Joy-Con Grip Won’t Charge the Controllers But You Should Not Worry
Earlier today, we told you how Nintendo of America’s President, Reggie Fils-Aime, revealed the Switch will ship 2-million units worldwide at launch and through the hardware’s first month on the market. Today, we discovered that if you are thinking about owning a Nintendo Switch, you should probably start planning your charging setup. In addition to the main unit, you’ll need to keep the detachable “Joy-Con” controllers topped up. This could prove tricky if you’re playing the console exclusively at home. That’s because the Joy-Con Grip bundled with the Switch doesn’t have any charging capabilities of its own. The bundled Joy-Con Grip is different than the Joy-Con Charging Grip which is able to charge the Joy-Con controllers on the go.
Whether this is a problem depends on how you plan on using your console. According to the Joy-Con controller’s product description, battery life is expected to be around 20 hours (conceivably four times the battery life of the Nintendo Switch itself).
Additionally, docking your Nintendo Switch to play it on the TV will require charged controllers. So if you see yourself going 20 hours in docked or tabletop mode without taking time to charge, investing in the Charging Grip is in your future.
However, if you want to be able to charge the controllers on the go, it requires sinking $29.99 into the premium accessory.
the Nintendo Switch (and all its accessories) launch on March 3, 2017.