Jalen Sigh Tech

REVIEW—Modern wireless controllers use plenty of power for force feedback and are often used for extended periods, which means they use a lot of batteries. The Powerextra Fast Charger Battery Pack for Xbox controller has four ready-to-use rechargeable batteries to ensure that controllers have a ready supply of power. I have one to review; read on to see what I think.

What is it?

The Powerextra Fast Charger Battery Pack for the Xbox controller has four batteries and a charging stand. The batteries are Ni-MH design and have a capacity of 5540mWH. The cells are encased in a housing that ensures they fit into the Xbox controller in the correct direction and may be easily removed and replaced. The manufacturer claims that each battery pack can be used for play for more than 25 hours when fully charged. The charging stand can keep four cells charged and ready to use. Powerextra claims each battery pack may be charged up to 2000 times. A USB type C adapter ensures that the charger can be powered in any locale and even run off of a power bank.

What’s included?

• 4-Slot charger station for Xbox One/Series controllers
• 4 rechargeable battery packs for Xbox One/Series controllers
• Charging Cable

Tech specs

Design and features

Unboxing

The Powerextra Fast Charger Battery Pack comes in a full-color folding box. The top of the box features a color photo of the charger with battery packs installed. The Powerextra logo, item description, and item photo are printed with glossy ink. The rest of the text and images have a matte finish. 

The rear side shows that the battery packs are compatible with the X-ONE X/S, X-series X/S, X-ONE, and X-ONE Elite controllers. 

The back demonstrates the meaning of the LED illumination around each battery pack, lists the product specifications, and includes compendial markings.

The components are protected inside by plastic sheeting and bubble wrap.

Design

The Powerextra Fast Charger base is a round, lightweight, plastic charging and storage cradle.

The charger has rubber feet to keep it in place and is labeled with power information on the bottom.

It has a USB port for power in the rear.

There is no on or off switch. When the unit is powered the charging locations glow green unless charging the battery, in which case they glow red. It would be nice if there was an off switch so that the glow was not persistent.

The charger and instructions do not indicate if there is a low current trickle charge mode so I leave the batteries not fully inserted after the charge is complete and before they are in use. That way I preserve the life of the batteries.

The battery pack weighs 46 grams, as much as two generic and standard alkaline batteries (non-rechargeable and not extended life). The batteries are designed with tabs to ensure proper installation. They are labeled with capacity information and which direction should face inside and outside of the controller battery compartment.

Installation

The Powerextra Fast Charger system has two main parts: the battery packs and the charger. For the battery packs to charge they must be inserted into the base. They cannot be charged by plugging a power cable into the controller. For the battery packs to be used they must be installed into the controller. In each case, the battery packs are designed to only fit into the case or the controller in one direction. This ensures the polarity of the contacts is correct so the battery functions properly.

The battery has a slot on the rear that aligns with a tab on the charger. The charger has spring-loaded contacts at the base of each charging location. The charger has plastic tabs at the bottom of each charging location to keep the battery packs touching the contacts. 

The battery packs have a tab on the top that fits into a slot on the controller. 

There is also a tab on the rear that fits into a slot on the controller.

The battery packs are held tight against the contacts in the controller by the spring-loaded contacts in the battery compartment. The shape of the batteries allow for easy installation and removal to ensure that downtime due to battery changes is minimized.

I don’t see a vent hole on the battery to ensure that hydrogen buildup from fast discharge does not cause pressure buildup. The vent may be internal to the casing.

Performance

The battery packs have a stated capacity of 5520Wh. I charged a battery no longer functioning in the controller with 6232Wh of power.

This indicates an 88% charge efficiency, typical for Ni-MH batteries. The charge time was 3 hours, 24 minutes. The total charge is a typical efficiency of 113% of the total capacity. A single battery pack lasted about 5 days, but it is difficult to judge how much the controller was used that week. 

Wikipedia states that the capacity of a standard AA battery is typically between 1,800 to 2,850 milliamp-hours (mAh) under a constant drain of 50 mA. They typically supply 1.5V so the range is between 5400 Wh and 8550 Wh. The Powerextra batteries supply 5520 Wh, or with a voltage of 1.2 to 1.3V, 2130 mAh. So the battery packs are about average capacity. 

What I like about Powerextra Fast Charger Battery Pack

• long-lasting
• uses standard battery door
• 4 batteries per pack
• only fits in the charger and controller in one way

What needs to be improved?

• lights are always on
• unsure of trickle charge ability.

Final thoughts

The Powerextra Fast Charger Battery Pack is a convenient way to power Xbox controllers. The cost and environmental impact of disposable batteries are not appreciated during gameplay, but a quick calculation of how many batteries a typical gamer uses will illustrate that this system pays for itself in about 3 to 6 months. If you want to maximize play time and minimize cost and waste, try the Powerextra Fast Charger Battery Pack.

Price: $24.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Powerextra. Powerextra did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.