Venom Xbox 360 Twin Docking Station with 2 x Rechargeable Battery Packs (Xbox 360)
Have you ever been right in the thick of an intense gaming session and your controller has lost all power? Or gone to play with one of your friends and only one of your controllers has any power? You then have to try and find new batteries and hope that you have any or your gaming is on hold until you can go and buy some.
With this Venom Xbox 360 Twin Docking Station you will never have to worry about this issue again.
The dock comes with 2 powerful Nimh rechargeable battery packs that simply plug into the back of your Xbox 360 controller, providing gameplay of up to 18 hours when fully charged. Placing your Xbox 360 controllers onto the rapid recharge cradle will power up the batteries. With a USB cable providing power to the cradle you don’t even need your console to be on. You can charge the batteries off any USB power device, so that when you come to game you have full charge. The dock will fully recharge your controllers in 4 hours with red LED charging indicators that turn green once fully charged and an auto cut off feature that avoids any overcharging or overheating.
| Dimensions: | 24 x 13 x 6.5 cm; 240 Grams |
| Model: | VS2891 |
| Batteries Included: | 2 Lithium ion batteries required. (included) |
| Origin: | China |
had one for years on my sons xbox 360. faultless, simple to dock and charge, plenty of battery life for a gaming session. upgraded at xmas to an xbox one S and the first thing I did was ordered the xbox one version.
the most essential accessory for either xbox by far.
No complaints here! Top product with great battery life (approx. 15-18 hours on one charge).
Just one issue to be noted: The somewhat large charging indicator light is VERY bright – it lights up the room at night, since it does not switch off when fully charged, but the indicator light just goes from red to an even brighter green! Not great for the bed room..
But overall, five star product. Recommended.
Didn’t think these were going to be that good for the money, but they are brilliant. Have got one each for both of my children and not only does it save on the cost of the batteries, they always know where their remotes are as they place them back in the charging dock after play!! Win win!
I am editing this review in the light of a response from Venom. They read the review and sent me a new battery by return post.
Excellent company that bothers to read reviews and acts on them. Five stars
Great charging docking station. Works well for 2 controllers but we recently bought a cheaper non-branded controller on Amazon that is slightly bigger and does not fit the dock but that is not the fault of this docking station.
Great unit, but as with others, they are designed to work with Microsoft X-Box original controllers.
Other cheaper controllers may not fi
Perfect fit of batteries. Charger looks nice and solid. First charge took 3.5 hours.
The only thing that surprised me a little, is that after disconnecting one of the already charged controllers for a second, it’s light turned from green to red and kept that for the next 10 minutes, and I couldn’t wait more time
This is a fantastic charging solution for my xbox pads. It comes with two batteries which is a bonus and buying this is a much cheaper alternative to the play and charge kit.
In the packaging, you’ll find a cradle (finished in a high-gloss black plastic), a USB cable (for connection to your Xbox, or other powered USB port of your choice), and two rechargeable battery packs. It does not come bundled with a power adaptor, or an instruction manual, though neither is really necessary at this price point..
We have had this now for over a year and it is just brilliant. No more batteries.
Brilliant solution for my wireless controllers. Pride of place on my desk.
I don’t know if its just mine, but it does have an oddity. Not something I’d return it for, I can live with it but it’s a bit strange.
It will only actually charge my controllers if I reset it, IE unplug the MiniUSB connecter and reconnect it. If i place a depleted battery/controller onto the dock without doing so, it doesn’t charge. However, since unplugging and reconnecting it works without fail, I don’t really care. Some might, so just be aware of this oddity before you purchase to avoid annoyance/disappointment 🙂
Great little unit. Easy to set up and use. Lights change colour to let you know when the controllers are charged. Have been using this for a few years now and it is still working great and saving me buying batteries.
I like to play games using a wireless controller so this was perfect for me as i always have one spare.
It’s still early in there first use, but all seems to be ok, working well, stand by on these batteries seems to be very good, play time or running time is still being checked but looks to be very good, will update as and when I know more, hope this helps.
Update: batteries are working very well, standby time is by far – better than the original battery, play time is also better as it is lasting a great deal longer. If your thinking about getting some of these batteries, then I believe like me you won’t be disappointed, I hope this helps and that you have the same satisfaction.
First of all I just want to apologise to all my local shop keepers for no longer coming to see you, it’s not you it’s me. You see now that I’ve bought this charging station for my son I no longer need to buy the world’s supply of AA batteries on a daily basis.
I know I could’ve just bought a controller with a cable but you know what kids are like, one of them would end up tripping over the cable which in turn would rip the Xbox off the shelf and then you end up having to fork out for a new Xbox.
So all in all this is a perfect solution to having your kids complaining that they need new batteries, now if I could just convince them to put the things on charge!!!!
Happy with the purchase – have been using my pads with the wires attached for a long time as my batteries were baked. Cradle came with two new rechargeable batteries which means no more wire! Good price and looks great too.
A great item purchased for my son provides a great charge to the controller. Sits very nice looking on the counter top. The base unit gives a good clear indication of fully charged controller.
The controllers hold a good length of time worth of charge. great for a single player with 2 controls never lose charge again play with one charger while the other sits ready to use.
Controllers sit nice and firm. The rechargeable batteries though have a very poor shelf life.
I’m a gamer mum…I play grand theft auto, Sims, Mincraft, now working on gears of war. Anyway bought this with no help from my son. This is a charger unit without controls. It comes with 2 charger packs. If you need to buy this you NEED to buy a control separately. Great product which works well and has a long battery life.
Grandson gets through duracells like their going out of fashion. This item saves a fortune and is pretty quick to recharge as well
Best xbox charge I ever bought. Far less obtrusive that some of the other one can buy. When you put the controller on it, they stay on it and thank goodness – the lights are not industrial magnitutde – nice and subtle.
hey are great for my Xbox 360, I play a lot with my boyfriend so this saves a lot of money, plus its a nice holder for them as well. The battery seems to last a good amount of time as well which is good for us
very handy instead of batteries although you might want to keep a couple of batteries spare because it does take a while to charge up. If you have both you are on to a winner!
Amazing wouldnt be without these for the xbox. One year after purchase and it is still going strong on the original batteries. We never need to worry about changing them and we leave them permanantly on the docking station when not in use. They are always ready to go so no squabbling between boys!
Excellent charger and loved that it came with not one but TWO battery packs. Works really well, charges in next to no time and compact to save space. Slight oversight on my part as I didn’t read it was USB only but purchased an additional USB plug adapter for next to nothing and it means we can charge anywhere. Use the iPhone plug whilst waiting. Highly recommend this product for any Xbox gamer.
Still going strong after many months of mostly daily use. The cradle is pretty compact and holds the controllers well. The batteries still hold their charge for a long time and charge quickly. We have had many non Xbox batteries over the years and found that they quite often either stop charging or don’t last very long once charged but so far these are as good as the genuine product.
I can’t find much fault with this. I don’t normally like to buy third-party accessories for my games consoles [after a number of bad experiences], but I couldn’t be happier with this.
-The batteries probably don’t last as long as the official ones, but will still last 9-13 hours of gameplay.
-It’s a safe place for the controllers to rest, protects them from getting damaged
-works pretty much flawlessly, and plugs straight into your xbox.
-for me, it took around 2-3 hours for a complete charge
-decent build quality.
-comes with two rechargeable battery packs
I would definitely recommend this, and for the money you’re saving, you’re not making much of a compromise.
Well I’ve left it long enough……two years gone and this product still amazes me. I was spending a fortune on batteries and the constant hassle of changing batteries and running out of power whilst playing was a real pain in the a***. The batteries have never run out on me (the maximum I have sat playing non-stop is about 4 hours) and when you’re done you just pop the controller back on the dock which is brilliantly and stylishly designed. All too often you see negative reviews of products but this is a real winner and an absolute bargain. If the day ever comes that this product fails, I would gladly fork out for a replacement. Brilliant work, well done Venom.
Arrived on time & worked.
Only downside is the two existing controllers don’t fit, but I charge these on the leads
This is a fantastic charging solution for my xbox pads. Buying this is a much cheaper alternative to the play and charge kit. It charges very quickly about 2.5 hours and works perfectly. No more Batteries! I Have saved myself money buying this. Well worth the money.
When the lights turn green it indicates that they’re charging and the unit is properly in place and when it’s fully charged the lights go off. Which is very useful.
Highly recommended.
Excellent! We have had this since christmas, so 7 months. Its nice sometimes to do a review after the products been used and i can definitely say this is worth buying. Still working fine and have had no problems with it. With 3 xboxes in the house, this has stopped alot of rows between the children over batteries!! No more running out of them. We charge one while using the other. Will be buying another one this xmas. Highly recommended.
This is absolutely fantastic, cable plugs into the back of the xbox, only had it a few weeks but am loving saving a fortune by not having to rush out and buy expensive batteries all of the time. Daughter loves it, controllers are always ready to use, even when she plays all day long we still have plenty of charge, Fantastic product and excellent, speedy, fast customer service. Love it.
We love this! Purchased so we never end up with one controller dead and one at half battery when my husband suddenly wants to play fifa with a friend and we have no spare batteries in the house! not intrusive with lots of cables, the usb that plugs into the xbox is easily hidden, all that is visible is the dock with the controllers next to the tv. charges really well, and keeps the controllers tidy when not in use. brilliant price considering you get two battery packs and the dock.
Does well, and definitely helps save on batteries 🙂 I only have one controller so i put some bluetack on the back of the second supplied battery so when I run out, i can switch them. It works really well and assuming you’ve got the bluetack on the right place on the second battery, they both charge very well 🙂
I have only used it once, but it seems to work quite well, although batteries do not last too long, they are good enough
Had this a while now great item, only disappointment for me would be that the light up venom signs on the front were not finished they were just blobs although with some black stickers I was able to make it look like it does in the advert picture.
These are so cheap and so good! I’ve just purchased a second one because I accidently broke my first one which I had for a couple of years and it was still working great. I have also just got one for my nephew! Very good quality, and so cheap compared to others in the high street stores.
I would never go back to using them silly play and charge things again!
I purchased this a few months ago. Working great still. My only concern is the battery packs themselves. 1 has totally stopped working…I’m not a massive gamer and don’t constantly charge them. But 1 stopped even registering on the cradle… (No red or green light) and you can’t buy the battery packs on here. Thats my only concern. Otherwise good.
It really does do what it is supposed to with no issues at all. I am getting 6 hours + gameplay on a battery. I’ve not played longer than that in a session so no idea how much beyond that they last. The charge is great and with being a double, there is no need to wait anyway as there will always be a fully charged controller to use.
I bought this because my wired controllers kept breaking as when the wire starts coming loose and theres no battery slot then thats it. Not the safest investment.
I used to have a battery charger where you take the battery out the controller and then place it into the charger…. do not do this with this charger! It does say not to on the instruction to be fair but basically I short wired one of the charger ports so I only have one that works now. Not a problem though! I leave one charging in the working port while I play. The battery life is excellent, probably a good 8 hours or something. Then as soon as the controller starts flashing, I swap straight away safe in the knowledge I’ve got another 8 hours and don’t have to worry about wires coming loose.
The only down side to this charger is that the battery needs to be INSIDE a controller and then you place the controller on the charger like in the pic so you need a spare controller. Apparently you can “plug and play” but honestly you would have to balance it precariously on your lap or something it’s not really practical. Wasn’t a problem for me though I have loads of decrepit controllers that are past their shelf life and I absolutely love this product! 5*
super fast and effective charging, red light = charging, green light = done, can swap between two so never have to worry about that annoying sound you get on the mic through one of those plug in chargers, just when one is flat, the other goes i
Charges well and seems to hold the charge well. Battery life is supposed to be 18 hours. They have never been used that long continuously without a recharge to date so hard to know full length. On and off all day between users on a weekend and the battery keeps going. The holder keeps things neat and tidy when not in use which as parents we love. Overall we all love it.
Excellent product, straight forward to install, looks the part, the only slight criticism with this product are the extremely bright charging lights. As with every other product of this type I have ever encountered, the manufactures fail to remember that most of these products remain plugged in at night and most of them these days will be in bedrooms. During the day the lights are fine but at night the lights are bright enough to land fighter jets, the only positive is that the charging lights on this product are brighter than the energy saving bulbs I have in that room!!!! Charging lights are fine but do they have to be that bright.
It’s a great product, i don’t know how i played all those games without it !!! You just need to charge the batteries and then play 18 hours without stopping. It’s very reliable and i recommend it to all X-box 360 players – You won’t regret for this purchase !
Great for charging two controllers at once. And the fact that the battery packs come with the charger was a big bonus.
Continues to charge even when the Xbox is off. Some may like this feature but I would prefer to be able to switch the charger off somehow when charging is complete.
If you’re a gamer who spends countless hours playing away, this is definitely one product that comes in very handy and even for the casual gamer I’d say. Batteries are still very expensive and when you play games often it’s just an added expense that isn’t necessary when you could have something like this. I’ve had my charging cradle for a number of months now and it’s just been great to have, I had another from another brand before hand and I got years of use out of it, before the batteries eventually held their charge for an hour or so and then it got silly. These chargers make playing games much more enjoyable, the minute one batteries dead, you switch to the fully charged one and put the dead one on charge and within minutes your back to your game playing away without issue. It’s also great for when you play two player, the charge times really not bad at all and within an hour or so its charged and ready to go again, so great for two player gamers as well. Overall its a product that saves time, money and overally makes gaming more enjoyable.
Very easy to set up, work great. Charge when xbox is on stand by, so no more annoying fan noise when controllers when controllers charging over usb. Good price, comes with two new batteries. One of our remotes would no longer hold a charge so had to stay plugged into play, using the new batteries with this set it charged first time. Very happy.
This is excellent, I’ve only charged the batteries once and the controllers seem to be lasting an age without recharging. Only gripe is that there is no on/off button, so if the chargers are on the cradle they’re being charged. The instructions say that constant charging is not recommended, so the only way round it is to unplug the usb cord at the back.
Love Venom for my Xbox 360, does the job great, i previously had Venom Batteries with the charging lead, but now i wanted 2 more batteries with a cradle leaving them to charge in the morning or afternoon before a session of game playing. Charging is quick 1-2 hours and they are done. My old venom battery works with this as well.
Really happy I actually use this to charge the controllers directly from a pc USB port and I use the controllers only to game on steam
My controllers are always charged and the item is spot on ccouldn’t ask more the battery packs hold charge really well and last.
arrived prompt packaged very well and does what it says on the box! See no reason for anyone not to buy these. Charges up well and quickly.
I have to admit that at first when I held it, it did feel so light and cheaply made, however it does the job perfectly and hasn’t failed me so far 🙂 the battery life is also brilliant, I am 100% happy with it 🙂 and I am glad I bought it, oh and the delivery service was very quick 🙂
Very nice design and good value for money as it includes rechargeable batteries too! Only thing is the controllers don’t sit perfectly in the dock but they still charge so I don’t mind too much.
The Venom cradle is supplied with a generous cable that plugs easily into one of the sockets on the xbox body and the back of the cradle, leaving the controllers to sit easily in the cradle when charging. Used batteries register red and fully charged batteries turn the same light to green. The cradle came within the time specified and I would certainly use this company again. My two Mindcraft playing 8 year old grandchildren use it quite easily.
I was skeptical in buying it but the original Xbox product is overpriced. I was impressed with Venom. It is easy to use, the controllers are getting charged very quick (around 10-15 minutes) and lasts for days (playing a few hours a day).
I read reviews about how difficult is to put the controllers in cradle, as they have to be perfectly balanced, etc. Rubbish! Even Captain Hook or a monkey are able to put controllers to charge.
Don’t hesitate, buy it and you won’t regret!
With 2 gamers in the house, I dread to think how much in batteries we would have spent without this. Except e lament quality, neat, single lead into xbox box. Kids put the controllers straight on to it after playing, click, click charge and they are ready to go later. Worth its weight, and we never lose or sit on controllers any more!
Charges the remotes quicker than I expected. Very happy son indeed. I would have given it a 5 star, especially as the batteries are included, which I didn’t expect, but it only plugs in via the usb port at the back of the xbox, which we do not leave on or plugged in after we are done playing. However, I did resolve this problem as we happen to have a talk talk box which has a usb port which works absolutely fine. I also think most tv’s would have a usb port as well.
This is a brilliant item for charging Xbox controllers much better than the old wired method,allows you to charge one controller whilst using the other,when a controller is on the cradle there are lights to show you the status of the charge.The cradle is very well made and you just plug it into the Xbox via the USB port and basically forget it no constant plugging or unplugging.We are very pleased with this item
simply put, this cradle does the job – and it looks good too!
With the last couple of rechargeable batteries failing, this was much needed in our house of gamers.
It means the kids actually put their controllers somewhere when they’ve finished playing – rather than leaving them on the sofa to sit on. They have been in use now for a few weeks and all is well. The kids like the cradle a lot – mainly because their controllers are always charged ready for action. Really pleased with this item!
I brought this docking station as i already had two rechargeable venom packs. Straight forward to setup and looks great when you dock your controllers in. My only gripe was that you can not charge the battery packs without them being attached to a controller. So this is not ideal if you wish to alternate battery packs whilst playing a game.
Other than that, Very happy with the product!
This plug and play charging cradle is just what i was looking for! The inclusive batteries hold their charge perfectly and sit snugly on top of the cradle!
I like the fact that they stop charging when full, so you dont lose battery life over time. Replacement batteries can be picked up for about 7 a pair, so if you have multiple controllers, you can charge some while using others – great for kids / having folks over etc!
Saves having to worry about finding batteries or paying extortionate prices for “branded” Microsoft items!
Would definitely recommend this!
Great product, especially for the price.
My only gripe is that the charger uses USB, finding an always on USB isn’t easy, the Xbox 360 USB isn’t always on. Luckily my surround sound has one, so no problem for me.
The charger looks amazing, it works well and docking them couldn’t be easier. The pads fit so well that isn’t almost impossible not to get it in a docking position.
Needed to pick up 2 new battery’s for my 360, After picking up a Xbox One I figured its time to give the old controllers one last set of new battery’s before they fade away in a closet somewhere within the next year. This is a great bit of kit! the green lights are tad bright though but the controllers hold there charge very well with the packs provided.
A must have it has paid for its self over and over again. It last a whole day of playing before you need to pop it back in the cradle to recharge. The charge is from a usb lead which l have plugged into my sky box output so the cradle is permanently ready to charge.
I bought this to replace my rechargeable AA batteries for my Xbox controllers and It works like it said it would perfectly. It is powered by a usb cable but you will have to provide your own usb adapter which isn’t such a bad deal considering all the features you are getting with this unit. Delivery was prompt
The charging cradle can be a fingerprint magnet with its high gloss casing but it looks good with the rest of my gaming gears.
I would have given it a 5 star if they provided the adapter to come with the unit but that isn’t a deal breaker. If you do need one that look in Amazon for a 3 pin wall usb adapter charger, there is one less then 2 pounds.
I have two of these ordered from Amazon.co.uk and now I ordered one more for our second Xbox 360 console that arrived this week. They have worked very well and my son and his schoolmates have been more than happy. Some of them are also interested in getting that item. No more problems with empty batteries anymore; thanks a lot for this great item (Amazon&Venom) and many gamers will be pleased!
This is a fab useful gadget. It comes with the chargeable battery pack which you use to replace the battery compartment on your xbox controllers. These then easily mount onto the docking station and charge whenever not in use. They hen stop charging and the red light shines when they are ready to use again.
The price is right (unusual when talking about Xbox) and it does everything you need it to.
The batteries last well, the charge is pretty quick and its idiot proof all you do is put the controller down.
The build quality isn’t the best but its a charging cradle not a controller for god sake.
Does what it says on the Tin. Once you change over the battery pack on the controller for ones supplied with the products and then to be able to charge more than one controller on the cradle via the USB cable connected to a power source either plug or hardware device with a USB connection has made life more efficient especially with the visibility of the charge lights to notify you when one or both controllers are fully charged.
Very good and does its job great. The only problem is that should one controller be discharged the charge lead can’t be plugged into the battery. Otherwise we’ll worth the money, and tidy controllers. Keeps Mum happy.
great piece of equipment I would say a must have for gaming, I’ve got 2 remotes n always on charge, I have the charger plugged directly into a usb plug into the mains rather than Xbox as got my rocksmith cable wireless do da n Kinect using all the usb ports on it. bought in 2010 and still get long life out the battery packs that come with the charger n still only takes 1-2 hrs max to charge. so quality product well worth the money and long lasting.
I bought this item as a stocking filler. Great value for money works better than previously bought official charger. Cradle holds chargers securely in slot. No problems, arrived on time and packaged well.
I bought this product as a Christmas gift for my boyfriend as I was sick of the amount of batteries he would go through when playing on the xbox! It took him no time to set up & charge the controller’s. The lights on the front that show you when the controllers are fully charged are really helpful. The rechargeable batteries seem to hold there chage for quite a long time (as I dont play on the xbox I cant say how long exactly). Would definitely recommend!
The lights at the front which indicate when the unit is properly in place and fully charged is handy as it can be turned off when it has finished charging. I don’t know how long charge holds as the controllers have never run out of charge using these lithium batteries.
A must have for any X box fan (unless you love buying batteries of course)
The dock feels horribly cheap but looks fine when actually set up, the lights on the front are horribly bright and I have dimmed them using permanent marker so they don’t blind me as I’m playing.
The batteries however unfortunately do NOT have the USB port in the back so you can’t play while your controller is charging unlike the dock-less packs they sold. I still have the old packs, so not an issue, but if you don’t have these, I’d just suggest rotating your batteries if you’re playing alone. To be honest this has only been an issue when I no-lifed GTA5 on it’s release for around 9 hours solid, twice in 2 days!! The battery life for all venom batteries is astounding!!!
Well worth it for the money, save the environment and money and throw away your awful AA battery packs.
This is a no-brainer if you have venom batteries for your xbox controllers this is pretty handy, just plug it in and place your remotes to charge.
Just please be aware the charging lights are pretty bright (specially the green fully-charged light) if you intend to sleep with this charger in your room you might end up feeling like Splinter Cell infiltrating, wearing is night vision goggles, a enemy base which is your room.
This charger arrived promptly and sensibly packaged. We have been using it for 5 days so far, and thus far it has been perfect. Easy to use; we put the whole hand-set in the cradle, and being able to charge two at once is super. Really glad we found this product, and it will save a fortune in batteries if it keeps up the good work.
We have two 360,s so using normal battery would cost a fortune. Only had them a week but both work perfectly so far. We had an older venom kit before (couple of years old) but that started getting a bit intermittent when charging one of the batteries but it had saved us money over new battery costs easily.
I have had several official Xbox chargers over the years and there has always been a problem or quirk when charging them. For example my last one would say it was fully charged as soon as the Xbox was turned off, so could only be charged while playing. The two previous ones had different issues. This, has none.
I have it plugged in to my Xbox through USB (it comes with no mains adaptor which would have been nice) and it charges even when the Xbox is turned off (through my Slim at least) so it is just a case of putting the controller back in the dock when I go to bed. It only takes a few hours to charge up and of course if the battery runs out there is always the spare.
The only downside is that the packs don’t charge properly unless there is some sort of pressure on them. So if you don’t have two controllers to put them in, you will have to put a weight of some kind on the spare battery to charge it. I do have a spare Xbox controller for it so it isn’t a problem. When I was testing it out though it didn’t need much pressure. I rested my PS3 controller on top of it and that did the trick. So not really a problem, just a slight inconvenience.
So overall a fantastic product and one I couldn’t recommend highly enough if like me, you hit the Xbox pretty hard most days.
These little beauties have kept my Xbox controllers alive in many a gun fight. On the odd occasion during an all day session when they have dried up, the second battery is there ready and charged and waiting to bail its mate out, allowing you to get back to the action. A MUST BUY FOR X-BOX FANS
Seems so simple and doesn’t look like a fancy bit of kit but it really is. This has had almost daily use over the last six months and it’s still going strong and working like a charm. Great price really, for such a useful accessory. With the dual docking stations there’s always a charged controller ready to go and we wonder how we managed before we had one!
When i buy something like this, I expect it to do a job, without fuss and without any great drama. And this item does that brilliantly, but also the battery life is pretty long, its really obvious when charging is complete, and the charging doesn’t take long at all. A really good useful product, and would recommend to anyone.
This was product has saved me so much money in Xbox batteries. Just plug the USB into one of the USB ports in the back of the Xbox and off it goes. It looks good enough to have out on show and I haven’t found any issues in the 6 months I’ve had it.
Highly recommended.
One of the best products I’ve ever bought for my Xbox 360. I was always looking for a docking station, but they were always so expensive. Not only with this product do you get the very cool and stylish docking station, but you also get 2 battery packs which is great!
Great buy, no need to think twice!
I bought this for my son as he was constantly going through batteries. The idea of the cradle is great as it stops the remotes from getting damaged and also charges them. The two lights on the front are great for indicating when their charged, but a little bright at night, but we just cover them with a cloth.
I looked at quite a few alternatives before buying this charging cradle. In the end, I bought it based on price and the number of decent ratings.
The cradle is as you see in the pics and seems well made. It comes with a cable to connect to the XBox and a couple of rechargeable battery packs for the controllers. The controllers fit the cradle well and it’s easy to fit and remove them. They rest easily in the slots and a couple of spring loaded connectors do the job of charging.
How long do the batteries last? After a few hours (3-4) of use between charges, they still seem to be fine. I haven’t timed this as I rarely play on the XBox for more than a couple of hours without a break anyway. Storing the controllers on on the cradle when not in use means they’re always charged, so this isn’t an issue for me.
I’m very happy with this product and would recommend it over some of the ridiculously priced alternatives. There’s really no need to buy well known brand names or pay over the odds.
Our venom “charge via cable” charger was dying as a result of the cat chewing on the cables so we needed a replacement. This one’s top notch. Looks the part, dropping the controllers in is a breeze and the lights clearly show if it’s charging or charged.
If I had a fault it’s that the lights on the front are a bit *too* bright!
The battery packs are identical in size to those of a “normal” xbox controller and fit such perfectly. The controllers fit the cradle well. My only criticism is that the design of the cradle means that our non-standard xbox controller won’t fit although the battery pack works flawlessly with it.
Was looking to buy a Microsoft charging station for my batteries but found this which was much cheaper! Perfect for what I wanted, can charge the two batteries (supplied) at the same time and gives you a charging and charged indicator light. Now I use one controller while the other is charging/charged as back up, and when the one in use is running low i swap the batteries over. Whats more, if plugged into the back of your Xbox via the USB connector, it will even charge when the Xbox is off! Love it!
I very rarely do reviews on amazon (although I should do more) but I thought now would be a great time to start.
I needed a new battery pack for one of my controllers, after a lot of looking the best price for one was around 6. Then I stumbled upon this.
When you take into consideration that the whole package is only 11 and the technology and ease of use it has it is an absolute bargain!
The package came on time and after opening it, it was a case of simply plugging it in. From there the xbox controllers sit snuggly in the unit. Its safe to say that if you were to put just the battery pack directly into the cradle it is slightly more difficult. But if you have two controllers you shouldn’t really need to do this. Quality is of a standard you would expect for the price and other reviews detailing the lights been so bright are correct, although a minor flaw again which can be easily resolved by applying common sense.
The whole cradle looks neat and tidy and it has a long enough cable to connect to which ever device you like. Also bare in mind it is a USB connection but if, like me and every other person in the world, you have a phone then you can use the plug off that charger to plug directly into a mains socket. Another thing to note although again not really significant is that the battery packs do weigh slightly more than the standard ones but are of a high quality and fit well within the controllers.The actual charging time is quick and charges do last quite a significant amount of time so no worries there.
Overall I couldn’t be happier with this product and can’t recommend it highly enough.When you take into account that included are two battery packs and charging cradle, there simply is no better alternative to charging your controllers.
My son is really pleased with this charger, he much prefers using it to charging the controllers on the xbox. However, it only charges two of our three controllers, our third which was bought seperately does not have a metal ‘plate’ at the back to make contact with the charger so just make sure what your controllers are like before purchasing. I’m sure all controllers that come with console will be suitable, it’s just the ones bought seperatly you have to watch out for.
I love this. At the price I got it for there’s nothing bad to be said. The batteries charge well and last for ages. OK, so the build is lightweight plastic, but it just sits by your xbox (not ontop of it – if you don’t want overheating problems). The light on the front are rather unnecessarily over bright, but I’m sure there are solutions to that.
Get it!!!
I bought this because my controller batteries either died or the wire was messed up and this has been amazing. I just charge my controllers over night by placing them on it and I get at least 5-8 hours gameplay out of it and can easily be charged when you need to pop to the loo instead of stumbling over wires and getting those horrible knots. Great product over all and would recommend to anyone who wants to get rid of those horrible wire chargers.
Red light when the battery is charging..
Green light when the battery is charged!
Further to this you can just place the battery on it’s own into the cradle and it will charge 🙂 you probably wont need to though! – save for the first charge.
It’s not a micro USB cable on the back which connects to the dock, it’s a slightly bigger connection which i’ve been looking for as my portable HDD cable had gone (HDD is a few years old) HAPPY DAYS! 😀 – this of course has no bearing on YOUR purchase but worth a mention.. Leave it connected to your XBOX for 24/7×365 charging due to the XBOX power adaptor running in trickle mode.
with this my controllers never run out of battery unless i forget to put them on the dock. this is a very good controller charger and it also comes with the battery packs so i always have the standard AA battery packs that came with the xbox and the extra contoller i bought.the only problem with it is sometimes the USB cable falls out from the back dock because the connection is a bit loose-although it could be just mine.overall very good product and well worth the money!
Product is very cheap, was delivered a day early and works as expected. Its nice to always have a full battery on the xbox.
If you put the base stand too close to the tv like me its a bit distracting.
Also the light stays green all the time no auto cut off so its always using a little power, i unplug it when they are full.
This charger is a very smart bit of kit, it looks great next to the other stuff under my telly. The charger itself is a gloss black finish, whereas the battery packs are matte black, to match the new controllers.
Batteries seem to hold their charge for a good duration, and they charge pretty quickly.
The only minor points I have are:
1) The power cut-off function doesn’t seem to work, at least not as I thought it would. I assumed the lights would go off when it’s done charging, whereas they actually just stay green forever. Although I’m not sure if any power is going into the batteries in this mode or not, maybe ‘auto-off’ just means the LEDs remain on while power to the batteries is cut off.
2) The red/green LEDs are maybe a little TOO bright; I found myself turning the charger sideways so as not to get blinded! Although this does illuminate the entire cupboard when its dark!
These points are not enough to detract from the 5 Star rating though, all in all very good product.
The unit is small and tidy enough to sit fairly unobtrusively next to the XBOX, telly, etc. and has paid for itself time and time again.
The batteries don’t last as long as some rechargables but that’s easily outweighed by the ease of use.
Out of all the XBOX accessories we have this is the one that’s used most of all without really knowing it.
After years of forking out for new batterys every few weeks, I finally got around to ordering some rechargable ones, and at this price I couldn’t really go wrong. Postage was prompt and the box in which the cradel came was suprisingly good quality- both strong and sturdy. After a 2 minute set-up my controllers were charging and in two hours they were ready to go. Quick and simple.
The only down sides that I can see, and the reason I dropped it a star was the build quality. At 15, I never expected it to be brilliant, but it does the job even if it does feel a bit flimsy and plasticy. After all, it is the controllers I throw against the wall, not the cradle! The other minor issue is the fact that even though the controllers read as fully charged for hours, if I remove them from the cradle for even a second, without turning them on, when they are replaced the cradle spends 10 more minuets charging them. This doesn’t change the fact that the controllers have always been fully charged every time I have wanted to use them, but it does make it hard to completely know if the controllers do indeed need charging.
Overall, a good product at a great price and does everything that you need it to do!
As this is not a game and its not a particularly thrilling past time putting your controller on charge!!! I have given only 1 star, as a product though I gave it 4 stars.
I bought this not long after Christmas after endless searching through drawers to find batteries and eventually robbing them out of the camera or TV remote’s (which annoyed the wife Ha Ha) It does what its supposed to do charge up your 2 wireless controllers! what more can I say?? it does do a good job in keeping your controllers tidy, I don’t keep it on charge all the time so just rest the controller on the charging pins so they are not in contact. The retailer was as you would expect from Amazon, the goods arrived on time and in full working order.
Would I recommend to a friend? Yes would I buy another item? Yes
This is a nice device. Seems well made, looks good and functional. It attaches via a USB connection to your XBox (the front ones work fine) from where it’ll charge the two included batteries in a couple of hours, even if your XBox isn’t powered on (but is plugged in obviously!). The controllers dock into it very nicely, even with additional plastic ‘skins’ on them, which mine have. The dock provides an LED for each controller which displays red if charging and green when charged.
So overall, very good.
However! These are Venoms own batteries and charge via metal connectors built into the bottom of them – this works well, but obviously if you’ve got more than 2 controllers then you’re going to have to buy additional venom batteries to go with them. For this reason, if I were buying again, i’d go for the desktop charger from ‘that catalogue shop’ which does the same good job of desktop charging, but doesn’t need special batteries and is actually a bit cheaper (at the moment).
This product is an excellent piece of kit, allows controllers to charge even with the Xbox switched off unlike the Microsoft charging leads. The battery when charged lasts hours! The only problem we have found with this cradle is it does not have a manual or even any instructions on the back, meaning when the lights flash unusually, you don’t know what it means! Generally red constant light means charging & green constant light charged as you would imagine but it does tend to occassionally flash red lights!