In the past, there have been a few horror stories related to the use of PS4 controllers in wall outlets. As a result, a lot of people tend to steer clear of them. Here, we want to clear up a few of the more pressing concerns that people may have about charging a PS4 controller in a wall outlet.
So, can you charge a PS4 controller from a wall outlet?
yes, you will not be able to use a fast charger to charge your PS4 controller. However, most chargers should be fine for charging your PS4 controller from a wall outlet.
We want to go into a little bit more depth on this. This is because if you do end up choosing the wrong charger for your PS4 controller, then you could either end up with a broken wall charger, or you could end up dealing with a broken PS4 controller which, of course, is going to be far worse.
Can You Charge PS4 Controller from a Wall Outlet?
Yes. You will need the following:
- A wall charger (normally a phone charger)
- A USB cable to connect from the wall charger to your PS4 controller.
Don’t just go grabbing the first wall charger that you can find, though. The PS4 controller needs a pretty specific wall charger to be used.
Voltage :
The voltage of the wall charger should be 5V. If it is anything higher, it should not be used on a PS4 controller. It will burn the controller’s batteries out.
This means that you can scratch any fast chargers off of your list. They tend to operate at 9V. Some may allow you to flick a switch between the two, but this is going to be very rare and seems to be a feature reserved for some of the more expensive of chargers.
Amperage:
The amperage on the charger should say at least:
- 0.8-amps
- 800mAH
You can go over these numbers. That is fine. You should not go below.
The PS4 controller requires 0.8-amps to charge. No matter the amperage of the charger, it is only ever going to pull 0.8-amps from it. That is all the power that it will ever require. So, if you had a 2-amp charger, the PS4 controller will still charge. You don’t have to worry about any risk to the batteries.
However, if the charger is lower than 0.8-amps, the PS4 controller isn’t going to magically stop wanting to pull 0.8-amps from it. It is going to keep requesting more and more power to charge. This is a power that the charger simply is not going to be able to provide.
This means that one of two things may happen:
- The charger gets over-stressed and burns out.
- Your PS4 controller doesn’t charge
The latter is going to be far more likely. If the amperage is only a little bit lower than 0.8-amp, then you may be able to charge the controller slowly. However, if you are planning on using the controller at the same time, don’t expect it to charge. The power drain is going to be far faster than the charger is able to refill the battery.
If your charger burns out, then your charger has become useless. You may as well just throw it away at that point.
Will a PS4 Controller Charge Faster in a Wall Outlet?
Probably not, As we said before, a PS4 controller is only able to take 0.8amps from a wall charger. This is exactly the same amperage that it draws if you had plugged the PS4 controller into the console itself.
Generally speaking, you can expect the PS4 controller to charge at the exact same speed whether it is plugged into a wall charger or a console.
Can You Use a Fast Charger for a PS4 Controller?
Generally speaking, no. In fact, we would actively encourage you to avoid using a fast charger with a PS4 controller.
We don’t know if you remember back to when the PS4 first released, but a lot of people plugged their PS4 controllers into these fast chargers and they ended up burning out.
This is because fast chargers need to operate at 9V. A PS4 controller needs 5V.
If there is a switch on the fast charger that will allow you to switch between 5V and 9V then, yes, you can use a fast charger. It won’t charge the PS4 controller fast, but it will work.
If it does not allow you to switch between the two voltages, then we wouldn’t risk it. Some people have said that the modern controller isn’t likely to have the batteries burn out like this, the high cost of a new PS4 controller means that it probably isn’t going to be worth the risk.
Can You Still Use the PS4 Controller While it is Charging?
Yes, the PS4 controller can still be used while it is plugged into a wall outlet. Of course, because the PS4 controller is being used, it is using power. This means that it may end up charging a little bit slower.
If you can avoid it, don’t use a PS4 controller while it is charging. There is a risk that it could reduce the lifespan of the battery.
This is because rechargeable batteries only have a certain number of charge cycles. When you are using the controller at the same time, the battery charge will drop slightly and then be topped up. This will tap into the charge cycles, ultimately reducing the lifespan of the controller. It won’t be a huge reduction, but since the PS4 controller is likely to be discontinued in the future, you will want to ensure that the controller lasts as long as possible.
Final Thoughts
As long as you ensure that the charger that you use is not a fast charger, then you should be fine plugging the PS4 controller into a wall outlet. It will likely charge at the same rate that it would charge at if it were plugged into your PS4.
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