What’s worse than having your Xbox 360 controller die during the middle of a game? Not being able to find replacement batteries, of course. Rechargeable batteries are a viable option, but those don’t seem to last as long as we’d like, right? They can be spendy as well.
With that in mind, Nyko has a rechargeable charging dock solution for those with at least one, but no more than two wireless 360 controllers. Nyko boasts up to 25 hours of fun for the NiHM batteries and my testing revealed that to be true. I logged roughly 23 hours in between charging cycles, but that’s not to say I couldn’t get another 30 to 60 minutes out of them. Since I only have one wireless controller, I was unable to test the recharging time for both packs, which Nyko claims takes four hours total or two hours per. Because of my ADD I always missed the two-hour mark, but packs that were recharging were lit green on the charging dock denoting that it was full.
The packs themselves match the cream color of the regular Xbox 360 controllers and take a tiny bit of muscle to plug into the back of the controller. There is a set for those with the Elite, but it’s sans charging dock. It’s a just a charging port for two battery packs. I can deal with mismatched colors. But the secondary battery pack isn’t quite hefty enough to sit in the cradle on its own. I suppose you could place something on top to get the juices flowing. Nyko should add some sort of locking mechanism so that you can recharge without a controller.
Nyko’s charging solution is priced the same as Microsoft’s Quick Charge Kit but that one only comes with one rechargeable pack. An additional pack is $12. The choice is quite clear. Nyko offers a solution equal to that of the official Microsoft kit, but at a better price. Grab one for your gamer (or yourself) this holiday season.