We recently received Nyko’s new Black Charge Station here at MAP. and I was the lucky one with the chance to review it. While I have used the official quick charge kit at friends’ houses, I only use the play and charge kit myself, so I was very excited to get my hands on one of these chargers. Nyko’s Charge Station ships with two black batteries instead of just one like the quick charge kit from Microsoft. Before I even opened the package, this alone added value to the unit.

Two of these black beauties come with the Charge Station

The setup of this unit is a breeze, simply plug it in and it’s ready to go. The unit is designed to lie flat, but it can be used vertically if it better fits your needs. When batteries are plugged in, the light will go red to signal that it’s charging. As it gets closer to a full charge, the light goes green, and when it’s done charging, the light shuts off completely. The charger allows you to charge both batteries at the same time or just one at a time. It also charges up the official rechargeable batteries as well.

The only real flaw I have found on this charger is that the battery life is slightly less then the official batteries. This is truly a minor issue, and is hardly noticeable unless you are spending your time watching the clock. The batteries charge up very fast, taking around two hours for one battery or four hours for both at the same time.

You can never go wrong with black

Overall, this accessory is a great product and addition to the new black elite controllers. It performs as intended and it looks good doing it. For the same price as the official charger, you get an extra battery and it comes in black. I recommend this product to everyone that is in the market for a charging unit for their 360.