in like 5 years time with heavy use, and it’s only marginally more difficult than swapping out AAs.
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.