AfterDawn: News

Nintendo 3DS has weak battery life in 3D mode

Nintendo has posted the final hardware specs for the 3DS handheld this week, and one glaring issue appears to be the battery life.

In the past, the Nintendo DS line has had very good battery lives, with the original DS lasting 10 to 14 hours, the DS Lite lasting 15 to 19 hours, the DSi lasting 9 to 14, and the large-screened DSi XL lasting 13 to 17 hours.



For the upcoming 3DS, battery life when running a game in 3D, is only 3-5 hours, with some warning that the actual time may be closer to the lower end of that range unless Wi-Fi is turned off.

Battery life is a measly 5-8 hours when running regular DS games.

President Satoru Iwata said back in October:

As for the battery, it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS. This is why we are going to include the cradle, which is a dedicated battery charger. Perhaps we may need to dispatch to our consumers a message, something like, 'Please place your Nintendo 3DS on the cradle as soon as you return home with it.'

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 8 Jan 2011 16:36

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• 18 comments

• ROMaster2

  So playing Wi-Fi games with 3D enabled lets you have only 3 hours of life...
  
  Better have your charger plugged in while playing then.

  8.1.2011 16:59 #1

• Frogfart

  I bet that old car chargers won't be compatable and we have to go down the old road of replacing everything.

  8.1.2011 17:49 #2

• KSib

  3-5 hours, yikes. Hopefully that's enough for most people
  

  8.1.2011 18:09 #3

• Zealousi

  On the run it will be userless which is their main market, unless they can fit a few more power cells into their device then it is going to be the failure that will decrease their market. Leaving the Hardcore Nintendo fans to sit at home and play.
  
  personally i think it needs more development before released to the market.
  

  9.1.2011 00:02 #4

• osa444

  maybe nintendo should try terminator's battery(frpm terminator movies)
  

  9.1.2011 00:16 #5

• Azuran

  Quote:This is why we are going to include the cradle, which is a dedicated battery charger Quote:include the cradle Quote:include
  

  9.1.2011 00:30 #6

• elbald90

  this is the big problem thats facing all portable hardware manufacturers , as the devices get more powerful they need more power to run its a catch 22 situation
  

  9.1.2011 05:53 #7

• ZippyDSM

  turn 3D off....... and nin shame for not going with a better battery..... button layout or anything worthwhile.... well I guess emulators will be quicker to catch up since 3Ds is DS 1.5 and all....
  

  Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy!
  Ah modern gaming its like modern film only the watering down of fiction and characters is replaced with shallow and watered down mechanics, gimmicks and shiny-er "people".
  http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/

  9.1.2011 08:37 #8

• Adamantus

  It's just more focus on hardware instead of the games that run on it. It's like going to an art gallery where the only thing the visitors and the artists talk about are the frames, paint brushes and paint. I would gladly buy new Psx games if they were as good as 1997 material. All games these days seem to be designed purely to utilise the new expensive hardware.

  9.1.2011 11:10 #9

• LightXxX

  To stop the decrease of battery life time, just plug the charger in than take battery out? Turn it on and charge at same time with the battery so DS would turn on but after charge ad turned on, take battery out instead of charging and playing at same time because it decreases battery life time...
  

  9.1.2011 12:26 #10

• Joshewah

  I'll wait for the inevitable 3DS lite. The revision with all of the bugs and issues ironed out.
  

  X360 - iXtreme1.4 ||| Xbox - EvoX Dash ||| PS2 - CC 2.0 PRO SLE ||| Dreamcast ...lol ||| NDS - Acekard 2/M3 Simply/EZ Flash 3-1 ||| Rooted HTC Hero with Ic3rom

  9.1.2011 20:55 #11

• 3MUK

  i see no point in a 3ds with a sluggish battery like that, Nintendo release a 3ds with better battery life or u will get alot of criticism . i understand the power it requires to power on , hey u made the device now fix it.
  

  "You can lead a fool to wisdom but you cant make him think"

  10.1.2011 11:22 #12

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by 3MUK: i see no point in a 3ds with a sluggish battery like that, Nintendo release a 3ds with better battery life or u will get alot of criticism . i understand the power it requires to power on , hey u made the device now fix it. thats what a model 2 is for.....
  

  Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy!
  Ah modern gaming its like modern film only the watering down of fiction and characters is replaced with shallow and watered down mechanics, gimmicks and shiny-er "people".
  http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/

  10.1.2011 11:24 #13

• 3MUK

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: Originally posted by 3MUK: i see no point in a 3ds with a sluggish battery like that, Nintendo release a 3ds with better battery life or u will get alot of criticism . i understand the power it requires to power on , hey u made the device now fix it. thats what a model 2 is for..... what do u mean model 2
  

  "You can lead a fool to wisdom but you cant make him think"

  10.1.2011 11:37 #14

• Adamantus

  3.5hrs of gameplay seems quite a lot, it's comparable to a decent laptop, I think it's just less than what people are used to. It seems like the 3d feature probably takes a lot of power and it's always the screen which uses the most on any system.

  10.1.2011 11:39 #15

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by 3MUK: Originally posted by ZippyDSM: Originally posted by 3MUK: i see no point in a 3ds with a sluggish battery like that, Nintendo release a 3ds with better battery life or u will get alot of criticism . i understand the power it requires to power on , hey u made the device now fix it. thats what a model 2 is for..... what do u mean model 2 Sorry I am more use to the NES/SNES/PSX days where a model 2 came out 4 or so years later with some changes to the overall hardware. I meant lite, slim,large whatever they call their model 2,3 and 4's >>
  

  Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy!
  Ah modern gaming its like modern film only the watering down of fiction and characters is replaced with shallow and watered down mechanics, gimmicks and shiny-er "people".
  http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/

  10.1.2011 11:40 #16

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by Adamantus: 3.5hrs of gameplay seems quite a lot, it's comparable to a decent laptop, I think it's just less than what people are used to. It seems like the 3d feature probably takes a lot of power and it's always the screen which uses the most on any system. I thought the motor on the disc drive used more(psp) tha the screen?
  /geek
  

  Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy!
  Ah modern gaming its like modern film only the watering down of fiction and characters is replaced with shallow and watered down mechanics, gimmicks and shiny-er "people".
  http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/

  10.1.2011 12:40 #17

• Gnawnivek

  3-5 hours is not good enough... If I'm stuck with jury duties, then I better bring the charger with me, but finding an outlet will be tricky :(
  
  

  Peace!

  13.1.2011 10:25 #18