Wii U Game Pad Battery Life is 3-5 Hours (No USB Charging, AC Cord Only)

[sethnintendo]

BlkPaladin said:

Cobretti2 said:

The only reason msot batteries take this long to charge is the simple fact of ensuring the battery lasts a long time. What people do not realise is fast charge ruins batteries quicker. Ontop of that the higher the current to charge the more heat is produced whilst charging. Meaning your other components would probably melt around the battery if you fast charged lol.

Yeah rechargeable batteries work by either stipping an elctron off the negitve pole/plate and returning it to the chemical solution, each time some of the chemical refuses to accept the electron which affects the life of the battery, fast charging ruins more of the chemical thus greatly shortening the batteries life. The choice of the size of the battery was done by Nintendo and it would seem to be a chooice of the wieght of the controller and the durablity of the battery. Its a balencing act.

Link to how rechargable batteries work.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/battery5.htm

I was just going to jump in on this.  You are pretty much 100% correct.  I had a 15 min battery recharger from Energizer when I first starting getting rechargable batteries.  While it does recharge fast it takes away from the battery life.  Right now I have charger that takes a few hours.