MyCharge has released a backup battery power bank designed specifically for the Nintendo Switch. It's an awesome looking little device but is it worth your hard earned money? Let's take a look!
Bottom Line: It's super cool that the MyCharge Powergame Switch charger Integrates with the physical design of the Switch but a few flimsy feeling parts and a small capacity keep it from being a home run.
The Good
- Nice size
- Clips on to the back of your Switch
- Not too heavy
The Bad
- Clip and stand feel a bit on the flimsy side.
- Small charge capacity compared to other banks.
- Slow charge speed.
What's in the box?!
The box containing the myCharge Powergame is pretty spartan. There actually isn't a whole lot to go over. There is the charger itself, the vacuformed plastic tray it comes in, a small single sheet of paper that acts as a sort of ersatz quickstart guide, and a small USB cable for charging your charger
What are the specs?
The myCharge Powergame is a nice little size. At about five inches square, about one inch of thickness, and about a half of a pound in weight it's pretty dainty. This means that it won't be terribly noticeable while clipped to the back of your Switch or hanging out in the bottom of your bag.
Unfortunately, this daintiness walks hand in hand with a less than mindblowing capacity. The Powergame offers 7000mAh of power for your Switch. When compared to other USB-C charging solutions I have tried out, 7000mAh really isn't all that much.
I wanna use it for my Switch. Is it any good!
The myCharge Powergame is designed to be clipped onto the back of the Switch. You just slide it up into the charging port and a little clip on the top ensures it's secured to your console. Unfortunately, I have two minor gripes with said clip. For one, the clip doesn't feel all that robust. I have not broken it but it does feel like a distinct possibility. In addition, the clip partially covers the exhaust vents on the top of your Switch.
A handy addition to the charger is that it comes with a kickstand because, when the charger is affixed to your Switch, you will not have access to the built-in one. Unfortunately, the kickstand also suffers from the same flimsy feeling as the clip.
As far as the actual charging function of the Powergame, I ran it through its paces a few different ways and felt it left a little to be desired. With my Switch completely drained it took over three hours to bring it back to a full charge. In that process, it left the Powergame with a battery that was more than half drained. This translated to about one and a half charges needed to get back to full.
It does a little better job when used strictly as a battery extender, however. The advertisment claims that the myCharge will extend your battery life by about ten hours. With both the Switch and the myCharge at full battery, I alternated between Zelda and Hulu and saw an extension of a little less than eight hours.
There is also an additional port on the myCharge so you can charge it while you are playing your Switch. This seems a bit on the redundant side but is a nice option. I heard you like to charge your charger while you charge your Switch!
Verdict
I do think it's neat that you can clip the myCharge Powergame directly to your Switch. However, that is not quite enough to make me love this charger. Whenever I am traveling with my Switch I carry a bag that is more than capable of housing a battery pack that doesn't offer the clip-on feature but does offer nearly four times the power capacity.
If you really want something that integrates with your Switch so you don't have to carry around anything else, then the myCharge Powergame is a great way to go. However, if you want a device that is going to offer you a lot of power while you are on the move, you might want to look elsewhere.
