Protek Play and Charge Kit for Xbox One Review

Anyone who sees themselves as a bit of a full-on gamer will no doubt have already experienced the delights of a Play and Charge Kit. We’ve been running a couple on our 360’s for many a year and so when it was time to pull the trigger on an Xbox One purchase, the official Xbox One Play and Charge Kit was right at the top of our purchase list.

But now there’s a new kid on the block….the Protek Play and Charge Kit, and you know what? It’s less than half the price and does the exact same job as it’s expensive official counterpart.

Protek are going deep into the world of Xbox One accessories with a line of products that are affordable to all gamers. The Play and Charge Kit is most definitely that.

At time of writing, the kit in question can be picked up direct from Amazon for a measly £6.99 as opposed to a whopping £19 for the official Microsoft version. You may think that you get what you pay for and in many cases this is the right attitude to take but from our testing, the Protek version is as good as, and in one way, better than the more expensive variety.

A quick slide of your Xbox One’s controller battery cover is all you need before putting the Protek rechargeable battery pack in it’s place. It’s a tight fit (in fact, it’s a VERY tight fit) but therefore isn’t something that looks like its going to become loose after any length of time (something we used to experience after many hours of gaming on the 360). After that, attach the long Protek cable, throw the USB end into your console and get gaming.

The battery seems to fully charge in around 3 hours and once maxed out, gives a good 5-7 hours of hardcore gaming time before you even need to consider plugging the cable back in again. That’s more than enough time for the average evening session with your mates on Xbox Live and even if you decide to take in an all-nighter, the convenience of the cable means you won’t need to be rushing down to the late night garage for more batteries.

What I do very much like about the Protek Play and Charge Kit over the official one is that the cable that comes in the pack is a tad longer than standard. My optimum gaming position is just slightly out of reach of the Microsoft version but the extra foot or so on the Protek line lets me sit back in comfort, charging away as I game. The cable comes in at around 10ft long so unless you’re sitting far far away playing on a big old 60in screen, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem.

The only downside I see to this latest Xbox One accessory is that the cable for the battery plugs into the bottom of the battery pack, making it slightly worrying when leaving the controller on a flat surface. You can plug it in to the usual spot on the controller if you’re happy to run with a wired pad, but for the full charging benefit, the plug must go into the bottom. You always know when the battery is being beefed up thanks to a handy small LED on the bottom of the pack.

For the price, I’d never even bother looking at anything other than the Protek Play and Charge Kit. It’s well made, seems like it’ll last a long time and is less than half the price of the official version. Only time will tell how long the battery keeps its power for in the long run but even if you need to purchase a new one after a year or so, the price makes that more than doable.

What’s in the box?:

• 1 x Protek 800mah rechargeable battery
• 1 x Protek 3m charge cable