The current-gen of consoles has brought us many positives and even more joyous occasions. Terrific games, better graphics and finally crossplay! With each generation the number of hours we spend with the controller in-hand increases. Since the wireless controller became the norm since the 360 and PS3 era consumers, especially Xbox users have moaned about the usage of batteries, or the constant recharge of the PS controller. A generation later and Microsoft has still not ditched the AA battery setup in their controller. This means you either need to buy rechargeable batteries, or stock-up on AA batteries because you will eat through tons of them!
I am fortunate enough to have access to both Xbox One and PS4 consoles and spending more time on my Xbox, the charging station that Apex Interactive sent me was a welcome sight! PDP does make cost-conscious products. To most companies, cost-consciousness means a budget product at a budget price. For PDP this is not true! Their range of controllers and headsets tick the quality box as well as the budget box!
What’s in the box?
The PDP Gaming Ultra slim charging station comes with an extremely sleek and nicely designed station. The station is extremely slim lined and minimal in design and with the space it takes up on your desk or counter. It has two magnetic connection points as well as two mood lights to give it some RGB feeling. At the bottom of it it also has two LED indicators to show when the controllers are properly fitted. 10/10 times I have tried to place the controller incorrectly the magnetic positioning has corrected my placement to ensure good and firm contact to the charging ports. Many other docking stations require you to have a free USB port to plug it into. The PDP ultraslim has its very own 2-prong plug that plugs straight into a wall socket, giving you that always-needed USB port to use for an external hard drive or headset amp.
PDP also provides two rechargeable battery pack that simply fit inside the Xbox One controller the same way normal batteries would fit. The cover is then replaced by the provided PDP cover which has an opening perfectly slotted to provide great contact between the battery pack and the charging station.
With the PDP battery pack connected the Xbox One controller feels slightly heavier than it does with standard batteries but the weight difference is hardly noticeable and the result is worth the extra few grams. During the time I spent using the PDP ultraslim charge station I put in multiple gaming sessions that lasted more than 8 hours, save for a few bathroom- and snack breaks and the batteries did not skip a beat. In fact, I hardly got past the 50% mark that the Xbox provides to show controller battery level.
Verdict
If you are one of the players that have spent a small fortune on buying AA batteries then the PDP ultraslim charging station has your name on it. Straight out of the box it provides battery packs for 2 controllers with the ability to charge both of them at the same time. Not only does it serve as a charging station it is a good looking way to store your controllers when not using them. Coming in at close to R700 it is easy to see why this is the change you need to make instead of constantly buying AA batteries!
Special thanks to Apex Interactive for the review hardware
