Whether you own an Xbox, a gaming PC, or you’re just really into mobile gaming and streaming, there’s a good chance you have an Xbox controller sitting around somewhere. They’re universally compatible with just about everything, which is very handy!
But one thing Microsoft has not done is built a rechargeable, internal battery into their controllers. That means you’re either going to burn through AA batteries over a long gaming weekend, or you’ll need to invest in some rechargeable batteries instead.
Surprisingly, Otterbox has rolled out their own unique solution to this problem. I know, I know, you don’t really think of Otterbox when it comes to any kind of gaming accessory, but they’ve branched out recently with controller skins and clips for your smartphone. It makes sense.
Their attempt at a battery solution involves the world’s first hot-swappable rechargeable battery for an Xbox One controller. Is it a worthwhile gaming upgrade, or should you look elsewhere? Let’s find out.
Clever design
There are three total pieces to this system. You’ve got the charging cradle, which is pretty standard. There are two charging ports to charge one or both of your spare batteries while it’s not in your controller.
But how it works with your controller is where things get interesting. Otterbox includes two battery cages that fit into the back of your controller, and the one you’ll use depends on if you have a regular Xbox One controller or the slightly redesigned Xbox Series X controller. The newer controller has a USB-C charging port and an extra screenshot button, in case you’re trying to tell what you have.
This cage holds the batteries in place. But in another interesting twist, the cage itself holds a very small battery on its own.
The batteries that are included are designed to quickly swap in and out of your controller. The small battery in the controller cage is designed to keep your controller from dying when the main battery dies, giving you time to hot swap without interrupting the action. Pretty neat!
You can check the current charge level by pressing the button on the back of the battery, or by charging it directly with the USB-C port. Remember to use the battery’s port, not your Xbox controller if you plan on charging it while playing.
Battery performance
Third-party batteries are a mixed bag, especially with Xbox controllers. Obviously going with Microsoft’s own Play-and-Charge kit is a safe bet, but even more reputable brands can sometimes have worse or inconsistent battery life than just using plain old AA batteries.
The good news is Otterbox’s batteries seem like they pass the test. I managed to put them through a pretty rigorous weekend of some multiplayer gaming and finishing the latter half of Mass Effect with only a single battery swap that came towards the end of everything, so I’d say they land right around the 15 hour mark, although Otterbox promises 10. That’s a bit less than the “up to 30 hours” claim of Microsoft’s own kit, and it won’t beat out standard disposable batteries, but that’s not where these shine, either.
The power reserve battery that’s built into the cage will give you about 30 seconds of charge after the battery dies, which means you can quickly pop out the old one and swap in your (hopefully) fully charged battery without ever losing connection. I managed to get both batteries fully charged from a pretty weak USB port in under four hours, so even if you were just going to game nonstop for a week straight you’d never have battery issues.
Gaming experience
Otterbox has pretty carefully designed these batteries, and while they do certainly look a little bulkier than a normal battery door, it doesn’t really affect the gaming performance of the controller in any noticeable way. It’s weight-balanced, and if it’s heavier than a normal controller at all I don’t think I noticed. It’s also designed to accommodate Otterbox’s own gaming clip, if you’re using this to play mobile games. It should work with other clips, too, but that’s not guaranteed like with Otterbox’s in-house designs.
It’s not 100% perfect, however. Otterbox says the battery should light up in a certain way to alert you that it’s about to die, but in a particularly action-heavy sequence you might not notice. I didn’t. If you do catch it, that’s a great time to take advantage of the reserve power, but if you don’t, it’s just a regular quick hot swap system. That’s still cool, but obviously it’d be even cooler if the battery could somehow get the Xbox controller to start vibrating or the Xbox itself to fire up a notification to swap them out. These are designed for the Xbox with Microsoft’s seal of approval, after all.
Worth it?
My only very slight hesitation with Otterbox’s Power Swap batteries is the price tag, and if they’ll be supported for very long. The system retails for $60, which gets you two batteries, the charging dock, and the cradle for holding the battery. They don’t currently sell other batteries separately, and for someone that has multiple controllers, it might not be worth buying the entire set again for a dock and another spare cradle you won’t use. If you’ve got a mix and match of older Xbox One and Series X controllers, this might be less of an issue.
But with that being said, it’s a genuinely cool innovation, and it takes some of the panic out of dead batteries. Even if you miss the alerts and your controller goes down in the middle of some action, it takes less than 10 seconds to swap these batteries out. That alone is worth some praise if it means I never have to fumble with figuring out which to put in a rechargeable battery ever again.
If Otterbox can get some individual accessories released and reasonably priced to support this system, it might just be the way to go the next time you need to buy new controller batteries.
The Otterbox Power Swap kit goes on sale June 15th.
Otterbox Power Swap batteries | $59 | Otterbox
