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Are Wii Controllers Rechargeable? (What Batteries Do They Use?)

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If you are considering purchasing a Wii, you probably want to know about their controllers and how long the batteries in them last. Maybe you heard that they are rechargeable, but you are not sure.

The Wii is one of the most popular Nintendo gaming consoles ever created as it was unlike anything ever created in its time period. 

Unlike all the other gaming consoles the Nintendo Wii uses motion sensors in the controllers to determine how you would move in the game. The controllers instead of being more of a rectangular shape are long and slender.

These controllers had built-in sensors that know if they were being played with an attachment or if they were being used individually. These sensors also could tell the character in the game if you were moving left, right, up, down, forwards, or backwards. 

With all these extra sensors in the Wii controller many people feared that the batteries in the Wii controller would need to be replaced quite often. This fear is actually true as regular batteries and a Wii controller only last around 30 hours. Because regular batteries do not last very long on the Wii controller, many people want to know if the controllers themselves are rechargeable. 

Although the Nintendo Wii controllers are not rechargeable themselves and do not come with rechargeable batteries, you can purchase aftermarket rechargeable batteries or battery packs for the Nintendo Wii remotes. This is what many people choose to do rather than buying a bunch of batteries for the remotes themselves.

Once you purchase the rechargeable batteries or battery packs, you can then recharge them whenever the battery gets low. This not only saves people money so they do not have to buy batteries, but it also makes changing the batteries fast. 

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How do I know what battery level my Wii Remote is at?

If you have ever been playing the Wii you know that knowing what battery level your remote is that is very important. The last thing you want is to be in the middle of an important game or match with your friends when your remote batteries die and you lose the game because of it.

Most people will normally charge their batteries when they get down to 1/4 or lower. if they keep track of how many hours they have been used, they can also estimate that they will last for 30 hours and then change out the batteries every 25 hours or so. 

To learn what battery level your Wii remote is at you will need to press the home button on the Wii remote that is synced with the gaming console. From there you will need to select The Wii remote settings option. From here you will see the battery level of all the connected remotes displayed along the bottom of the screen.

Four bars indicates a full charge with one bar being the lowest charge readable. 

If you’re worried about your battery running out of power in the middle of a game it is always a good idea to change the batteries or charge the battery pack when they get down to one bar. 

What batteries are used for the Wii remote?

When you first purchased a Wii you may be wondering what batteries you will need to purchase for your Wii remote. Although AA is the most common for most gaming controllers there are a lot of remotes that are beginning to use AAA as well.

With the Wii coming from Japan many people may think that it may take a special battery pack to run the Wii remotes as well, but this is not true. 

The batteries that are used in the Wii remote are AA batteries. Alkaline batteries are the recommended batteries to be used inside that Wii remote.

Because the remotes are not the same size as most remote controllers from other gaming systems, you only are required to use two AA batteries and not four. 

How long do rechargeable batteries take to recharge for the Wii remote?

If you have purchased rechargeable AA batteries and they are 100% dead it will normally take around six hours for them to fully charge. If you spend the extra money though and purchase rechargeable batteries with a fast charger the batteries can be fully recharged in around an hour. 

If you are planning on purchasing rechargeable batteries many people will spend the extra money to buy the fast charger or purchase multiple battery sets so they can constantly play without having to worry about running out of batteries. 

If you do purchase rechargeable batteries though and they are not fully charged when you want to play you can use them not fully charged or you may simply grab a pair of non-rechargeable batteries to put in your controller while the rechargeable ones finish charging. 

How long do rechargeable batteries last?

Although we know that rechargeable batteries only last a few hours when being used in a remote control, many people want to know the full lifetime of a rechargeable battery and if it is worth the cost to purchase them over regular batteries. 

Because most people can go to their local dollar store and pick up a package of AA batteries for a dollar many people begin to think if it is cost-effective to purchase the reusable batteries instead of just buying cheap ones. This is why many people want to know how long the batteries last in their remote control as well as their life expectancy. 

A rechargeable battery if taken care of will be able to last 5 to 7 years. When you think about how many times in those years you will be recharging the batteries instead of purchasing them it makes perfect sense to buy reusable rechargeable batteries rather than non-rechargeable ones. 

Although it can seem like a pain to take the batteries out and to charge them over and over and over again it is better than having to purchase new batteries every single time the controller dies. 

Conclusion

Now that you know that the Wii controllers themselves are not rechargeable you will definitely want to consider purchasing rechargeable batteries or battery packs. This will make you save money in the long run as well as convenience as you will not have to constantly go out and buy new batteries.  

No one wants to be in the middle of a game and their controller dies and realizes that they do not have any more batteries and are forced to go to the store. Instead it is far more convenient to simply take the two batteries out of your controller, put them on the charger and take the two from the charger and put them into your controller.

By cycling your batteries like this you will never have to worry about buying batteries or not being able to play again because of a dead controller. 

No matter which rechargeable batteries you choose, you will be happy that you no longer have to purchase regular batteries ever again for your controller.