If you just bought a brand new PlayStation Vita, on behalf of PSU I’d like to welcome you to the future of gaming. That may seem like an exaggeration, but if your experience with gaming is limited to $2 app-style games on your mobile device, you are definitely going to be impressed with juice behind Sony’s Vita.
But all that juice comes at a relatively short battery life. Depending on what you are used to, three to four hours of gameplay may feel extremely short, but it’s still perfect for the morning and evening commute.
As a new Vita owner, there is a lot to do. First, you’ll obviously want to check out the games. Look no further than our Vita launch day game review hub for complete coverage, and stroll through our Vita forums to get users’ opinions. After you play a few games and stroll through some of the basic apps, you may get that warning that your battery is low. Don’t worry; there are several ways to extend the battery life of your PlayStation Vita.
Below are 5 tips to help extend your PlayStation Vita’s battery life. Most of these tips come from the PSU community, so make sure you join the conversation in this forum thread to learn more. Some of our users have reported batteries lasting up to five and even six hours thanks to these tips. Have something to share? Let us know in the comments section below and the forums.
1. Lower Screen Brightness
One of the easiest ways to cut down on battery usage is lowering the screen brightness. It’s easy to adjust brightness. Simply hold down the PlayStation button (located to the left of the front touch screen) until a menu pops up—you can also adjust it via the Vita’s Settings. The top option is a slider that allows you to adjust brightness. Some of our users turn it all the way down, while others keep it around 60 percent. Playing on the subway may require a bit more brightness than playing at home, so it’s a good idea to keep it relatively low as your default and adjust accordingly.
2. Disable System Music
Chances are you didn’t think much of the background music when you first started your Vita. The more you hear it, however, the more annoying it gets. In addition, it’s simply a small battery hog. You can disable this by tapping your Settings button and scrolling down to Sound & Display. One of the options in this menu is for System Music. Disable it and enjoy the silence!
3. Disable Mobile Network
You can turn off your mobile network feature in Systems, and clicking on Network. Navigate to the Mobile Network Settings and simply turn off the Mobile Network. This prevents your Vita from connecting to a mobile network. In addition, hop into the Bluetooth Feature and turn this feature off. Some of our users have indicated that their Bluetooth randomly turns on—I’ve experienced this as well. Perhaps we’ll see this changed in a future patch. You can also turn off your Wi-Fi feature to reduce the battery usage.
4. Close Apps
If you are simply tooling around your Vita, it’s easy to leave apps running in the background. Close these to reduce battery usage—note that some apps can’t run in the background, however. Deactivate automatic functions like Near and location. You can also manually turn off messaging. Vita won’t constantly cache for updates when messaging is turned off. You can do this under System settings, and clicking on Auto-Start Settings. We don’t have hard science to report here, but we know this helps reduce battery usage, thus giving you more time to play.
5. Mute
In addition to reducing background program clutter, muting your Vita will help reduce battery life a bit. You can do this on the fly by simply pressing and holding the + and – simultaneously on your volume controls for a second or two. Of course this means you’ll game in silence, but if you are looking for the longest battery life, turning off sound will help.
There are other small things to try. For example, instead of letting your Vita go into sleep mode, try simply turning it off. The boot up on my Vita takes seven seconds to get to the password input screen. If you have some more tips or experiences with your Vita, share them below or in the forums.