Using one of the Xbox Series S/X controllers? If you’re anything like me, you run through batteries quickly. This is where the Numskull Xbox Series X and Series S Fast Charge Twin Charging Dock is useful. It not only includes a handy charger, but also two batteries. For brevity, I’ll be referring to it as the Numskull XBox Charging Dock.
Unlimited Power
As the ‘Twin Charging Dock’ implies, you can attach and charge two XBox Series X controllers at the same time. It comes with a convenient feature that tells you whether the controller is charging by way of an LED indicator.
The Numskull XBox Charging Dock comes with the dock itself and a 2-meter USB-C to USB-A cable but does not include a socket. It can charge from the console itself or another appropriately rated USB charging point.
Convenience
This is the type of dock where you can just easily drop the XBox Series X controller into it. You do need to be careful that it makes contact, but on the few occasions it didn’t, I just had to tap it into place.
It looks quite nice while doing this, so it may be appreciated by people with nicely presented consoles. I particularly like the little LED skull on the front, along with the LED indicators.
Set up was easy. It was just a case of removing it from the box, connecting the cable, putting the included battery into the controller, and then dropping the controller into the dock. It’s really simple!
The batteries themselves are 600mAH rechargeable battery packs and last quite a lot longer than the AA batteries I was using. The battery packs themselves have a USB-C port, so they can be charged separately via a cable if desired. It helpfully has a little LED on the battery pack itself that lights up when this is done. As someone who has taken controllers and a laptop when staying at hotels before, I thought this quite a nice addition.
Shining Bright
The most noteworthy feature of the Numskull XBox Charging Dock is that it has two LED indicators. When they’re charging, they’re red. When fully charged it stops charging and they turn green.
The only minor negative of this on the first appearance is that it’s difficult to see the uppermost controller’s charging LED when charging two controllers. It’s fine from above, but when looking from the front, the lower controller blocks the view. It would’ve been better if both LEDs were at the front, much like their PlayStation 5 version. Beyond that, a faster charge would’ve been appreciated.
That said, I did come across another issue. On my first use of the charger, I had both controllers in the dock, both with red indicators. While it took quite a long time, they both turned green eventually and were seemingly charged. Unfortunately on testing, one of the controllers didn’t turn on. On investigation, the battery pack had charged, but when inserted into any controller I tried, it didn’t make contact.
I pulled the metal contacts of the battery pack out slightly and it’s been consistently working since then. I couldn’t say whether I was unlucky enough to have a (hopefully rare) faulty battery pack or if I damaged it when putting it into the controller somehow. Neither is ideal since it could either imply quality control issues or being easily damaged.
Verdict
The Numskull XBox Charging Dock is a great charger. It looks nice when displayed with the console and comes with high-capacity batteries included. I would’ve liked it to include a socket, but it’s not much of an issue since it can charge from the console without issue. The LED indicators are particularly useful for seeing when it’s ready too. And all of this comes are a fairly reasonable price too. I have however deducted a point due to my lack of confidence in the quality of the battery packs, which is a pity since I’ve had no issues with one of them.
NUMSKULL XBOX SERIES X AND SERIES S FAST CHARGE TWIN CHARGING DOCK IS RECOMMENDED
Looking for more hardware? Maybe a headset? How about our review of the Gioteck TX70 Wireless Headset or the Logitech G432 Headset?
Many thanks go to Numskull Designs for providing a review unit for this title.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
