If you own a Playstation 3, you may find yourself feeling quite smug when thinking of Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii owners having to either buy batteries regularly or shell out the extra money for a rechargeable kit, while you sit back with your direct from the factory rechargeable controllers. You probably have said to yourself “Why would anyone ever need a PS3 controller charger or charging station?”

PSIII Controller Charger Benefits

While not 100% necessary, a charging station is actually quite handy to have. Think about it. Your controllers and your headset have to charge up via the USB ports on your PS3. What if you have a Playstation Eye or another peripheral that requires a USB connection in order to work. Then say that you
want to watch some videos or listen to some music via a USB flash drive while your controllers are charging. You can see how you could quickly run out of slots.

Not only would having a PS3 controller charger:

  • free up valuable USB slots, but the better ones will also 
  • charge your controller up even faster than a PS3, getting you back in the action that much quicker. Finally, maybe you aren’t even wanting to use your Playstation while your controllers charge. 
  • A charging station will use fewer watts of electricity than a PS3 running for the sole purpose of charging your controllers.

So, there are a few reasons that you may want or need a charging station for your PS3. There are several options out there, but we are going to have a look at what most critics and plenty of satisfied customers point to as the best option for a PS3 controller charger.

This station we are going to look at today is Energizer’s Power & Play Station. As you can see, it is far and away the most stylish looking unit on the market. One thing you may be fooled into believing by looking at it though is that it only charges up to two controllers at a time. The Power & Play station actually supports charging up to four controllers simultaneously, two on the “tree” portion, and two via USB cable. Additionally, there is a slot for you to slide your official Sony Playstation Bluetooth headset into for charging. If you have a non-Sony headset, it won’t fit in this cradle, but you can still charge it via USB cable.

The slots you click your controllers into light up red while charging and then turn green when charging is complete, so you can see when you are ready to go just fine. The Power & Play Station operates off of AC power, so you will need an extra power outlet, but the unit itself takes up the least space of any PS3 controller charger unit we have seen. Additionally, the AC power makes for a faster charge than a USB connection.

The only real negative to this unit is in actually placing the controllers in the cradle. It’s not incredibly difficult, but you do have to pay attention to what you are doing, and you will have to apply pressure to the unit with one hand while you place the controller with the other hand to prevent it from tipping over. Not a huge deal.

PS3 Controller Charger Summary

If you are looking for a PS3 controller charger to free up necessary USB slots, save on power, charge faster, or just to look cool, at $29.99, the Energizer Power & Play Station is a great value that will give you style and power.