Nintendo 3DS Battery Life Claims vs. 8 Mobile Game Consoles

Amidst the bustle of CES last Friday, Nintendo of Japan posted a spec page for the Nintendo 3DS, which launches in its home country on February 26. The Japanese website quickly sent gamers into a tizzy due to Nintendo’s projected battery life, which indicates that the 3DS will only last 3-5 hours before sucking its battery dry and demanding a recharge. It’s a grim figure, especially for Nintendo hardware--the company’s portables have had solid battery life dating all the way back to the original Game Boy. The DS launched with a battery that lasted a respectable 10 hours, while further revisions to the system introduced multiple brightness levels and battery life upwards of 15 hours.

And don’t go pointing fingers at 3D--the parallax barrier technology utilized in the 3DS doesn’t render two images like other 3D formats. Contrary to what you may have heard, turning off 3D won’t halve the work the 3DS has to do. 3D isn’t the battery-draining gremlin in this scenario.

StreetPass, which will stay connected to Wi-Fi even when the system is in sleep mode. Inspired by the Tag Mode in Dragon Quest IX, StreetPass will allow your 3DS to download data from other nearby systems whether it’s awake or asleep. Instead of being a game-specific feature, StreetPass is built right into the system. This always-on wireless attitude could definitely impact the system’s battery life.

Assuming Nintendo’s 3DS battery measurements are done with the Wi-Fi turned on, this is good news! There’s a Wi-Fi toggle right on the side of the system, so you can always turn wireless off and reap the benefits. Nintendo also has a reputation for low-balling its battery life estimates. With the early data we have--and no explicit mention of brightness or wireless settings--the 3DS battery may not be quite as terrible as it sounds.

Platform	Battery capacity	Claimed battery life	Charge time
Nintendo 3DS	1300 mAh	3DS games: 3-5 hours. DS games: 5-8 hours	3.5 hours
Nintendo DSi XL	1050 mAh	4-5 hours (highest), 9-11 hours (medium), 13-17 hours (lowest)	2-3 hours
Nintendo DSi	840 mAh	3-4 hours (highest), 6-9 hours (medium), 9-14 hours (lowest)	2-3 hours
Nintendo DS Lite	1000 mAh	5-8 hours (high brightness), 15-19 hours (low brightness)	3 hours
Nintendo DS Fat	850 mAh	10 hours	4 hours
Game Boy Advance SP	700 mAh	7-10 hours (high brightness)	3 hours
PSP Go	930 mAh	3-6 hours	2-3 hours
PSP 3000	1200 mAh	4-6 hours	3 hours
iPhone 4	1420 mAh	10 hours video time. Less for Infinity Blade.	2-3 hours

Even if we remain cautiously optimistic, there’s no denying that battery life is going to come in lower than the lofty numbers above for the DS Lite. The 3DS is a more powerful system, and Nintendo President Satoru Iwata himself admitted that they expect the 3DS to be charged more often than its previous systems. That’s why Nintendo is including a dock for the system. Once the system has launched in Japan, we’ll know exactly how long the system lasts on its 1300 mAh battery. And if we’re lucky, Nintendo will clarify the handheld’s specs before February 26.