Ever Wondered How Your 3DS Battery Life Compares To the Original Game Boy?

I watched this ages ago... Game Boy Color forever!

Wow, the 3DS did pretty bad. Not quite as bad as PSP, but still pretty bad.

Wanna know the secret to extending the 3DS battery life? SCREEN BRIGHTNESS. Seriously, it's not that hard.

@Grodus My guess is the 3DS had 3D and anything else that would drain its power considerably. I wouldn't really call this an apples to apples comparison seeing as the 3D is the primary drain on the system and as the article points out the Colour had no backlit screen.

Better gameplay, worser gametime.

I should report the user above me for using worser. jk

Dang, the DSi only lasted 4 hours? Felt like I was banging out 6 or 7 when I had extended play time with Pokemon.

I don't know what 3ds they were using, but I could never dream of 3 hours and 55 minutes of battery life before I bought the nyko powerpack.
Also, I'd have liked to see where the gameboy pocket fit into this list. It was always my favorite of the gameboy line!

edit: also, I'm surprised that the ds lite didn't last longer.

Interesting video. Lots of variables but it is interesting to see the GBC win, still a favourite of mine

Blah, it's worth it. No black lit was neck pain for hours.

Wow! The Game Boy Micro is cooler than i thought. I have one laying around here somewhere with Minish Cap in its cartridge slot. lol. Great system!

Wow, those 35 hours went by really fast playing Pokemon back in the day. XD

"Game Boy Color: 35 hours, 45 minutes"
Is this why I've never had to change the batteries on mine?

i don't necessarily think this is a TRUE and Valid test for battery life because as you play the processor is experienceing all sorts of work loads... especially the PSP with it's moving parts if you were actually playing a game and it constantly had to load levels and characters it would have died much sooner than it did... just playing the title screen doesn't really put these consoles to the real world tests that more accurately depict an average gaming session. ...

I assume they put the modern systems on the most "stressful" settings.

Bet the 3d was on on the 3ds and screen was max bright

@Maggots: I agree w/ you, to a certain degree. Actually, I pretty much do agree w/ you.

@MysteryPatron: Correct! I set mine to 2, & it lasts a while longer. Turning off Street/Spot-Pass makes the battery even longer still.

There are too many variables too make this an accurate test. Brightness settings, volume, battery ware. Handhelds have a lot more going on than the gamboy color does. Still shows how the settings can make a difference though.

The gap between the original gameboy and the GBC though, wow it must really be power efficient to last twice as long with half the battery power even with the interference.

Still inclined to believe the GBC life since I've had the same set of batteries my wavebird for years and only changed them 2-3 times in 10+ years. Compare that to current controllers and accessories that might not last 2-3 days on one charge.

you have to remember the original gameboy used 4 AA batteries. You could also buy an AC adapter/portable battery pack seperatly that cost $30 I remember this lasting about 5 hours. If AA batteries were used in todays portables maybe they could get 30 plus hours.

I've never counted the battery life on my 3ds but I usually keep it on 1 or 2 brightness and 3d all the way up and it lasts me the whole day.

Gameboy Color FTW! I did 100% of Wario Land and Wario Land II on one set of batteries that I bought at the dollar store. There were 8 in the pack. No need for rechargeable batteries when you do the math and find out that it would cost more. 2 dollars will last me the whole year.

The only way my 3DS dies early is usually by going on Internet modes.

Original Gameboy is still my fav.

My Gameboy advance backlit could go for a couple days of usage and only then would it go into the red. I played it fairly heavily too. Maybe I just did something right somehow charging it, but it definitely lasted me longer than a little under 5 hours...

@Popyman Amen!

Where can I get the Mugen battery pack? The battery on my 3DS goes down too fast for my liking.

3 hours and 55 minutes? Glad I got the Nyko battery pack.

I just found my Game Boy Color. It is nice.

Standard batteries or rechargeable battery packs are totally different; this is like comparing apples and pears and makes no sense at all.

I always played my portable consoles with rechargeable batteries personally (I mean rechargeable AA ones). The longevity then really depends on the brand of the batteries (the mAh value inscribed on them).

At the moment I have a third party battery installed in my 3DS and actually measured how long it lasted me just yesterday. On full charge, with Wi-Fi and 3D turned off 95% of the time, on full screen brightness, I could get 17 hours and 30 minutes of Tales of the Abyss gameplay. I wasn't too happy with the original battery, but I have no complaints at the moment ^^, even if it makes my console a bit more bulky.

How does a yellow DS Lite get 8 more minutes than a silver one?

WOW what non-sense! Comparing in-bulit batteries with AA batteries witch there are so many producers of that at the moment and they don't even say what AA where using and if they are produced by new kind of developers or they that producer existed always in the lifetime of all this console.
Plus why they didn't add the PSVita? Why they didin't make two categories, one with only in build batteries and one with AA or AAA or D or whatever batteries that are all from one producer and same model?

This is so flawed.

Who needs chargers when you've got Batteries.

incredible handheld collection.
great the see the 3ds has some backup batteries to power it up. i have the nyko, but i didnt hear about the mugen yet. maybe ill switch. 4 hours or so of difference really is a big deal.

MMOOOOREEE PPOOOWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRR!
Go GBC!

I need an XL...eventually...

I messed up my 3ds even more because Im such a dummy when it comes to technology. Mine doesnt even last 3hrs.

Ahh those days with my gbc playing pokemon and trying to quickly finish a battle because i saw the little red light starting to dim...and of course most the time it died before the battle finished and i missed the save...had to re do 1-2hrs of gameplay again ^.^ ahh the good old days had no worries!!!

The Game Boy Color is boss! I still have my atomic purple GBC. It is one of the only handheld systems that is actually EASIER to view AND has an improved graphical display under direct sunlight! Modern handheld systems can't handle direct sunlight!

Down with the vampires! We need the Belmonts back!

Game Boy Color: 35 hours, 45 minutes

Now that's more like it.