PlayStation Vita: Tips in Conserving the Battery

PlayStation Vita is releasing in less than a week in North America and one of the concerns that people are having is the battery life it has. For a handheld device, the estimated 3-5 hours of gameplay is pretty disappointing but there are ways to extend it by optimizing the handheld’s settings in order to consume less battery juice than it normally does.

When the first PlayStation Portable was released, one of the biggest gripe consumers had was the battery life as well. It too had an estimated run of 3-5 hours. This goes the same as the ones on the Nintendo 3DS, in which 3-5 hours of gameplay is simply awful to have for a battery life on a console. With that kind of battery life, playing games such as RPGs and other heavy games that uses a lot of battery juice on the handheld will simply not be enough.

For those who are worried on how to conserve the battery power of the PlayStation Vita, here are some tips we have tested.

TIPS TO CONSERVE VITA BATTERY

Turn off Bluetooth
The PlayStation Vita has an equipped Bluetooth connectivity and this one takes quite a bit of juice off the Vita’s battery power when not turned off. Since the Bluetooth is pretty much useless for now, it’s highly encouraged for consumers to turn it off on the “Network Settings” menu. If you’re thinking about attaching a wireless headset onto the Vita, don’t forget that it has a built in microphone that works pretty well, thus you no longer need to connect a wireless headset.

Standby Mode Drains Battery Power
Just like the PSP, the PlayStation Vita can go into the Standby mode when the handheld detects the inactivity of the user or by simply pressing the PS Button. Please remember that when on Standby mode, the handheld is still using some battery power – especially when the Wi-Fi is on. With the Vita connected to the internet, it will still give you notifications via the blinking PS led home icon whenever it detects someone messaging you from PSN, or simply the consumers’ NEAR application gets updated.

Adjust Brightness Accordingly
When you play the PlayStation Vita outside of the house where bright lights exist, expect the screen to create an annoying glare, thus preventing you to see the screen clearly. No matter how high the brightness settings are, it will still be impossible to see and play under bright room conditions. Assuming you’re going to play on the Vita under normal lighting room conditions, I highly suggest you adjust the brightness at the mid settings. If you play around with the different brightness adjustment, you’ll notice that there’s really not a big difference from a very low brightness setting to a high one. In other words, the OLED screen of the Vita produces very good lighting of the panel, thus it no longer requires to adjust it at max settings.

Do the Cycle of the Battery
As with all devices that uses battery, it’s important to do a complete cycle of the battery. Don’t keep on charging the handheld even though it’s not fully drained. Make sure you drain the battery at least once a month to ensure a proper health of the battery. Remember that the battery is not replaceable as only Sony can do this for you.

Turn off 3G / Wi-fi When Not Required
Let’s say that you’re playing a game that doesn’t need multiplayer or being connected online. If that’s the case, it’s better to turn off the 3G or Wi-Fi. When both of these are turned on, expect it to suck up more battery power. For those who have the 3G model, whenever the consumers are at home and are using Wi-Fi, it only make sense that the 3G is off to conserve a lot of battery power.