Linkin Park
Banned
If you think this is bad then you guys should go play a Wii U with the gamepad's horrible battery life. I think Ninteneo came out with a battery pack for that though so maybe Sony will do the same thing.
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Dualshock 4: LED's effect on battery life test
- Thread starter Steel
- Start date
Boss Man
Member
Someone tweet yosp...
There's no reason this should be on by default, especially if I don't even own the PS4 camera. Set it to off unless the camera is plugged in, and let individual games decide what to do from there.
The game industry is bad about forcing stupid shit on people because of a 'vision' or whatever from the creator. Why the hell is this thing on when it's not doing anything but draining the battery life? Because someone thought it would look cool?
The battery life is a noticeable step down in convenience from the DS3.
There's no reason this should be on by default, especially if I don't even own the PS4 camera. Set it to off unless the camera is plugged in, and let individual games decide what to do from there.
The game industry is bad about forcing stupid shit on people because of a 'vision' or whatever from the creator. Why the hell is this thing on when it's not doing anything but draining the battery life? Because someone thought it would look cool?
The battery life is a noticeable step down in convenience from the DS3.
My Wii U gamepad (7-8 hrs) gets better life than my DS4 (6-7 hrs).
I wish I were kidding.
xn0
Member
Oh no you are right on the 13 hours but I read the question as "how long did it take the LED controller to drain 1 bar" therefore 2/3 bars left. Which took ~4.5 hours and you stated it in your OP. Steel you can also update the OP that the LED disabled controller died sometime last night. It was at 1 bar at just past midnight last night, and when I checked on it at 10am it was dead. So the LED disabled controller lasted somewhere between 26 and 36 hours of idle operation. I must admit though yesterday I setup my xbox one and it powered off my PS4 and also the controller. Therefore I had to restart the system and relink the controller for the test. My test is not scientific in anyway but the controller was off for a maximum of 1 minute after I discovered I had accidentally pulled the power for the PS4.
The actual time that the LED enabed DS4 lasted was between 13 and 15 hours. It was down to one bar, I left for 2 hours came back to check on it and it was dead.
Gamers are so impatient sometimes. The console just launched, give the developers a chance to experiment with the light bar before calling it a useless feature. If you have the camera, you can see the potential in this.
Although I agree we should be able to turn it off if we want to. I'm sure that's coming up.
Although I agree we should be able to turn it off if we want to. I'm sure that's coming up.
weekend_warrior
Banned
I didn't read the whole thread, so maybe this was answered, but wouldn't the easiest way to test this be to test the amperage draw on the battery with the LEDS on and then with them off?
xn0
Member
Didn't even think of doing this. I just did the reading.
With LED on .08A (stable)
With LED off . 03A to .04A (variable)
The DS4 has a 1000mAh Li-ion battery therefore the idle battery life would be calculated as:
LED enabled: (1000/80) = 12.5 hours
LED disabled: (1000/40) to (1000/30) = 25 to 33.3 hours
xn0
Member
Yea I usually just plug mine into the laptop that is inevitably beside me.
Heh..
Honestly though... If you're playing your PS4 for more than 8 hours at one time you should rethink things. Just play for say 4-5 hours each night and plug it in and charge when not playing. Simple fix.
I honestly don't think the proper way of dealing with people saying the battery doesn't last long enough is to essentially say "get a life".
But how will we know when they have put a better battery inside?
This, there's no point to having it on at all.
Stillmatic
Member
Wow, so with LED's off and controller idle it's estimated at 2-3 times longer, that's pretty significant. I wonder if that scale would translate to normal use.
Im sorry, but the calculation seem off.
1000/80 = 12.5 h
1000/35 (average of 30 and 40) = 28.6 h
These seem to match more closely with your actual test.
But more importantly, i doubt these will even matter when rumble and mic and more power hungry components are draining the battery. Any idea how much rumble draws for a comparison? (if it was anything from 5-10 times these values then the LED's can be practically ignored as they wont make much of a difference)
Betta Lines
Member
The DS4 has a cluster of massively brighter LEDs specifically designed to be tracked easily by a camera. It's a totally different thing.
are they actually brighter or is one just behind clear plastic and one is behind black plastic?
Al Gore's Thermostat
Banned
10 feet of infinite black love
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=8642&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=8642&seq=1&format=2
It's a black micro-USB cable
Betta Lines
Member
Without seeing any specs or indeed seeing one in person, I can still tell you they are actually brighter.
It's Move technology. I have a DS3 and a Move controller. The glowing sphere is annoying, far more so than the tiny LEDs on the DS3. The Move would have been more severely criticised for its brightness had it not been an 'alternative' controller. I suspect it's one of the reasons why the Wii Remote was designed in the reverse (a camera in the controller searching for a light source, rather than a light source on the controller for a camera to watch).
The fact the Move was about big motion gaming meant that it wasn't such a big deal. However, this same glow is now being applied to the primary gamepad, where in many cases you'd not be doing any motion at all, and might want to play in total darkness. They've made it more subtle by not being a sphere glowing in your face, but it's still going to be very apparent in a dark room, and will still reflect off TVs. It's a problem.
xn0
Member
Batteries can be overcharged beyond their labeled rating. For example in my test the DS4 battery is rated at 3.65V however I was getting 3.8+V draw from the battery for a good portion of the first part of my test. This could account for the extended life beyond the battery's labeled voltage and mAh.
I believe to calculate battery life you actually need to convert amp draw into mAh. I used the following calculator for my results:
http://ncalculators.com/electrical/battery-life-calculator.htm
Of course I could be wrong, I'm a bit out of my depth here.
Beer Monkey
Member
Jesus, I'm never going to get that fucking camera and now my batteries are going to wear out like 2.5x faster.
Fix this shit, Sony. Don't force us to use the LED, it's moronic.
Fix this shit, Sony. Don't force us to use the LED, it's moronic.
pretty done
Member
I did and he ignored me. Please understand.
CouldBeWorse
Member
Detective GAF is my favorite GAF.
I, too, wish I could just turn the damn thing off. Even for a game that uses it like Killzone, I can't actually see it so what's the point?
I, too, wish I could just turn the damn thing off. Even for a game that uses it like Killzone, I can't actually see it so what's the point?
Thats weird, if you divide mAh by mAh you get a dimensionless value. But dividing mAh by mA should give you hours as a result. Anyways I found a different site that gives the result i aquired.
http://www.referencedesigner.com/cal/cal_54.php
Idk, just seems off.
xn0
Member
Thanks guys. You're right I found another site and the calculator I referenced was off. I figured there was more to it other than dividing.
DigitalDevilSummoner
zero cognitive reasoning abilities
I was thinking the same thing. Now I really don't see any reason they are not giving us the option to turn it off.
xn0
Member
This is exactly why I did the test. My only 2 annoyances with the PS4 is the light reflecting in my tv when immersed in a game and the battery life of the DS4. I'd like to turn the light off just because the reflection really bothers me, but couple that with the fact that the amperage draw is literally double that and shortens the battery life makes a good case for giving us an option to turn it off in the OS, which should be easy since game devs have the ability to turn off the LED with the DS4 API's.
IISANDERII
Member
Turn of?? If you mean turn off then no need to blow a gasket, you already can do that without modifying anything.
xn0
Member
It is really simple to disable the LED and save battery life but it is not practical because you actually disable the microUSB on the DS4 as well (since the LED and USB are on the same board) and therefore disable the ability to charge the DS4.
To easily disable the LED just take the 4 screws out of the DS4 pop it open and pull this cable:
SmoothRunningGun
Member
This really needs to be addressed by Sony. I believe rumble can be turned off so this should have an option as well.
I have to admit when I am wrong. And in this case I was very wrong. I loved the idea of this LED on the DS4. It just looks sharp. I still do love the look. But I was of the idea that the LED wouldn't consume that much power. The DS4 lasts only 2/3 a as long as my DS3. That's just a rough estimate of course but it really is a pain. I have kids over here all the time playing the PS4, they run em down, and don't plug them in. This was never a problem on my PS3. Those things really lasted a long time. Maybe as much as half again as long. I think I am just going to break down and buy a longer USB cord. As far as the LED being so bright it reflects off the screen and messes up my games? That's still busted, unless of course you sit directly in front of your TV at the same height. Mines on the wall like 40 inches up. No worries for me.
Tal Shiar Agent
Member
I like having the light bar, but I think that Sony should modify it so that its brightness is reduced by half (or even more) when the PS Camera is not active. The whole point of the lightbar was to interact with the Camera, so when it isn't in use the controller shouldn't be attempting to communicate with it.
If anything the light should be much dimmer and change colors based on battery status. Blue = full charge, Yellow = half charge, flashing Red = almost empty.
If anything the light should be much dimmer and change colors based on battery status. Blue = full charge, Yellow = half charge, flashing Red = almost empty.
Fredrik
Member
Can't see it in that pic, would it be as simple to remove the LED from the circuit board and keep the microUSB connection? (for someone with enough soldering experience)It is really simple to disable the LED and save battery life but it is not practical because you actually disable the microUSB on the DS4 as well (since the LED and USB are on the same board) and therefore disable the ability to charge the DS4.
To easily disable the LED just take the 4 screws out of the DS4 pop it open and pull this cable:
Ninja Scooter
Member
Now that PS4 can charge controllers in standby mode, I have zero problems with battery life. I rarely play for more than a few hours at a time. When 3rd parties finally get around to releasing controller docks next month it will become even less of an issue for me.
Nope, in another thread I complained about the battery life and suggested that Sony should allow us to turn the LED light off. Another poster told me that the light barely affected the battery life at all. Turns out I was right.
No need for the snark.
NekoFever
Member
The last time I found a controller design decision as annoying as the light bar was when my VMU started beeping every time its batteries died. That led (lolololol) me to do some surgery and cut the wire to the speaker, and I'll do the same with my DS4 to disable the LEDs if we don't get an option to turn it off within a few months.