The kit comes with two plastic charger nubs. Each connector is made from clear shiny plastic, and has four copper contacts on the front and a small male USB plug in the back. All you have to do is plug them unobtrusively on the front of your Sixaxis controller, and then it can be docked into Nyko’s docking station.
The base is rather attractive, and matches the Playstation 3’s shiny black theme. The base is has two ports that accept your controllers, with printed arrows to show you where they are placed. A raised status area looms over the controller bay like an overlord, and has two large LED domes that indicate each controller’s charge status. A red Nyko logo is printed on the status area. The base has its own power supply, so is no need for clunky AC adapters. A standard 2-prong AC plug extends from the back and plugs directly into any wall outlet.
Using add-on USB connectors is a clever solution, but there are a few issues to take note of. Since the batteries are technically charged through USB, there is a voltage limit, but the unit manages to charge the batteries within 2 hours, which is about the same as charging from the Playstation 3 itself. The other issue is that the LEDs remain on even after charging is complete.
Using the charge base is rather simple. Once the connectors are attached, all you have to do is dock your newly-enhanced Sixaxis controller into the Nyko base. There are two lights that indicate each controller’s charge status. Each light will illuminate red while charging, and green when fully charged, and the LEDs are VERY bright… too bright to not be a distraction in your home theater rack. This would be acceptable if the lights went off after charging (as Nyko’s Xbox 360 Charge base does, reviewed here), but the LEDs remain constantly on as long as the base is plugged in. I had to eventually put some electrical tape over the LED domes to not be so distracting (which produced a calming ring of light instead).
