fabricated backlash
Member
Dear god the salt is real.
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JoyCon CHARGING grip seems to give JoyCons a longer range
- Thread starter CDX
- Start date
Dear god the salt is real.
Maintenance
Member
Joycon boost mode: enabled.
What salt? He is right, stop misusing the word.
What salt? He is right, stop misusing the word.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
Not unless the battery is magic and only weighs 9 grams.
hint: It isn't magic. No battery.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
well so that one is canceled thanks
Skanderani
Member
How does the grip charge if there is no battery, does it only charge when plugged in like a wired controller?
boiled goose
good with gravy
I thought this had a battery and doubled your joycon battery life.
This means it might be outputting a stronger signal.
Edit: guess I heard wrong. Definitely saw people saying that in previous. Just a USB port? nintendo should have just had the same shit in the Switch box. This is unnecessarily confusing. How expensive can a USB port be????
This means it might be outputting a stronger signal.
Edit: guess I heard wrong. Definitely saw people saying that in previous. Just a USB port? nintendo should have just had the same shit in the Switch box. This is unnecessarily confusing. How expensive can a USB port be????
Yes.
fabricated backlash
Member
The increased range is actually pretty easy to explain. Unlike the split configuration, no hands are blocking the BT signal.
I bet the normal grip will have the same effect.
No, there is no battery.
Sorcerer Supreme
Member
biggest scam of the century
Marty Chinn
Member
Man, there are going to be a lot of confused charging grip owners next week....
I think your argument is invalid not matter what when you refer to people as "braindead fanboys".
That is correct. All this "nintendo wanting you to pay for a charging grip" feels a bit contrived, seeing as it is a piece of plastic just like the regular grip if it is not plugged in. It would make sense (considering there is communication between the grip and the joycons as evidenced by the lights on the grip) that in that communication the bluetooth signals are amplified. In that case, all that is needed is a firmware update that tells the joycons to go into high power mode when separated as well.
Enkidu made this great post earlier, maybe it is of use to this thread too?
Since I have nothing better to do I tried to look into any FCC filings for the Joy-Cons. If HAC-015 (https://fccid.io/BKEHAC015) is the left Joy-Con, which seems likely, then we already have some information about the maximum output power.
This suggests the output power is around 3-4 dBm, which is in-line with what you would expect from a Bluetooth Class2 device (maximum output power of 4dBm). While Bluetooth technically allows up to 20dBm output power for Class1 devices, most chips today will allow up to 10dBm output power. This is informally known as Class1.5 and is common since FCC does not require SAR testing for any devices with an output power below 10dBm.
The good news is then that Nintendo will most likely be able to increase the output power by around 6dB, which should in theory give around twice the current range. This will also not negatively affect the Battery life significantly, as the chip will dynamically change the output power as required. So the additional power will only be used when it otherwise would lose the connection.
The bad news is that the Joy-Cons will have to be re-certified, which means that Nintendo will likely not be able to have this done as a day-one firmware update unless they already caught this issue ahead of time and are in the process of fixing it already. (They will also likely have to measure SAR as well even if they are below the 10dBm limit, since Canada recently lowered the limit where you do not have to measure SAR to 6dBm).
The thing that surprises me however is that 4dBm should absolutely be enough power for the type of environments shown in the video above. Deliberately covering the entire device with both hands will probably always be a problem. The antenna is probably quite narrowband so doing that will likely detune it as well causing even more losses than what you get anyway from the absorption in the hands. But simply placing the device behind the back and breaking line-of-sight? When you are indoors and only a few meters away from the main console, this should absolutely not be a problem. So unless there is something really strange going on with their antennas (like if they didn't account for the detuning that might happen when you hold the device normally) then it might actually be possible that the real Joy-Cons are using lower power than they are certified for, either due to a firmware bug or because someone though it would increase battery life (it really shouldn't). In that case, it would be fairly simple to issue a new firmware to increase the power.
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
This means nintendo's solution likely has to do with boosting power to the joycons which will reduce battery life.
Labombadog
Member
Odd that it doesn't have a built in battery at all. Kinda backwards if you ask me.
Some people on here were so damn adamant that it was in the package and that it had a battery because the presenters on the Treehouse stream said so. All the evidence said otherwise though.
The sad thing is, they may think the green indicator lights on the Grip are battery levels.
Haha, it would be funny if this is the explanation.
No. I'm pretty sure other places like Kotoku, Polygon etc, have said the normal grip doesn't do anything, for range or syncing issues.
Part of the reason I made this thread was to find out if any other places specifically tested the charging grip.
What would change the lower power mode in that grip? It's still disconnected. I think this is a false assumption.
The outlets haven't tested it for maximum range, just for the syncing issues.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
inc me i literally just canceled my charging grip thanks to this thread,
i didn't believe it at first so i checked this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMSPphd5Wrc&t=60s
0:50
what a cluster fuck this thing is.. a piece of plastic with a port .. hahaha HAHAHAHHAHA
Im pretty sure the joycons have the problem in the normal grip, it was mentioned in the other thread.
Glad to save you $30.
The problem and what they are testing in the video in the OP (maximum range) are two different things.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
God damn.
Dark Cloud
Member
Shouldn't Nintendo tell us already?
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Not the rechargeable version. The one in the box is just a piece of plastic.
Skanderani
Member
Honestly that's not cool, they should all be charging grips
Higher max range = stronger signal => not as easy to block with hands
Well at least thats my understanding of this^^
Hey, I have been arguing that point since this all came to light.
Labombadog
Member
Exactly. Total bullshit.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
yeah i was so wrong on this one.. i really thought it included a battery
frankie_baby
Member
The battery life on the joycons is great anyway? Why would they bother including an axtra battery in the grip?
Since the battery life is so great, why even sell a Charging Grip?
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
so it holds a better battery life and people dont pay 30 bucks for a piece of plastic with a port.
listen i am going to get the switch day 1 but this shit wont fly with me.
The joycons could simply change power mode upon detecting that they were clamped to 'something', but then I guess we would see the same behavior in the non-charging grip. That being said, I haven't actually heard any reports of the interference when using the non-charging grip -- maybe someone can link me?
Pretty sure the maximum range and syncing issue are the same thing anyways; to my understanding, there is only one variable that affects range and ability to penetrate when it comes to wireless technology (besides interference/frequency itself) and that is the signal strength.
Is it stronger signal though? Maybe there is less interference.
This thread.... What better proof do you need that Nintendo still has a messaging problem? It's ridiculous how they have both knowingly and unknowingly muddied the waters enough that misplaced hope has been allowed to filled in the blanks. There should have been a complete overview anything months ago.
Marty Chinn
Member
Ya, it would have made way more sense of the default grip was the charging grip, and the charging grip was the same but an additional battery in the middle that could charge the joycons wirelessly or just be extra battery life. That's how I thought it was when they first announced it.
Unfortunately, I'm part of the problem since I'm still getting one because of the way I plan to have my setup.
For people who will never remove Switch from the dock