Topic: Charging Switch while flying: USB, Outlets or Power banks?

I'm going from Malaysia to Canada next year. Flight from Taiwan after layover to Canada would be roughly 15 hours, half of which I'll spend sleeping and IFE. The rest is kicking ass in the Switch. Plane would be a 777. Just wanna ask:

Does an onboard AC outlets & USB ports have enough juice to charge the Switch?

About power banks, is 20100mah enough to charge the switch for nearly 15 hours, especially the Anker?

Thanks.

@ZedSwitch

I'd expect a 20100mah to charge a Switch just shy of 3 times. So, depending on what you're playing, and assuming you're fully charged to begin with, you're looking at a comfortable 4 Switch charges to play with. So that'll roughly translate into 12 hours of gaming on something like Zelda, a good 14 hours on something like Mario Odyssey, and you'll be pushing 16 hours on something like Hollow Knight - assuming your Switch is relatively new, the brightness is on the lower end, and sound is around halfway with headphones... If you've had it over a year (nearly 2 years in my case) then I'd expect a good 20%-30% to be shaved off those times due to the battery not being as good.

So... unless you're playing Indies all flight, that means you are indeed a little short of your 15 hour target.

The Switch will charge from the USB on the plane, I'm pretty confident on that. As will your battery pack. However, I wouldn't expect it to charge particularly fast... and potentially not fast enough to fill up with juice whilst playing... but certainly enough to significantly slow the battery drain.

My recommendation would be to play with the battery pack attached for the first 7 or 8 hours. That'll keep your Switch on near enough 100% throughout, and will leave your battery pack on around 50%. Then detach the battery pack and charge it via the USB. I reckon you'll get another 25% into the battery before your Switch dips into the red. Then re-connect and repeat. I think you'll get there relatively easily.

Worst case scenario... take a 90 minute break half way through and watch a film whilst you get some more juice into your battery pack!

I might play Diablo onboard, so thanks for the heads up.

If you've had it over a year (nearly 2 years in my case) then I'd expect a good 20%-30% to be shaved off those times due to the battery not being as good.

So... unless you're playing Indies all flight, that means you are indeed a little short of your 15 hour target.

That's good news. I might also play Dead Cells or any other indie RPGs onboard, as well as Puyo Puyo Tetris.

The Switch will charge from the USB on the plane, I'm pretty confident on that. As will your battery pack. However, I wouldn't expect it to charge particularly fast... and potentially not fast enough to fill up with juice whilst playing... but certainly enough to significantly slow the battery drain.

Yeah, there are tons of debates about that, most of them based on the passengers' phones they're charging. Some report phones still draining power while the ⚡symbol is on. I have the same concern about the Switch when plugged to a 777 economy seat port, which is why I asked.

My recommendation would be to play with the battery pack attached for the first 7 or 8 hours. That'll keep your Switch on near enough 100% throughout, and will leave your battery pack on around 50%. Then detach the battery pack and charge it via the USB. I reckon you'll get another 25% into the battery before your Switch dips into the red. Then re-connect and repeat. I think you'll get there relatively easily.

Thanks for the tip!

Worst case scenario... take a 90 minute break half way through and watch a film whilst you get some more juice into your battery pack!

If they play Marvel movies on the IFE, that won't be a problem. Really looking forward to binging some Avengers movies.

@ZedSwitch Have a good flight dude. I'm actually quite envious of you having so much time to devote to the Switch...! Oh well, I guess it's nearly Christmas break at least...!

An outlet would be your best bet, I think. Depending on the USB port, it may not have enough juice to allow you to play your Switch while charging, and it may charge slowly even with the Switch in sleep mode. A power bank would be similar to using a USB port.

In this instant I go with onboard AC outlet that will give more power to charge and play on the Switch. Any battery packs will not last long enough as though will also need to be charged as well. So check with the flight reservation and ask them about onboard AC outlets and what it can and can't do that will do more to prepare your trips.

@ZedSwitch

Use on board outlets, but if you don't have them, just go with some officialy Nintendo sanctioned power banks.

@ZedSwitch It will depend on the plane I think. I am seeing people saying that they can charge from the plane, but the last time I flew from the US to Japan and back, the USB outlet on my plane was worthless for the Switch. But unless you think you will be playing for the entire 15 hours, the 10-12 you'll have with the power bank is probably plenty.

I fly to Taiwan every 6 weeks. Switch is a life saver (plus the movies). Just plug it into the power outlet at your seat. I have done it dozens and dozens of times. You will be fine.

Remember these plugs are meant to power a laptop. It has more than enough juice to keep the Switch charged.

I mainly fly EVA or Delta. Not sure if your plane will have them, but I would be very very surprised if they didn't. Who are you flying?

@mack73 Hey I'm flying EVA too! Though I'm concerned since SeatGuru mentioned that economy seats on a 777-300ER (77N/77W) won't have an AC outlet on every seat.

Which is why I asked whether a 20100mAh is enough for a 15 hour flight.

@zedswitch You should be fine. I typically ride in the premium economy or premium laurel, so its been a while since I've been in regular economy. But I'm 99% sure each seat has one.

EVA even lists it on their website for the 777-300ER. Scroll to the bottom: http://www.evaair.com/en-us/flying-with-eva/inflight-entertai...

Honestly, you won't be playing for 15 hours. Trust me. Maybe you'll do 5 hours or so. You'll be pretty exhausted