Bionik’s Power Plate keeps your Joy-Con controllers playable while they charge

The Nintendo Switch was very difficult to charge with anything but a Nintendo-branded wall charger when it was first released. But life is improving for people who want use the Switch for more than a few hours away from a dock — although we’re still waiting on that holy grail solution.

Bionik is about to offer the Power Plate, a 4,500mAh battery that can snap on two Joy-Con controllers to charge them while you’re playing. It also has USB-C out to charge a Switch, with enough juice for one full console charge. It’s ideal for anyone whose favorite way to play a Switch is with Joy-Con docked on the sides. Are there people like that?

Also, if you can’t afford or find a Switch, you could just use this to play pretend: as Gizmodo points out, the battery’s LCD charging indicators kind of look like a boring video game.

I prefer a life of luxury with a Switch Pro Controller, which has much better battery life than the Joy-Con do anyway, so this Power Plate isn’t speaking to me. Plus, it’s difficult to charge a Switch while you’re playing it, because the USB-C plug is on the bottom.

Basically, Nintendo has outdone itself once again in inspiring a weirdly specific and granular accessory market with its new home console.

The Power Plate is $49.99 and comes with its own special dock for charging. There’s also a dual Power Plate dock if you really want to invest in this way of life. Everything is listed as “coming soon.”