One issue that faces Oculus Quest users which are wanting a long gaming session, is the restrictions of the battery allowing up to two hours of constant gameplay time. For this reason we see people looking at power banks to connect their Head Mounted Display (HMD) too. The team at KIWI design have now released a battery pack for the Oculus Quest, so, we have put it through some testing – what did we think?
Whats in the box?
Inside of the box you will get a 5000 mAh power bank which is wrapped in Polyurethane leather casing with a Velcro strap, a fixing strap and a USB-C charging cable.
Connecting the pack to the HMD
Connecting the battery pack to your HMD is straight forward, this is done using the Velcro on the casing. All you need to do is put the Velcro around the bottom run on the back of the head-strap and connect it to the casing of the power bank. The USB-C cable that is provided by KIWI design is short and this can be ran from the power bank to the USB-C charging port on the side of quest, once it is in place you can use the fixing strap to fix it the head-strap.
However, you might find if you use a comfort kit to give the head-strap more padding for comfort, where the Velcro will still wrap around it does not give the solid wrap it does without one on.
Benefit
The product comes with two benefits, of course the main benefit is that extended battery life for those who want the longer session without needing to take the break to charge the HMD, we will cover more about this in the testing section below.
The second benefit is the power bank is it works as a counter-weight, making the HMD feel a lot more comfortable with a better weight distribution overall. Meaning those longer sessions are not as uncomfortable on the bridge of your nose.
Testing the product
For the main testing we played a number games to run down the battery and test how long it lasted per full charge of the power bank, how well it evened out the weight and if it stayed connected to the HMD securely. In order to do this we played a mix of game types and ran three full charges down. The games was chose to do this on In Death, Synth Riders 360+ mode and Tetris Effect – so we could get a mix of standing, seated and an active game.
Firstly let’s talk about the increased battery life using the power bank. We found if we were playing games constantly it allowed for two to three hours extra game time – increasing it to around five hours of gameplay. As we also make YouTube content and capture our footage via Chromecast we ran a full drain including casting as well as gameplay, and this added an extra two hours of game time – increasing it to around three and half hours. Meaning we got a decent increase in both scenarios and ones that should cover most peoples gaming sessions in VR.
When it came to the counter-weight element the power bank did a great job on relieving some of the pressure on the bridge of your nose making it a lot more comfortable over the longer play sessions – in all tested games and playing styles.
With the comfort kit we use, the Velcro connected about quarter of the way down the power bank, at first we thought this could have caused an issue when spinning around in Synth Riders, but, to our surprise it stayed securely connected – never mind how much we were moving and spinning. However, one concern we have with the Velcro strap is although it’s good quality, after a number of removals to charge the power bank, this could start to ware and it might not be great for the more active games after a while.
review using oculus quest
For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a sample provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a press sample does not affect my judgement of the product.
Review Overview
We have used and tested a large number of KIWI design Quest products, and as with the others the Battery Pack has not let us down. From full charge, it is going to more than double the gameplay time you have in the Quest – which is great for those hardcore VR gamers. Also, with it working as a counter-weight those longer sessions and even short sessions will be more comfortable, as it distributes the weight perfectly. If you are looking for a power bank for those extended hours, the KIWI design offering is worth thinking about.
