Update []:
We're giving this one a bump because we spotted a rather worrying post on social media.
My PSP exploded," said @cosmicmind2nd. "In my dream, I heard a [bang] !" and woke up. I smelled something burning, and when I checked, I found the exploded battery and my PSP lying on the ground. I touched the battery directly, and when I let go, my futon got a little burnt. I only burned my fingertips, but this could have started a fire... Everyone please be careful..."
The PSP was plugged in and charging when the battery exploded. It was later confirmed that the PSP was purchased second-hand, and the owner isn't sure if the battery is genuine. The battery wasn't noticeably swollen, either.
Original Story: Wed 30th Oct 2024
Rechargeable batteries are a real boon for handheld consoles, but they don't last forever – and, when they fail, they often balloon in size, potentially causing damage to the technology they reside in.
The PSP's battery seems to be particularly bad for this, so much so that there's been a recent social media campaign to encourage owners to check their systems for bloating batteries.
Posting on Threads, David Crislip noted that he was initially sceptical about warnings regarding swollen PSP batteries – until he decided to check his.
"There’s been a thing on social media going around that advises people to check their PSPs for swollen batteries," he says. "I was ready to shrug it off until I pulled my old one out only to see it has swollen so much it actually forced the battery hatch off. Go check yours now."
The good news is that the PSP's battery is user-serviceable, so it's easy to replace – you don't even need to remove any screws, as the hatch pops right off (the DS and 3DS also have user-serviceable batteries, but you'll need a screwdriver to get at them).
However, many other systems – such as the PSP Go, PS Vita and Nintendo Switch – have batteries that can only be accessed by disassembling the console itself, and when these fail, the results could be much worse.
A recent EU law will force smartphone makers to ensure their batteries can be replaced by the user without the need for tools, and this could well spill over into games consoles, too – which hopefully means we might soon return to a period where it's easy to keep your handheld going in the years to come by simply swapping out the battery.
[source threads.net]
Comments 25
Not too long ago, I bought 3 extra new PSP batteries for mine, my wife's and son's PSP 3000 so we can charge two and swap when the other one runs out if not near a socket.
Weirdly, the original Sony ones still seem to last longest??
Obviously built back in the day when Sony over-engineered stuff rather than the Driftsense company they are today.
All the third-party batteries I've bought for the PSP die within a month or less. In my experience they are all garbage - seemingly cheap Chinese knock-offs that don't work or hold a charge. Nothing like the Sony originals.
Can anyone recommend a good working third-party PSP battery please?
Have definitely experienced the bloat in some PSP batteries. The PSP was a really good console, and its library is great. However, the hardware had so many drawbacks, stuck pixels on the screen, the little analog stick being kind of terrible and (worst for me) the batteries didn't seem to hold a charge while not being used for long at all. PSP wasn't my main platform, so it was something I would pick up when I wanted, and it was almost always dead. Compare that to my GBA SP, which seemed to maintain at least some level of charge for YEARS. Sony just used trash batteries.
@Sketcz iirc Ostent (specifically the Ostent Gold if yours is a 1000) seems to be the best. Original Sony batteries lasted the best but they're all so old now. I've had one in my 2000 for nearly a year now and it runs for a few hours and charges fast.
Problem is that there are fake FAKE psp batteries, and what I mean by that is there have been reports of fake Ostent or Ostent Gold batteries that were made to look like them, but the "official" seller on Amazon should be your best bet.
@Sketcz Our were £22.65 for 3 and came from retro-refurb on eBay. Doesn't look like they do them any more though? So far, they've lasted a long time but I don't think they're the 3600mAh that they claim for the 2000/3000 series? Maybe 1200?
The Ostent ones seem to be the best of the 3rd party ones and are about £10-12 on Amazon.
I've no idea where my old PSPs are in the garage, I use a PSP Go as my daily driver and so far, the battery seems OK. Hopefully it doesn't expand as there's no easy hatch on the back like on the larger models!
Yeah, I'm all to aware about this. I'll be looking at PSPs on Ebay and I'll see so many where the battery hatch is damaged and stuff like that. It's an important enough issue that r/PSP on Reddit has a pinned battery megathread.
Currently, I use a PSP Go. I was planning on opening it up eventually anyways to try and install that mod that gives it SD card compatibility, so maybe I'll do that sooner or later as an excuse to check the battery. Heck, even if the battery looks fine, I might just replace it anyways since that is almost certainly the original one and who knows how long until it decides it wants to become obese, and it would save me the trouble of having to open it again in the near future.
Batteries for ALL mobile and handheld devices needs standardisation fast! We wouldn’t have any of these issues (and waste) if manufacturers stopped using proprietary batteries for every single variant of every single device. There can be various sizes and capacities, but they need to be standardised.
And yes you can buy new batteries for your PSP, GBA, DS Lite etc, but these batteries are rubbish. They don’t last half as long as the originals, and half the time they don’t even fit properly.
I’ll give mine a check. Recently my N3DSXL had a bloated battery. I’ll need to find a good aftermarket for the 3DS range at some point
@no_donatello one of these comments is not like the others
Well I dug out my PSP from the basement and sure enough the battery has begun to bulge. Good timing on the PSA. Added to the list of game devices I need to source aftermarket batteries for 😵💫
PSPs have the the thing that they uncharge over time even when fully turned off (hold the power button for a few seconds or else it will only go into sleep mode).
You'll have to remember to charge them at least every second month. When then are left too long the battery will completely uncharge and they'll become swollen over time (speaking from own experience).
I remember taking to Reddit and warning people about swollen PSP batteries back in 2019, when one of mine turned into a spicy hand grenade. Also, as a PSP Go owner, they're insanely easy to get at the battery as well... all you need is a #00 Phillips screwdriver, 5-10 minutes of patience, and a spare battery. That said, if you're gonna go thru the effort of doing the bigger battery mod, do yourself a favor and also do the M2-Memory Stick to SD adapter mod and USB-C mod.
I got a very late PSP 3000. While the battery may not have held a charge very well, especially compared to the Nintendo portables, it also clearly had a significant parasitic draw when fully turned off. After running into that problem twice(the first time I thought it was my mistake, but it wasn't), I simply got into the habit of pulling the battery out of the system every time I turned it off. I'll have to check for any bloat on mine, though I suspect being stored outside the system probably helps. It's a shame that aftermarket lithium batteries are typically poor and that official ones are often overpriced.
Yeah, mine was ballooned. I’ve never had this happen with any other system, to be fair. Game boy advance sp is older, so you’d think they’d be prone!
NDS and I think 3DS have fairly easily replaceable batteries.
Thank you to all for battery recs - I also didn't even realise it could be modded for newer batteries! Though to be fair, 90% of the time I use it plugged in. Will try Ostent first.
What the hell is with the timing of this article?
I just dug up my old PSP while cleaning out some closet space and noticed that the battery had fallen out, and no matter how hard I tried I could not get it to stay in the battery slot.
It's nice to know that is is a common issue, and what the cause is.
My launch model is still going strong but I admit I'm getting scared to charge it. I never leave it unattended on the charger ever since I got a replacement charger years back when I lost my legit one
I recall my old iPhone 3gs had this same issue when the battery swelled up it's pretty scary
Removed - trolling/baiting
Please do some research before you refer to EU laws! In recent years, a number of exemptions have been added to ensure that smartphone manufacturers are NOT forced to make batteries easily replaceable for everyone!
https://repair.eu/de/news/making-batteries-removable-and-replaceable-a-closer-look-at-the-new-eu-guidelines/
Sometime late last year we had not 1, not 2, but 4 (!) lithium batteries in our household get bloated. One from a laptop, one from a Switch Pro Controller, one from a cell phone, and yes, one from an old PSP.
Though idle lithium batteries blowing up is a rare thing, it's still dangerous. Keep tabs on all the things in your house that use lithium batteries.
@Profchaos if you look at the battery and it isn't puffing up like a balloon, you're probably fine. If still in doubt, show it to the staff at a phone/tablet repair shop.
My PSPs battery turned into a danger-pillow 3 or so years ago. It's usually in storage, so it was purely happenstance that I even noticed - since I don't play it much anymore. It sucks that these things can't just last forever, but it is what it is. Make a habit of checking up on your electronics from time to time.
Yeah I have one 1000 that bulges, another 1000 that doesn't and a 2000 model is fine so far.
I don't use them as heavily due to how the battery/power flow is and shuts the game off sometimes so I kind of work around that (power cable if need be) and whatever commitment of game playing I really want to get out of it.
If only more games on PSP were digital but many weren't so emulation instead I guess.
These "spicy pillows" are a big issue for iPod collectors also, but at least a PSP isn't so difficult to open and swap out. If a bloated battery doesn't catch on fire, it will push against and damage the other components in your unit. Check all your vintage devices and get replacement batteries.
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