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Xbox controllers are still using AA batteries ‘because of long-term Duracell deal’, spokesperson claims

Jethalal

Banned
The point is when the battery’s degrade in the dual sense you can’t replace them you have to buy a new controller. It’s better to have options reguardless of the controller
It takes years for that to happen, by the time such thing would happen in a dualsense you likely would have spent a sizeable amount on AA batteries.
 

Zog

Banned
I thought this forum was full of hardcore gamers?

the more you use your controller the worse the battery gets, from day one of that first charge they get worse. The longer you you use them they get worse. So many people claiming they never had the DS controller battery’s still last, maybe they don’t use them as much as Xbox gamers then?
I like the post asking who plays more than 4 hours at a time.
 

Jethalal

Banned
Depends on how much you play, I play a good few hours most days
That is the point brother, most people likely won't be playing that much that the degradation of Dualsense battery would matter much to them. Such rapid degradation happens when you play too much and I'm sure most people don't play that much.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
That is the point brother, most people likely won't be playing that much that the degradation of Dualsense battery would matter much to them. Such rapid degradation happens when you play too much and I'm sure most people don't play that much.
Play to much? Your on. Forum
For hardcore gamers and saying play to much lol
 

Jethalal

Banned
Play to much? Your on. Forum
For hardcore gamers and saying play to much lol
You literally said that you only play a couple of hours yourself and the companies don't just look at few hardcore gamers, they will choose what is convenient to most, catering to select few can't allow you to sell 10s of millions of consoles.
 

Topher

Gold Member
So is the Elite Series 2 controller exempt from this "deal" somehow? It is interesting that Microsoft's most expensive premium controller has a built-in battery.
 

Nikana

Go Go Neo Rangers!

Topher

Gold Member
Theres no deal. Its already been debunked.


Yeah, I read that. It doesn't really debunk anything.

We intentionally offer consumers choice in their battery solutions for our standard Xbox Wireless Controllers," a Microsoft spokesperson told Eurogamer. "This includes the use of AA batteries from any brand, the Xbox Rechargeable Battery, charging solutions from our partners, or a USB-C cable, which can power the controller when plugged in to the console or PC.

That's Microsoft's comment on it and is included in the OP article. Not sure how eurogamer comes to the conclusion that this is somehow saying that what the Duracell rep said is not accurate. And I'm not sure it really matters. Nothing the Duracell guy said indicates Microsoft is forced to do anything.
 
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Zog

Banned
Depends what you play and stuff. I know a lot of gamers who can do more than 4 hour sessions. Myself included
That's my point, most of us here play more than 4 hours at a time once in a while. To even ask such a question displays a lack of awareness of what forum they are on..
 

GAMETA

Banned
Joke is on them I have gotten a decade out of my enloops. Yes rechargeable batteries for life quick swapping and if a battery dies no big deal instead of me bringing a controller to repair shop for battery swaps.
Repair shop to change a friggin battery? Do you even know how to wipe your ass?
 

Pidull

Member
Everyone knows this is fake right? Microsoft doesn't ship controllers with duracell batteries.
CS5ByOS.png
qbcp927.png
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Lol, Duracell are calling all the shots at Xbox, sounds right. They're designing their hardware around being able to give duracells with every purchase.

OK.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Seems like a weird deal, how many batteries they ship with controller vs how much they sold outside of that?

Also I am glad that it's this way, Eneloops for life. Have same batteries since Xbox One OG and they still give me 30-40 hours of gameplay per charge. Could not be happier.
 
Repair shop to change a friggin battery? Do you even know how to wipe your ass?
As someone who has experience both wiping my ass and taking apart numerous controllers, including the DS4, I can definitively say that wiping my ass was considerably easier, less fiddly and less time consuming. Also, unless you happen to have spudgers you're going to leave nasty marks on the plastic as you try to get the clips to release and pry it apart.
 

tichamac

Banned
I knew it! People always called me crazy when I talked about Big Battery. WHO IS LAUGHING NOW?
 
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Mahadev

Member
Xbox controllers have a FAR better battery life than playstation ones exactly because of double AA. You can easily buy rechargeable ones and you'll be set for years, you won't even have to worry about your controller dying because the battery died. I have no idea why the fuck people prefer build in batteries in electronics, they're fucking terrible and anti-consumer.
 
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x@3f*oo_e!

Member
Seems like a weird deal, how many batteries they ship with controller vs how much they sold outside of that?
Probably worth more to them in terms of free advertising and marketing than any direct additional sales.

At least in my country Duracell does A LOT of advertising, positioning itself as the better brand (when in fact most batteries are the same) - they cost around 2-3x everything else as a consequence..

(xbox benefits because they don't ship with 'no name' batteries, that look dodgy like most other electronic products)
 
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phil_t98

#SonyToo
You literally said that you only play a couple of hours yourself and the companies don't just look at few hardcore gamers, they will choose what is convenient to most, catering to select few can't allow you to sell 10s of millions of consoles.
I said I play a fair few hours, not a couple
 
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GAMETA

Banned
As someone who has experience both wiping my ass and taking apart numerous controllers, including the DS4, I can definitively say that wiping my ass was considerably easier, less fiddly and less time consuming. Also, unless you happen to have spudgers you're going to leave nasty marks on the plastic as you try to get the clips to release and pry it apart.

I too am experienced in both. Mexican food leaves much nastier marks.

If you use a thin and stiff plastic object to pry the controller open it won't cause a single scratch.

It's a very simple fix, very well documented on youtube, cheap to buy new batteries online, cheap to buy a kit of tools online... no excuses, amigo.
 
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x@3f*oo_e!

Member
Meh. It's not simple to open a DS4 - it's not been designed to be opened, and has one way catches that are intended only for assembly. Changing my battery was fiddly as fuck. A trigger spring fell out etc. Tiny tiny stuff.
 
No, Microsoft isn't forced to use batteries in Xbox controllers because of a deal with Duracell • Eurogamer.net

OP needs updating, as does the thread title.

There isn't anything wrong with having the choice of AA or Rechargeable batteries. Microsoft has either or. If you don't want to remove the batteries, the Xbox controller charges the rechargeable ones when plugged in. How the fuck do these threads get so many replies over something so miniscule?
what if someone from Sony sees this thread and sees all the responses shitting on DS/internal batteries. Maybe they will give us an AA battery option? Gamers win! keep the clickbait headline up
 
I too am experienced in both. Mexican food leaves much nastier marks.

If you use a thin and stiff plastic object to pry the controller open it won't cause a single scratch.

It's a very simple fix, very well documented on youtube, cheap to buy new batteries online, cheap to buy a kit of tools online... no excuses, amigo.
Yeah, but most people don't necessarily have a suitable object, back in the day I used to use flatheads...and even if you *do* have spudgers or a suitable replacement you might still leave marks. The plastic lower on the DS4 is very soft plastic by design (so it's more comfortable to hold) and even with purpose built tools designed specifically to pry things apart without damaging them there are still small marks from where I had to open mine, not something you'd notice unless you were looking for them but I know they're there.
 

GAMETA

Banned
Yeah, but most people don't necessarily have a suitable object, back in the day I used to use flatheads...and even if you *do* have spudgers or a suitable replacement you might still leave marks. The plastic lower on the DS4 is very soft plastic by design (so it's more comfortable to hold) and even with purpose built tools designed specifically to pry things apart without damaging them there are still small marks from where I had to open mine, not something you'd notice unless you were looking for them but I know they're there.
I mean, batteries don't usually die in the first 2-3 years of use, so is a little mark really that big of a deal after that time?

With the current crap analog sticks all brands are using, you're more likely to have the controller drifting like crazy before needing a battery swap.

Now that is a pain in the ass to fix, the soldering is not noob friendly... I wonder why they haven't adopted flat cables yet, would make things much easier.
 
Well hopefully Microsoft haven't made a contract for number of gamepads delivered thinking they will be next PS2 because at their current pace it will take them forever to reach that quota :D
 
I mean, batteries don't usually die in the first 2-3 years of use, so is a little mark really that big of a deal after that time?

With the current crap analog sticks all brands are using, you're more likely to have the controller drifting like crazy before needing a battery swap.

Now that is a pain in the ass to fix, the soldering is not noob friendly... I wonder why they haven't adopted flat cables yet, would make things much easier.
That dear Watson, is so that when the analog stick dies in some capacity the entire board is toast to all but the most techy of nerds. I'd like to see Joe Blow desolder the sticks with an el cheapo soldering iron. Probably the easiest way to remove one is with a hot air station, but even I don't have one of those.
 
The ability to change batteries is a good thing. You can use your own recyclable batteries, completely remove them for storage, etc. The idea that single use AA batteries are environmentally bad is a regulatory issue, not a controller issue. Even with internal batteries, they eventually go bad, which causes you to throw away the entire controller, causing more garbage and sometimes throwing away an otherwise good controller.

I don’t get why people think options are a bad thing.
 
This thread makes me laugh. What next PC manufactures got a deal with Duracell because almost all wireless keyboards need batteries, which conveniently enough no one got issues with.

 

Tmack

Member
Reminds me of my 360 controller that last time i checked had batterie leak all over the place.

Yeah.... those AA batteries are great.
 

Pidull

Member
Seems like a weird deal, how many batteries they ship with controller vs how much they sold outside of that?

Also I am glad that it's this way, Eneloops for life. Have same batteries since Xbox One OG and they still give me 30-40 hours of gameplay per charge. Could not be happier.
Considering that about 50 million Xbox Ones have been sold, assuming on average one extra controller sale per owner, and add in those that don't buy rechargeables? I'm sure this deal has been worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Duracell over the last generation alone.

It's a weird deal but also sorta crazy to think about the actual dollar value of it. 100 million+ controllers out there all with Duracell batteries in them to begin with, and a number of users who continue to use Duracell as an option.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Considering that about 50 million Xbox Ones have been sold, assuming on average one extra controller sale per owner, and add in those that don't buy rechargeables? I'm sure this deal has been worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Duracell over the last generation alone.

It's a weird deal but also sorta crazy to think about the actual dollar value of it. 100 million+ controllers out there all with Duracell batteries in them to begin with, and a number of users who continue to use Duracell as an option.
You are right, did not get too much thought to that.
 

A.Romero

Member
There is a difference between "Microsoft uses AA batteries because of a deal with Duracell" and "Microsoft has a deal with Duracell to include batteries with the controller" as in the deal is to include Duracell batteries but not necessarily use AA batteries because of a deal with Duracell.

A huge amount of money would be needed to push Microsoft to make certain design decisions for something that simply doesn't guarantee that users will buy Duracell. If anything, it would be a better deal to include rechargeable batteries like in Playstation using Duracell tech.

That said, I use enerloops and it's pretty convenient but I can make do with what DS4 and DS does as long as I have more than one controller. Not a big deal.
 

Zog

Banned
Considering that about 50 million Xbox Ones have been sold, assuming on average one extra controller sale per owner, and add in those that don't buy rechargeables? I'm sure this deal has been worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Duracell over the last generation alone.

It's a weird deal but also sorta crazy to think about the actual dollar value of it. 100 million+ controllers out there all with Duracell batteries in them to begin with, and a number of users who continue to use Duracell as an option.
I use Ray o Vac or Energizer. I haven’t bought Duracell in years. There are many brands of AA batteries.
 

x@3f*oo_e!

Member
TFLOPS, SSD, first party, third party, stick placement, online services, gamepass, cross platform, backcompat .

.. it all pales into insignificance compared to the real thing that drives buying choice, which is what sort of fucking battery the console comes with.
 
I'm kinda amazed that a lot people here complaining about DS4 or Dualsense running out of battery never just thought of just connecting the damn controller to a power bank and continue playing :|

Wtf you guys. Its 2021.

Some of you probably drive battery powered cars and you can't think of just getting a power bank the size of an iPhone 4?
 
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