Penguin 4X Quad Charge Station
The first “Quad” Wii charge station we’ll be reviewing is brought to you by a company called Penguin. It goes by the name of Penguin 4X Quad Charge Station. It’s arguably the sexiest (hehe, can you even use that term when talking about gaming consoles?) of the bunch, but of course it also has its flaws.
The 4X Quad Charge Station has a circular base and a very low profile design (as you can see by the photo) – it likely takes up the least amount of floor/desk/counter space of any of the quad Wii charge stations. The base comes with some useful rubber feet which keep it from sliding off any slipery surfaces. The Wiimotes are placed in a cross-shaped pattern on top of the unit, which is slanted upwards. The unit has bright blue LEDs underneath each Wiimote slot which at first seem “trendy” and “neat” but after seeing them in low light, they become quite distracting.
The 4X Quad Charge Station package contains four battery packs and covers that snap nicely into the compartment of the Wiimotes. The new covers contain a sync button which is definitely useful for times when the Wiimotes lose their connection to the Wii unit itself. Some users have complained that the new battery packs and covers are lighter than the stock parts, so when playing game such as Wii Tennis, they noticed a different gameplay experience, but we weren’t bothered by this.
Pros:
- Can charge up to 4 Wiimotes concurrently!
- Sleek design
- 4 green lights to track charge progress
- Cheapest of the quad Wii charge stations
Cons:
- Intense blue lights can be distracting
- Battery covers don’t have rubber grip, like the Nyko’s
- Only 13 hours use from the fully charged Li-ion batteries, compared to 25 hours with the Nyko’s NiMH
Summary:
The Penguin 4X Quad Charge Station does what it’s meant to do – keep Wiimotes fully charged at all times. Unfortunately its flaws don’t make it a recommended buy. There’s other units out there that have longer lasting rechargeable batteries, better battery cover grips, and less distracting lights. However, if your primary concern is cost, the Penguin can’t be beat compared to other quad Wii charge stations.
Wii Charge Station gives it a rating of…
(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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Nyko Quad Charge Station
Nyko is leading the pack in the dual charge station category, so we’re very interested to see how they’ll fare with their quad charge station.
The Nyko Quad Charge Station (which retails for $40) comes with four NiMH rechargeable battery packs and four rubber Wiimote battery covers. The installation is simple – you remove the existing disposable batteries from each Wii remote, and snap in the new chargeable battery packs. Then you have a choice of 4 different colors for your battery covers. We like that Nyko thought of this, as some people prefer to continually use the same remote (either because it’s lucky or they’re simply germaphobes 
)
After placing the Wii controllers in the charging dock, we waited. About 1.5 hours later they were fully charged. That’s definitely quick compared to some other units we’ve reviewed! And there’s also small blue LEDs on the front of the docking station which indicate when the remotes are fully charged by changing to green.
Unfortunately we were only able to get about 5 hours of continuous play from a single charge which is far less than we got from the Nyko Dual Charge Station. That’s quite disappointing!
On a more positive note, the grip on the new battery covers is a big improvement over the stock grip, so that prevents you from even needing the protective sleeves.
Pros:
- Can charge up to 4 Wiimotes concurrently!
- Unique colors for each battery cover
- Quick charging time
- LED lights on station to indicate charging progress
Cons:
- Dissappointing battery life
Summary:
The Nyko Quad Charge Station has many positives but one glaring negative that prevents us from recommending it as a purchase. Only 5 hours of continuous play from a single charge. That’s just plain weak! Sorry Nyko.
Therefore, Wii Charge Station gives it a rating of…
(1 votes, average: 2.00 out of 5)
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