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Nintendo 3DS Battery Is Quick To Die and Slow To Charge
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from the Opposable Thumbs blog:
"The battery in the Nintendo 3DS is as bad as we had feared, and it's a major impediment to enjoying the system. ... With the screen at a reasonable brightness, 3D and wireless turned off when the game allowed it, and no sound, we were about to get to a little over 4.5 hours of playtime. If you like a brighter screen, keep 3D turned on, or if you have that speaker going, that time is only going to go down. ... Using the cradle whenever the system isn't being played is a habit you're going to want to pick up, especially with a charging time of around three and a half hours."
Pick 2 for handhelds: Slim, slow, long lasting, powerful, large.
Game Gear flashback incoming.
Add a crank to the system so you can wind it up. This will have the added benefit of making the 3DS an actual exercise device, so I can get my doctor to prescribe one.
So 4.5 hours isn't that bad, charging at 3 hours isn't that bad either. Why don't you just got outside and bike or run or walk or anything else in this time, it wont kill you.
On a serious note, 4.5 hours isn't that horrible. I mean yes we would like a much longer charge on the battery but at the same time it's 3D on a game system. I remember getting 4.5 hours on a cheap set of battery's on the grey gameboy and I was sound as a pound. I didn't even get new battery's for a few days being I was in grade 2, the kids will live trust me.
4.5 hours is still about 4 times what I get on my laptop, and twice what I get on my PSP.
Not to mention I'm a loser and have access to electrical outlets almost 24/7
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
You know kids are spoiled when they have a mobile gaming system that is 3D and think that 4.5 hours of battery is short! It's also a testament to Nintendo's games and system when 4.5 hours can be over before you know it. That is a long time. Seriously, if 4.5 hours of battery is the biggest complaint they have about this system I have no idea why this is front page news, the battery looks like you can just pop in a new one so what is the big deal?
To be sure, it isn't the battery that is "bad".
It is the same Li-ion rechargeable battery used in prior systems.
It even has more capacity: 1300 mAh. This is about 50% more than the 850 mAh battery used in DSi and 30% more than the 1000mAh batteries used in DsiXL and DSLite.
The problem, as the Republicans in the US often say, is spending. With the brighter screens necessary for 3D, wi-fi and better video and sound support, the thing will suck juice like a mutha.
The other option for Nintendo would have been to tack on a laptop style battery which wouldn't work for a portable game system.
Here's hoping this is another tomb stone we can lay for the death of all that is 3D.
To be honest, that seems like a reasonable life considering what it is doing. For those that feel it is a deal-breaker, I'm sure there are options to extend the battery.
Plenty of people saying "suck it up", essentially, because 4.5 hours is a long time for a 3D gaming system but this is with 3D turned off.
The DS Lite would get between 8 and 10 hours of battery life. It was pretty great. Roughly half is a pretty big step down comparatively, even if it's still decent, especially considering the unit's size, power, and capability.
Which were both rated for around 10 hours in ideal conditions according to some quick googling, it is less than half the original life span. For most people this isn't going to be a problem - how often have you needed to play for more than 3 hours at a time? In nearly any situation, you can avoid your problems by:
Carrying a second charged battery ( I do this with my camera in the event I don't think to charge the one in use )
Playing in those recommended short periods with rest ( if you take a ten minute break each hour ) to stretch the total time with a charge
Use a power adapter - either from an outlet or inverted from a car.
The only time I can think where the battery life is going to be an issue would be long car trips ( assuming no inverter ) where you are going to travel for multiple hours before stopping long enough to charge, or any similar scenario where there is no available power.
And in those cases, a simple 12v solar charger would be all you need for passive recharging - on a sunny day you could possibly run AC off it.
If you need more run-time, just get an external battery pack! Just like we did with the original Gameboy!
The Game Gear had bitchin' games and wasn't region-locked or remote-brickable. The 3DS can only wish it was a Game Gear.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
It's my observation that short charging times lead to early battery replacement. I'd rather the charger take it a bit slower and avoid overheating or overcharging the battery.
Doesn't really bother me, but I'm not getting one anyways. My son might. Either way, more juice than my PSP(which I don't mind) or my laptop.
I got to play around with one of the QA tester kits a few weeks ago, and it went from full to dead in under 30 minutes, I swear. These are the same form-factor and 1300mAh battery as retail units, but CPU might have been running in a debug mode. Posting AC because my friends at a game dev company are under NDA about these things.
Its going to depend very much on the individual software titles how well the battery lasts. Dark colors, wi-fi, heavy cpu usage, and the 3D setting all contribute to shorter battery life, so there will be large differences in the battery performance and a per-title basis.
It's also replaceable, with model-friendly replacements already being offered, such as Nyko's;
http://www.nyko.com/products/?platform=3DS
Yes, these typically increase the thickness of your device (spam e-mail subject, I know!) - but if you're looking for longer battery life, it's a pretty good option.
It's pretty much par for the course for handhelds, and a bunch of other mobile devices; even for dSLRs you can get extended battery options.
Nindendblow fails again.
4.5 hours is what I'd call sad ... note that the metric is just a useful one based on time-to-die from a full charge while playing under certain settings. Realistic use is going to be play for an hour or few, suspend, play some more, suspend, etc. This eats up that juice with a lot of non-play-time. Unless you're diligent about plugging it in every time you turn it off (unreasonable for what should be a portable unit), every time you turn this on it'll be dead or dying.
This is essentially the insult on top of the "barely upgraded graphics" and "3D gives you a headache and only works if the device and your head are absolutely stationary" injury. (If you don't believe these are true, go try one ... Best Buy has demo units. 3D is definitely cool and I'd rather they just used polarized glasses.) My guess is they assume you're actually going to play with the thing on its charging base screwed to a table, so battery life wouldn't be an issue anyway.
Anyhow this unit is definitely the "original GBA" of its generation. I'm sure it'll be cited along with the "no backlight" design of the original GBA as "bad decisions that made a desirable device nearly unplayable". I'll stick with my DS Lite until they have the 3DSi Lite SP Turbo Plus Platinum XL or whatever the second revision is called.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
The DS Lite can get 15~19h between recharges in the lowest brightness setting.
Now those pokemon addicted kids will be forced to get outside and play while the battery charges, its win/win!
Besides keeping the cost and and size down by not fitting in a larger battery, this could also be a strategic choice to help reduce potential claims of eye strain/injury due to extended play sessions. They've already warned that children shouldn't really use the 3D feature on it, and even adults probably shouldn't use it more than a couple of hours at a time, as our eyes aren't really meant to look at "faked" 3D for extended periods of time.
I actually got a chance to try it out at Best Buy yesterday, and I have say the 3D was pretty good for the little demo I got to play (Pilotwings Resort), and the depth is easily adjustable with the slider on the side. The analog stick works well too. The only uncomfortable thing about using it was that Best Buy has it hard mounted to a stand about 36 inches off the ground and you're supposed to be 10-14 inches away from the screen for the 3D.
I can understand some complaints about the battery life for long flights or being stuck at the airport, but maybe users could try something else for a while, like reading?
People who want to play good, polished games? I admit; they aren't many.
If you're near an outlet, perhaps the solution is to simply play while tethered to a charger?
Won't help on international flights in cattle class with no seat power, but the old long car ride just means a connection to the cigarette lighter (or 12V power point these days since fewer cars are coming with real lighters).
Then it's 2-4 hours while away from a convenient plug, which is probably adequate.
And heck, you know the third party accessories are going to address this issue in their own ways, too.
I don't really get any more play time out of my Nexus One. I just know to have chargers at places I am frequently.
Battery tech will improve over the next couple of years and they'll release a new version with a better battery eventually; this IS Nintendo we're talking about here.
Guess you have to wait for Nintendo 3DSiXLite before they get it right.
I got caught up in the last couple Nintendo systems. I bought the first gameboy advance, with no backlighting, then the SP came out. I bought the Original DS, which was bulky as shit, then the Lite came out. Never again. I'll wait for the 3DS with better battery life.
I predict that 3rd party hardware makers are going to flood the market with external batteries...
That's the biggest problem, and probably where the PSP shines the most against the DS, where the target genre is similar to touch devices.
The 3D screen has two screens stacked on top of each other, so 4.5 hours to power 3 total screens sounds about right
If each battery lasts about 4-4.5 hours, and you intend to play 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, like the pathetic loser that you are, just get 6 batteries, and two chargers.
That way you'll never be without power.
Us normal people (the ones that don't hate Obama because he is an Kenyan-American) will just get 2 batteries, and either charge one while the other is in use, or keep it plugged into an outlet. Kinda like what most of us probably do already, minus the extra battery part.
Anyone remember this.
They solved this problem 15 years ago.
It's really quite simple, release a system with a terrible battery life, then release an accessory to compensate for it, and in 16 months release an updated console with a decent battery life.
Then, 6 months after that, repeat with a larger screen.
It's quite brilliant, when you think about it.
Seriously folks. If your kids are playing video games for 4.5 hours straight, and you're pissing and moaning that they should be able to play longer between charges, perhaps you ought to consider evaluating your skills as a parent.
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More music, fewer hits
4.5 hours is still vastly superior to the capabilities of the Sega Nomad.
To be honest, that seems like a reasonable life considering what it is doing.
The capabilities of the 3DS are damn cool. In that much, we agree.
But it's also a portable gaming system. Portability, and independence from being tethered to a charger, are very important criteria for such a device. 4.5 hours is plenty for a single play session: but the idea of a portable gaming system is that you can bring it with you - places where it may not be possible (or at least not convenient) to plug in and charge for a while.
Let's say I'm taking this thing to an anime convention...
(Frank Drebin and Captain Hocken, in unison: "Okay. I'm taking this thing to an anime convention.")
Well. Anyway: it's a con center. Of course there are outlets around. But technically you're not allowed to use them. And in many of the places you'd want to play video games (i.e. waiting in line to do different stuff) you probably wouldn't even have access to an outlet. Add up a few play sessions (like an hour or two in the game room playing against other people, a half hour each in a few different lines) and you may not make it through the day without a recharge. And, of course, all this is assuming you actually get that 4.5 hours, and not some lesser amount...
It's no good having a portable system that's too big to conveniently carry around - but it's also not much use having a portable system whose battery life is so short that you can't ignore the problem of charging a lot of the time. Once the battery dies, the thing is dead weight...
Bow-ties are cool.
You know, it's very handy to know that if you're in the middle of typing a Slashdot comment and the power goes out, your message will be terminated with a dash ("-") character and posted for you... In some cases the Slashdot emergency autoposter will even insert other helpful information like "+++ ATH NO CARRIER".
Nintendo's decided to revive one of their own slogans for the 3DS launch:
"Now you're playing with power! Portable pow-
Bow-ties are cool.
Given that 4.5 hours is with all the bells and whistles turned off, I don't think it's that far of a stretch to say, what, 2.5-3 with them on?
You are now aware that Nintendo's "play for half an hour, take a break for an hour" warnings suddenly make perfect sense.
Same was true for the Sega Nomad's 1600 mAh battery pack--especially when playing at near max audio volume often meant as little as 2 hours of gameplay and it took up to 13 hours to full charge the battery pack. (However, today's higher capacity NiMH battery cells can be used with the removable battery case.)
When the advice is a 15 minute break in every 30 is this even an issue?