As I'm coming from a Rift CV1 with Touch controllers, battery issues are new for me. I read somewhere you need 1.5v batteries for the WMR controllers to work realiable? Can someone send me the name of good known bateries, preferably rechargeable? I'm from The Netherlands if that helps, so no Amazon US links please :)
Posted Aug 21, 2020, 7:16 AM UTC
Wuh? Why has it got battery issues? I've been using eneloops for my rift CV1 touch controllers and have a G2 on preorder, they must have really bad design if even with 2 batteries, which run out fast, they also MUST be 1.5v! That's some 80's shit going on there :/
The controllers unfortunately don't play nice with standard 1.2V batteries.
From what I get it is one or the other: With normal rechargeable batteries you battery life will be crap (if you get battery life at all). With special 1.5V rechargeable batteries you get fine battery life, but you need the special batteries.
Practically you could add an voltage converter to the equation then 1.2 NIMH are also fine. It is really just the voltage level.
I don't know why, but I've been told WMR controllers use a full set of batteries like every other day and you should take them out when you're not using them to prevent mid-game popups about low batteries, so yeah.
I have a 1st gen wmr headset and controllers currently. My controllers usually last around 20 (once I got up to 35) hours of use before complaining about low battery using standard 1.5 volt alkaline batteries
Thanks for the info! That seems very workable.
It’s got no „battery issues“ it’s simply designed for 1.5V batteries. Having 2 batteries and how long they last hasn’t much to do with that whatsoever. Higher Voltage means higher brightness of the lights which makes tracking more reliable which isn’t just true for WMR but also oculus controllers, tv remotes, gamepads and so forth. For most of them 1.2V is sufficient but 1.5V will increase reliability and range.
Having 2 batteries and how long they last hasn’t much to do with that whatsoever.
Two batteries = two times the energy. And yeah, not being able to work with normal rechargeable batteries is what most would consider an issue, although you can call it a feature of course...
Shouldve maybe made that more clear, but I meant it has very little to do with them being 1.5V.
Is the USB C cable of the quest an issue because most people still have only USB A ports on their PC?
What has little to do with them being 1.5V? Designing something which cannot operate with normal rechargeable batteries because you saved on a $0.30 component is simply a design flaw.
Comparing that to a Quest USB port is nonsensical.
I know about electronics, they probably didn't design the power circuits particularly well, regulation or are just burning up power as a brute force method to allow them to be 'tracked properly' Either way it is a design flaw/downside, especially as it's 2x batteries for each (adding to weight) AND because they specifically must be/should be 1.5 rechargeables which are not 'the norm' among common, well respected/top of the range rechargables like the panasonic eneloops. (though am sure they make 1.5v ones too)
Of course it's an 'issue', a bad design issue.
Touch controllers with ONE 1.2v battery lasts for WEEKS. I mean really long. Now you have to change TWO (1.5 specific) every day cos the power management is so bad? And you say that's not an issue?
The tracking LED's power output may or may not be higher than the Touch controllers, esp due to inside out tracking on the HMD itself vs rift's external sensors, but again... that's just bad design.
It won't stop me enjoying the G2 has the HMD itself is great I'm sure.
Now you have to change TWO (1.5 specific) every day
Says who?
According to Tyriel Wood they last a week.
I can't defend Microsoft's decision not to improve the circuitry for the new controllers, however typically first generation WMR controllers last for about 8-9 hours of active use with 1.5v batteries.
This is about half as long as the Touch controllers, which seem to average about 20 hours of active use.
It's certainly not great, but most people aren't playing 8 hours of VR a day and according to the developer event yesterday the power consumption of the new controller has been improved, though we have no idea by how much.
i was using standard energizer/duracel batteries you can buy in any groccery shop and they worked just fine with my O+ contollers. Tbh i have no clue how many volts they are
I’m using these Rechargeables and this Charger for my Quest controllers and they work great. Note that you need a compatible charger, otherwise it’ll destroy your batteries. If these aren’t available in the Netherlands, just look for NiZn batteries and charger :) though thanks to the EU you should just be able to order them from Germany too
Thanks!
I've owned the both Hp headsets, Lenovo and both Samsungs, all worked fine on standard 1.2V rechargeable batteries, is this one different?
Well people said that WMR controllers worked better on 1.5v batteries, so....
They said they were looking into it, you should wait before buying new batteries.
They said the controllers use exactly the same power supply as the older WMR controllers, so they will have exactly the same issues.
For u/Arfman2, I bought Jugee batteries from Aliexpress. Normally not a big fan of Aliexpress for things like batteries, but every similar battery you can buy at Amazon.nl/de or other local stores are anyway no-name Chinese batteries, so then might as well buy it at the source.
No, Voodooimaxx told me that they were looking into it with Microsoft, and Peter repeated yesterday during the Microsoft live event that it could be addressed.
Voodoomaxx also said nothing was changed in the power supply of those controllers. And that "it could be addressed" is something which is a bit late for a hardware issue of a headset which will need to go in mass production really soon.
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Off topic, but have you seen any mention of if the controllers have any vibration feedback? That feature I take for granted, thought about it, and can't find any information on if the G2 controllers have any Haptic feedback at all...
The current WMR controllers have haptics, so I would be really surprised and definitely dissapointed if the new ones wouldn't have it. (Hell that might even be a dealbreaker for me, but it should just include haptics).
It’s a deal breaker for me and the reason I’m concerned. I can’t find a single video or preview with real working controllers or where it is mentioned.
Voodooimax said in the AMA that they are rotary haptic actuators.
Oh, I am an idiot. I actually loaded that video and skipped part that part! Sounds like it indeed has feedback. If it's on part with any Oculus CV1 or S, I will be fine with it. Same goes for tracking with me...
Got Jugee batteries as well, bought a set of 8. Now waiting for G2 to release.
Thanks!
I need some new batteries either way, so might as well buy the good ones :)
I ordered this ones:
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/33021031636.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.328a6c371lKEUQ
But it was before I knew they were looking into a possible solution to have 1.2V batteries working properly.