Battery Saving Tips

Sony’s PlayStation Vita is one powerful handheld, which means it consumes a ton of juice. Play it nonstop, and you’ll be lucky to squeeze more than six hours from the battery before that sucker croaks.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way. By making some tweaks and remembering simple rules, you can extend PlayStation Vita’s battery life even further, guaranteeing the system will continue to push out those high-quality graphics.

That said, follow these tips to keep your shiny new system doing what it does best.

Turn off 3G

Much like a smartphone, Vita’s data connection will sap energy from the battery. To disable it, select Settings, Network and then leave the Mobile Network box unchecked. This will switch the system to Wi-Fi only.

Keep in mind you only need to worry about this if you own a 3G powered Vita, though you should consider deactivating Bluetooth on the Wi-Fi model.

Lower the brightness

As much as we love Vita’s glorious five-inch OLED screen, keeping the brightness at the max will take its toll on the battery. To adjust this, head to Settings, Sound & Display, Brightness and then use the on-screen slider. Bam, instant battery boost.

Put Vita to sleep

When not using PlayStation Vita, quickly press the Power button (located on the top left of the system) to put the machine to sleep. If you forget, don’t worry. Vita automatically goes into sleep mode after a few moments.

Use the AC adapter

Be sure to plug the included AC adapter to your PlayStation Vita whenever possible, especially while on airplanes if there’s a plug nearby. This will keep the battery topped off.

Choosing The Right Memory Card

Much has been written about PlayStation Vita’s proprietary memory cards. Regardless of which side of the fence you sit, there’s little you can do to prevent these peripherals from hitting shelves. They’ll debut alongside the system whether critics like it or not.

With that out of the way, it’s in your best interest to choose the card that’ll satisfy your portable gaming needs. You don’t want to overspend on too much storage. Conversely, you don’t want to come up short, either.

On that note, we listed the four cards, prices and reasons for buying each.

4GB: Go with the smallest sized card if you intend to use it mostly for game saves and the occasional download from PlayStation Network. A game here, a little DLC there…you don’t care much for the whole digital craze, and normally delete virtual titles soon after finishing them.

8GB: You prefer to have a few downloadable games on file at all times, mostly PSP titles and perhaps one or two Vita offerings.

16GB: Extra storage means having room for not only more video games but also some pictures, music and a movie or two. A great card to have on long plane rides.

32GB: Upgrading to the max card means you have every intention of taking full advantage of what PlayStation Vita has to offer. You turn up your nose at retail games, opting for the cheaper digital releases. You take pictures, download movies, listen to thousands of songs and have no intention of deleting content. When a game comes out, it’s yours. Not only that, but you plan to enjoy a variety of PSP hits as well.