As you may have guessed already (thanks header) I recently got my hands on the Energizer Power & Play chargers for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I didn’t do any durability tests (no chargers were harmed by car tires during our review session) however I did charge, uh, some controllers.
I also learned that draining controller batteries on purpose is ridiculously hard to do. Controllers automatically kick off when not in use now, so I had to sit at my desk and fiddle with buttons for hours on end to avoid this.
And it was all for you. Hit the break for our review.
Energizer Power & Play Charging System
Company: PDP
MSRP: $29.99
Corded chargers come with the majority of current generation consoles. For me, this has always been a problem. I have a nasty habit of tripping over cords. The ideal situation, I believe, for any recharging scenario is to juice your controller while playing a game. But that can lead to issues as well — anybody that sits more than eight to fourteen feet from their console can attest to this.
The Energizer Power & Play chargers — for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 — won’t be able to solve your space issue, but they will eliminate the various cord-related dangers: pulling your console off the entertainment center, tripping, looking uncool in front of hot chicks, and, of course, alcoholism.
Each charger comes with an adapter that you have to plug into the wall. Once you achieve victory in this mission, you can freely jam your controller (or controllers) of choice into one of the two ports available. A brilliant red light indicates that the controller is charging, while green indicates that it’s time to pull it out.
The instructions for the chargers insist that it takes two and a half hours to charge controllers. During my testing, I rarely went over an hour and a half.
And boy, did I do some testing. I completely drained four controllers (two Xbox 360 and two PlayStation 3) twice. After the drain sessions, I placed both controllers into the appropriate charger and timed the process. I also did a simple overheat test by continually touching the controllers and chargers while they were recharging the controllers. I didn’t detect any ridiculous amounts of heat; however, after keeping the controllers past green for a few hours, I did find the battery in the Xbox 360 controller fairly warm.
Perhaps the big draw here — especially if you’re in the market for a charging station that works — is the design. The PlayStation 3 station is sleek and black, while the Xbox 360 version is nice and white. Both chargers are highlighted with chrome on the face and sides. They’re certainly sexy chargers — definitely better than the silly little brick charger that Microsoft put out years back.
By the way, this is probably something that I’ve only noticed, but the Power & Play doesn’t put out that white hum that most controller charging stations do.
Like a good prostitute, Energizer’s Power & Play charging systems (stations) are sexy, affordable, quiet, and, above all, functional. (I won’t go into details here.) If you’re looking for a charging solution that doesn’t involve keeping your controller strapped to a console, then I can’t recommend anything better.
Plus, this is the only charging station with a picture of a pink bunny on the side of the packing. That’s worth something, right?
