Nintendo has announced a new Joy-Con Charging Stand product for the Switch Joy-Con accessories. The new charging dock acts as a two-way product where gamers can dock their Joy-Cons into the cradle and charge them. The dock also doubles up as a portable controller mount where you can detach the charger from the stand and use the Joy-Cons while they are plugged in.
Nintendo says the Joy-Con Charging Stand will launch on 17 October. This is the first time Nintendo has offered an alternative way to charge your Joy-Cons. Up to now, there hasn’t been a way to charge them without attaching them to the Switch console. Of course, you could always opt-in for third-party charging docks.
The Joy-Con Charging Stand also charges the retro NES and Famicom gamepads, if you own them. This separate charger is definitely a much-needed product for those who have extra Joy-Cons around. I know from experience that leaving a Joy-Con detached from the Switch for a few weeks completely depletes the battery. This dock will now let me keep a spare pair in charge and ready.
The charger is powered through a USB-C connector which is connected via USB-A to the Switch Dock (or any USB-A port). Removing the charger from the stand would mean finding a longer cable to continue using the charger while it is plugged in.
Nintendo hasn’t revealed the pricing for the Joy-Con Charging Stand just yet. The product is expected to launch on 17 October. I can confirm that South Africa will also get the accessory at launch. However, pricing has not been confirmed yet.
The Joy-Con Charging Stand arrives seven years after the launch of the Nintendo Switch. It kind of seems like a product that should have been there in the first place. Perhaps the launch of this product hints that the upcoming Switch 2 console supports the Joy-Cons. Nintendo wants to offer a way to charge them considering the new console reportedly adopts magnetic charging for the new controllers.
