Usually here at UploadVR we’d like to test every element of a VR headset before releasing a definitive review. Tracking, display, performance, you name it, we’ll cover it. But, when it came to testing the Oculus Quest 2, there was one area I couldn’t stamp a final verdict on – the controller battery life.
Why? Because the damn things wouldn’t die.
In fact, if I had waited until the Quest 2 controller’s batteries had run flat, I would have just published the review today because, finally, as I was booting up Swords of Gurrah, they seemed to surrender the very last few morsels of power after a long, defiant struggle. Mournfully, I laid them down and watched the blinking light begin to fade as if they had just snapped their fingers with the Infinity Gauntlet and then, finally, stopped. No, you’re crying.
Oculus Quest 2 Controller Battery Life Is Insane
Consider this; I haven’t had the Quest 2 since October, I’ve had it since late August, and the two AA batteries included in the box have lasted all this time. Now I know some people that got the headset a month ago have already swung and sabered their way through the included batteries, but I’ve been using my headset at least a few hours a week in addition to the significant amount of time I spent during the review period and I’ve still seen it survive this long. When Facebook told me it had greatly expanded the battery life of the controllers at a pre-brief in September, I had no idea the company meant by this much.
It’s especially impressive considering I seem to go through the same battery power in my original Quest’s Touch controllers in about a tenth of the time and that the two AA batteries that power each of the new HP Reverb G2’s batteries have now run flat after two weeks of testing. Even my Xbox One controller, which I got maybe two months ago, can’t keep up.
Now we’ll have to see how they hold up with the rechargeable batteries I’ve been using for the past year. I’m anticipating seeing a difference but still hoping they can hold out for a fair few weeks before I need to make another switch.
