The Nintendo DS Lite is a pretty compact portable gaming system, and has decent battery life for the amount of enjoyment you get out of it. The DS lite also isn’t the most ergonomic thing in the world: it is kinda boxy, and doesn’t contour to your hands like modern console controllers. What if there was a way to enhance the shape of the DS while providing additional battery life?…
Nyko comes to the rescue again with their Nyko Charger Grip Lite. This grip snugly secures your portable console, and integrates into the charger port to provide up to 8 extra hours of battery life. For those of you not paying attention, that means that your DS can remain portable for nearly 12 hours (since the internal battery lasts around 4 hours). Additionally, the new grip makes the DS more comfortable to hold with two hands, and feels more like a console controller.
Increase the battery life and comfort of the Nintendo DS lite with Nyko’s Charger Grip for the DS lite. The Charger Grip lite has a built-in rechargeable NiMH battery that adds up to 8 hours of additional playtime. The batteries are encased in an ergonomically designed case designed to minimize discomfort and provide a more comfortable grip for extended playing sessions on road trips, plane flights and more. The ChargerGrip lite utilizes the existing DS lite AC adaptor to charge both the DS lite’s battery and the Charger Grip’s internal battery simultaneously. Attaching and removing the Charger Grip is simple and requires no additional hardware or installation.
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Features
- Built-in rechargable NiMH battery
- Up to 8 hours of additional play time
- Uses existing DS lite AC adaptor
- Enjoy longer periods of gaming without having to recharge
- Ergonomic design meshes with the décor of the DS lite
- Built-in stylus port
The Nyko Charger Grip lite is a big lump of molded plastic that contains a NiMH battery (the same kind used in your Nintendo DS). The grip is shaped to fit your NIntendo DS Lite (sorry, the classic DS will not fit), and a foam pad makes a non-slip seal between the grip and your handheld. The pad even has a notch that fits into a screwhole on the bottom of your DS. The grip is also shaped to maintain easy access to the power button, volume control and headphone jack. The back of the unit has an on/off switch that allows access to the external battery, and is positioned in such a way so that it cannot be accidentally flipped.
To provide even more “kung-fu grip”, the console is locked into place with a fake stylus, which is attached to the grip’s base. When you mount your DS to this grip, you slide in a plastic tube into the stylus port, which locks the two together. Nyko provides an additional stylus port to replace the one taken up by the lock.
The top part of the grip provides an extra point of snugness, which is what also provides the extra battery power. The telescoping head raises up, allowing you to insert your DS into the grip, and then you move the head down, plugging into the DS’s charge port. On the reverse side of the head is a female charge port, so you can still use your Nintendo DS’s AC adapter to charge both the grip’s battery, in addition to the handheld’s internal battery.
Depending on your style of play, you must hold the DS in different ways. For arcade games that don’t require use of the stylus, you can hold the console with both hands, placing your index fingers on the top bumper buttons. In this respect, the DS isn’t as comfortable to hold as the Sony PSP, which feels a bit more like a real arcade controller. If you play stylus-based games heavily, then you hold the DS like a pen and small notepad, but its non-ergonomic shape puts more stress on the fingertips of your supporting hand.
In both of these styles of holding your DS, the Nyko Charger Grip Lite makes the Nintendo DS much more comfortable to hold. The design fits your hand much better, as our thumbs rested on the D-pad and buttons, our index fingers on the bumper buttons more comfortably, and the rest of our fingers fit around the controller in a natural way. The unit is also much easier to use with a stylus, as the extra grip lets you easily hold the system with one hand, without the need to rest on your lap or desk to maintain balance.
The extra bulk makes the unit a little less portable, but it’s not like you’re sticking your DS in your pants pocket, anyway. Most people put it in their backpack or jacket pocket, and you can still do that with this grip. Using the grip adds about an extra 1/4 inch on both sides, and about 3/4 of an inch in depth.
Besides simply improving the ergonomics of our favorite handheld, the Nyko Charger Grip Lite gives you enough juice for extended portability. In normal use, we’ve practically never run into the “blinking red light” indicating that we needed to get in touch with a wall outlet. Nyko also hit a home run by allowing you to charge both internal and external batteries at the same time. While it does take longer to completely charge up, this is something you can do at night rather than impatiently waiting for it (a scenario I’ve found myself in one too many times).
One negative aspect to this grip is the extra bulk added, which is still about the size of a Sony PSP. Unless you have a white DS, then this white grip might make your console look like a creamsickle or Oreo cookie. Most people will find the extra comfort more than makes up for the additional size. Once you try out the grip, I doubt you’ll ever have a “naked” DS ever again.
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1 Comment
yeah yeah, all this is great info, but I see that it is nowhere stated that this thing has a very high tendency to overheat… mine is actually distorted right where the electronics are for charging the batteries because it heated too much too many times. and when I say hot, I do not mean warm. I mean hot to the point where it gets too hot to hold. if you want to buy one of these, either get rid of the batteries inside it and replace them with a proper battery pack, or don't use them.