When it comes to the Nintendo Wii, one of the few downsides is that batteries for the Wii-mote quickly become expensive. Additionally, Nintendo offers no official Wii controller charger. There are, however, several third-party chargers out there, and we are going to take a look at a few of the combination charger pack and charging station options available and just how much of a value they actually are for Wii owners.

 

Nyko Wii Charge Station

First up, let’s take a look at the Nyko Wii Charge Station. This unit includes two rechargeable NiMH battery packs and supports charging both simultaneously. LED indicators let you know exactly when the packs are fully charged, and the battery packs hold enough charge for 25 hours of gameplay. Additionally, the unit’s relatively small size coupled with a six foot power cable give you plenty of options on where to keep the Charge Station without taking up too much space. Additionally, the rubberized cover to the battery pack not only is comfortable, but it gives you added grip on your Wii-mote. This unit lists at $24.99, which is a great value compared to repeated battery purchases as is, and when you add in the fact that you can find it for as low as $15 at some reputable online vendors, this unit is an awfully good buy.

CTA Digital’s Quadruple Charge Station

The next option we are going to take a look at is CTA Digital’s Quadruple Charge Station. As the name implies, this unit supports charging four Wii-motes simultaneously, and there are four NiMH battery packs included. This unit charges via USB connection, which proves to be both a blessing and a curse. It is nice in respect to not having to plug yet another device up to your outlet or power strip, which is most likely already quite full with components for your entertainment center, however USB powered recharging stations don’t charge nearly as quickly as those charged via traditional AC power sources. The only other downfall to this unit that we could find was that it only supports charging even numbers. In other words, you can charge either 2 controllers or four controllers simultaneously, but you can’t charge only one controller or even three at a time. Still, this is only a minor flaw. Overall, CTA gives you a great value here, with their Quadruple Charge Station listing for only $29.99.

Dreamgear DGWII-3116 Black Power Base Quad

The final option we are going to be taking a look at is the Dreamgear DGWII-3116 Black Power Base Quad. Like the CTA unit we looked at above, this charging station offers the ability to charge four controllers simultaneously and includes four rechargeable battery packs. These batteries charge via conduction, which means that you can charge by laying just the battery pack on the base, the battery pack in the Wii-mote on the base, or even charge in the Wii-mote inside of a protective sleeve. It also means that you can lay the Wii-motes in any configuration you like. It works off of AC power, which makes for fast charge time.

There are, however, two major drawbacks to this particular unit. First of all, the list price of $49.99 is in the upper price range of Wii controller chargers available. Second, and worse, the rechargeable battery packs just don’t last. All you have to do is look at customer feedback on many online vendors to see repeated complaints of the batteries, after only a month or two of use, won’t hold a charge for more than an hour at a time. If this unit was only high priced, it may still be worth a buy, but with the battery pack problems, the recommendation would be to pass on this one, obviously.

These are only three of the multiple Wii controller charger options available. We just wanted to give you a taste of two of the better values out there as well as one to stay away from.