I’ve always had a problem with wires. As a teenager, I had my TV on a chest of drawers, with consoles set up inside, the cables running unseen out the back out of unit, and the nest of controller wires safely contained within the drawers. We’re in a world of wireless controllers now but – Xbox aside, with Microsoft’s continuing love of AA batteries – that still leaves us with those untidy charging cables. Honestly, you have no idea how much they bother me.
There are solutions though, such as this Switch doohickey, the awkwardly titled DUAL CHARGE:BASE S from Snakebyte. There are plenty of Switch charging, docking and tidying options available, in a range of ingeniously complicated arrangements to accommodate all possible combinations of Switch controllers and accessories. This is a reasonably attractive (read: nondescript), compact unit for a Switch, two Joy-Con pairs, a Pro controller, and ten game cases.
There’s not a lot to it: it’s a slab of black plastic that sits under your existing Switch dock, connected to the dock by USB for power. An unobtrusive little USB-C nub plugs into your Pro controller, to allow it to charge when popped upside down on the base, and Joy-Cons just slide into the charging points. Three indicators on the front light up red for charging and green for charged. Helpful, yes, but I do wish they would turn off – they stand out, when I’d far rather they blend in. One other thing: why nowhere to tidy away the detachable Joy-Con controller straps?
It’s a bit expensive at £29.99, when similar units can be found for under twenty quid, but a buying decision on this sort of thing is likely to be down to what will fit best in the space you have for it. And this happens to fit ideally in the cabinet under my TV, does a very acceptable job of tidying up my Switch bits, and makes the Joy-Cons more accessible than leaving them attached to the Switch itself. I just need to fashion something to cover up the lights on it.
Review sample provided by Snakebyte.