It’s still strange to think that for all its fancy next-gen technology, the Xbox One controllers still come packaged with regular AA batteries. An official Play and Charge kit from Microsoft offers you a rechargeable battery and cable, but it costs $25- a hard pill to swallow when the controller itself is $60.
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Fortunately NYKO has come out with this solution that not only gives you two rechargeable batteries but provides a charging base with an ingenious design that blends in with the look of your Xbox One- provided you’ve got the standard black version, of course.
The station holds both batteries and plugs into the USB port on the left side of the Xbox One, drawing its power from there and allowing you to recharge them with no hassle or extra wires. It does sadly block off that USB from anything else you might need there- there’s no pass-through, so take that into consideration. The ones on the back of the console are left unobstructed, however.
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The front of the station is nice and featureless, although icons showing the amount of charge for each battery pop up when they’re laid inside the device. The charge light icons reveal every 25% of battery power each one currently has, up to full juice.
To open the device you simply push in on the bottom section of the Station, and it springs open and reveals the little indentations that the battery packs fit in. The plastic feels cheap compared to the XBox One but the Station on a whole feels sturdy and solid.
The batteries don't last terribly long, however, around 8-10 hours in practice. That's due to the fact that the batteries are most likely NiMH, unlike the official Lithium-ion batteries used by the Plug and Play pack, which are said to last 30 hours. Note also that you cannot recharge Microsoft’s batteries with this Power Station- just the two included NYKO ones.
But that really is more than enough power. You can conceivably keep rotating these two out and never have to worry about charging your batteries or ripping open a pack of AAs.
The Power Station is incredibly handy and works just as intended. The only obvious negative is the size- while it does extend the Xbox One design seamlessly, it still extends it, and you might not have the shelf space for another inch of bulk added to your system.
But for $29.99 the Xbox One Power Station is a great deal for those who never want to buy another battery again.
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The Power Station was reviewed from a unit provided by Nyko. It's available in stores now.
