As the Xbox Elite series of controllers have come to the fore, the need to worry about controller charge has slowly diminished; a quick fire of the USB-C cable is usually more than enough to keep gamers gaming.
But for those without an Elite, those who still rely on battery packs or, god forbid, a set of Duracells, keeping charge in those controllers is an everyday worry. It’s why we highly advise anyone and everyone to invest in a charging station, one much like Gioteck’s DUO Charging Stand.
There are many different options in the charger market and it’s hard to nail down any specific dock from any specific third party manufacturer. If we were pushed it would probably be PDP’s Ultra Slim Charge System that would be up there as a recommendation, but this DUO Charging Stand from Gioteck certainly has enough about it to be of consideration.
There’s much included in the DUO Charging Stand box, and no matter whether you are stuck with an older Xbox One controller, making the most of the slight amends found in the newer Xbox Series X|S pad, or flit between the two, Gioteck have got your back.Â
It’s the charging stand itself that is obviously the big interest and this is pretty much a big piece of black plastic that just so happens to be extremely lightweight (in fact, it weighs a mere 155 grams).
Capable of taking two Xbox controllers astride of it, cutouts and two small battery connectors make up the most of what is on offer. There’s not a single brand shout on it, with just the front end detailed with a hexagonal design. Hidden away on that front are Gioteck logo-shaped LEDs that helpfully signify charging status: orange for charging, white for fully charged. Strangely, that white comes about whenever a charging spot is empty too; we’d much prefer no light in that instance.
A couple of USB-C ports on the rear end allow for this to be plugged into your Xbox console via the included cable, leaving the second USB-C port to be of use elsewhere, to charge another controller or the like.
Really, that’s about all there is to the Gioteck DUO Charging Stand for Xbox, but one strange little feature is the ability to switch out that front plate for one of a different colour. Out of the box, the black Charging Stand comes equipped with a white front plate. Honestly, I’m all for colour blending but it looks awful. In fact, even before we’d started using this Charging Stand and well before we stuck the battery packs into a controller, we ripped off that white plate and changed it for the black version which is included. It looks a million times better for it.
We’re not particularly keen on how the plate snaps into place either. Four plastic prongs inside hold it in place, and whilst this is all good if you’re not going to switch it up – and we can’t imagine why you would – if you do, we’d hazard a guess that at least one of those prongs will break before too long. What’s wrong with sticking some light magnets on there instead, Gioteck?
Of course, your personal preference may dictate that a change of front plate cover is a requirement, and if we were using the PlayStation version with its multitude of fancy colours to match controllers, we may think differently. But white front on black unit? It doesn’t work for us, even with white controllers slapped on top.
But hey, let’s not get bogged down in the visuals and get on with what makes this a decent charging option to have. And in order to make the most of this slab of black plastic, you’ll be needing the rest of the stuff that is handily included in the box.
There are no less than six battery covers to clip onto your controller, each one holding the batteries themselves in place. Why six? Well, there are a couple of older styled Xbox One controller covers (with the wider tabs), plus four that are more fitting with the Series pads; two each of the black and white versions.
Also included are a couple of battery packs too, because well, without those the DUO Charging Stand will be of next to no use.
The battery packs and the covers themselves fit the Xbox controllers really well, tight enough so as you need not worry about them ever falling off. It’s fairly simple to switch them in and out too, much less of a struggle than those we’ve tested from some other manufacturers. You’ll rarely need to remove them though – once in place, you are very much sorted.
The battery and the cover combined looks pretty neat on the back of the controller, however the white covers are slightly off in colour, out of the box with a pink tinge to them. They look absolutely fine and white enough when not on the controller, but stick these on a white Series X|S pad and you’ll immediately notice the difference in tone. It’s a little disappointing if we’re honest.
They come with a small viewing window through to the battery connection itself. This is essential for sticking the controllers on the stand, and ensures that lining up the battery window with the three pronged connectors on the Charging Stand itself is easy.
Sticking with the battery packs themselves and these are some 800mAh in size, with Gioteck stating you’ll get up to ten hours of playtime through use. We’re not sure that figure could ever be met if we’re honest and whilst we don’t run controllers with rubber bands, or stick stopwatches on power times, we feel that in reality you may get around seven or eight from a charge. Obviously it all depends on a few factors, most notably if a headset is connected; that’s an utter battery killer.
Thankfully, slamming the controller down on the DUO Charging Stand sees full charge reached in around two hours. When you consider this is a double controller unit, and two battery packs are included, there should never really be a time when you find yourself without power.
On the whole we’ve been pretty impressed with the Gioteck DUO Charging Stand. It’s hard to get too excited about a slab of black plastic, but it does the job intended of it and thanks to a plethora of battery covers, will be of use no matter whether you use an older, or newer, Xbox controller.
The need for the coloured interchangeable faceplate though? Not for us.
Huge thanks go out to Gioteck for providing us with their DUO Charging Stand for Xbox for review. Expect to pay around £19.99 if you’re looking to pick one up from Gioteck for yourself.
