Nyko Charger Grip (PSP 2000) review: Nyko Charger Grip (PSP 2000)

Nyko brought out its original Charger Grip for the original PSP back in early 2006, and now the company's slightly altered its design to accommodate the Sony's slimmer, second-generation PSP, which is officially referred to as the PSP 2000.

The idea behind the accessory is that it acts as both an extended battery for the PSP and an ergonomic aid. The battery that ships with the PSP gives you around 5 hours of battery life--and closer to 3 if you're using the PSP's WiFi. If you're looking for some extra juice, you can always buy an extra battery, which will run you between $30 and $40, depending on whether you buy Sony's official battery or a third party's version. The other option is to go with Nyko's Charger Grip ($30 street price), which Nyko says provides up to an extra 10 hours of battery life from its built-in lithium ion rechargeable. This represents a substantial increase over the previous Charger Grip's battery life, which is the result of Sony making the PSP 2000 more energy efficient than its predecessor.

With a little finessing, you simply clip your PSP into the Charger Grip, and in a matter of moments your PSP will suddenly look and feel a whole lot more like a standard PS3 controller. As we said in our earlier review, if we had a criticism for the Charger Grip it's that its plastic clips may be susceptible to breaking, especially if someone should accidentally step on the accessory (or some other form of force is brought to bear on its plastic extensions). Otherwise, the Charger Grip works as advertised. Because of its shape, your hand will feel less cramped when playing with the PSP for long periods, though naturally, as with any controller, it's best to take breaks from time to time and do a little stretching--or your hand will cramp, regardless.

A couple other quick notes: To charge the device, you use the charger that came with your PSP (or any compatible third-party charger), and it takes about the same amount of time to fully charge the Charger Grip as it takes to charge the battery in your PSP (Nyko says it can take up to 8 hours to charge both your PSP and the Charger Grip together). It's also worth mentioning that the Charger Grip comes with a little external power cord that you plug into the power jack on your PSP. Nyko warns that when you're not using your PSP, you should disconnect the power cord from the PSP to help hold the charge of your Charger Grip's internal lithium ion battery.

It's somewhat amusing to note that Nyko's done as little as possible to retrofit the original Charger Grip to the new PSP. In fact, the picture on the cover of the short manual is that of the earlier model. How did we know that? Well, one of the more noticeable differences between the original PSP and the PSP 2000 is the location of the headphone jack. On the original, it's tucked under the unit on the very left side, which is why Nyko had carved a little indentation into the plastic on the left "handle" of the original Charger Grip so you can plug in headphones. The indentation is still there, but the jack on the PSP 2000 has been moved to the right and is completely exposed, which allows you to easily attach headphones with virtually any plug (with the original Charger Grip, some of the bulkier headphone jacks wouldn't fit).

In the end, our only real complaint is that the Charger Grip is somewhat bulky to carry around along with your PSP. Yes, you can compress the accessory for travel (the two handles slide toward each other), but it would've been nice if Nyko could figure out how to integrate a protective case into the Charger Grip, so you wouldn't have to carry the Charge Grip separately from your PSP. Also, a little fold-out stand on the back that would allow you to prop your PSP up for movie watching would be a nice addition.

Those gripes aside, the Charger Grip remains a good solution for those looking for both a backup battery and improved ergonomics for their slim PSP.