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Quest 3 Headset and controllers battery draining fast

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Dear, I had a Quest 2 and I never had a problem with discharge, I charge it to 100 percent and after a few days when I turn it on it is still 100 percent, which is not the case with the Quest 3. The Quest 3 discharges by itself even though it is completely turned off. In the same way, the batteries in the controllers are discharged very quickly, they last only a few days until they reach 20 percent, which was not the case with the Quest 2 controllers, the batteries lasted for months.
I have read a lot on the net, everyone has problems with controllers, my opinion is that it is a software problem, but no one will say that.
It wouldn't be bad if you put in a little effort and correct the mistakes instead of giving people advice that doesn't help.

MetaStoreHelpAnswer

Community Manager

Hey there, Jericho0ne, and thank you for bringing to our attention you're also having concerns regarding your controller battery life. We definitely want to make sure you're able to hop into VR without any distractions, so we'd love to take a further look!

To help us get started, we'd love to hear any troubleshooting you have been able to attempt with your device. While our team has provided great steps to attempt earlier in this thread, here are a few we do want to make sure are completed:

Remove the controller batteries for 30 seconds and any additional accessories. Then replace them with a new pair of batteries.
Unpair controller from headset.
Hard reboot the headset by holding the power button for 30 seconds.
Re-pair the controller to the headset.

From there, if you're still having issues with battery life, please send us a private message to take a closer look. To contact us via PM, please select our name to get to our profile page, or click here. Next, click "Send a Message" to privately message us! Please remember, you must be signed into the community first to send us a private message.

If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!

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Kkeev

New Participant

Still the same issue from day one having this headset. Already burnt through 8 batteries while the headset has been off. Never had this issue on the quest 2 though considering I've owned it just as long and used it more, yet I only swapped batteries once.

Surely it can't be hard to make the controller completely shut off right?

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peterleedsuk

New Participant

I’ve not been my the forum for a while but can see this is still an issue for people including myself. I’ve just switched my quest 3 on after some a couple of months and noticed the batteries have gone flat as usual.

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DarthNeilF1

New Participant

I have same issue, headset is off but the controller batteries continue to drain so I have to keep replacing them regularly.

MetaStoreHelp

Community Manager

Hi DarthNeilF1,

Here at Meta Quest Support we understand the disruption that draining controller batteries can cause to your VR gameplay. For this reason, we would like to know if you have had a chance to attempt the troubleshooting steps provided for this specific issue in our previous replies on this thread? Some users have been able to solve their issue using this guidance.

If you are still experiencing the issues after attempting these steps, then don't hesitate to get in touch with us again or if you would like us to walk you through some steps one on one, then do consider messaging us privately and we will be more than happy to help you out! To do this, simply select our name to get to our profile page, or click here: https://metaque.st/CommunitySupport. Then, click "Send a Message". Remember, you must be signed into the community first to send us a private message.

We hope to hear back from you soon!

If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!

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zinger1024

New Participant

I have the exact same problem. I have 2 Meta Quest 3's, and one of the left controllers exhibit this problem. The battery drains very quickly compared to the reset of the 3 controllers, regardless of whether the headset is on or not. (i.e. hard powered off, battery still drains in the single bad controller)

I've contacted support. I've tried resetting, pair/unpair multiple times. It's even been firmware upgraded recently (this week 12/20 I believe). But problem persists. It doesn't happen with the other 3 controllers, so there's something wrong with this one.

I'm planning to have it replaced. I will comment that, meta should ship out a NEW replacement controller rather than a refurbished one. Also, it should ship the replacement first. As is, support says they'll only ship out the replacement after they've received the old controller, and I may get a refurb one. Given the prevalence of this problem, I feel like Meta should do more here.

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KGSC

New Participant

We have a class set of 16 headsets at a school. They ALL have the draining issue. Used once turn it on a week later, battery low.

No way am I taking out the batteries of the controllers every time a class uses them. And nor should we be charging our rechargeable batteries continually or replacing them with new ones - imagine the exorbitant cost.

Looking at a forum because I was hoping there was a fix by now by someone that has been publicly posted.

After reading through this entire thread it doesn't look like there is a fix.

I will try the repairing but do not want to do this for 16 headsets - try a software update.

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peterleedsuk

New Participant

This is a really good example, thanks for sharing. Meta really needs to look into this issue and give it the attention it needs instead of wasting everyone’s time with the pointless re-pairing process that clearly doesn’t fix the issue.

This has to be a wider issue, maybe not widely reported as it should be due to people using their headset regularly, effectively not noticing the issue.

Come on Meta, sort this out.

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zinger1024

New Participant

Absolutely! Seems like so many people are having the same issue.

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zinger1024

New Participant

I did eventually get my replacement controller, but went through bit of an ordeal. It took over 1 month from the time that FedEx showed my original controller was delivered to Meta. For whatever reason (never explained), the replacement was just not being sent. I sent about 10 emails to support, average once every 3 days or so, to be answer by a different person each time, telling me "sorry, we're working on it. But we can't tell you what the problem is, nor how long it will take to address" On the tenth email, apparently it escalated to someone higher, and the next day the replacement was sent.

It was one of the most frustrating and worst RMA experiences I've come across. (and I've done a lot in the past, as I'm kind like tech and have had lots of computers and gadgets) Meta needs to do a LOT better in the future.

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purrfectchaos

Participant

I came home from a 3 week vacation to find the batteries in my Quest3S controllers to be nearly dead.

This confused me, because I specifically remembered installing fresh batteries right before I left.

And I always, always, always, completely power down the headset after each usage.

Googling around, I quickly found the million threads on Reddit and the official Quest forums to see that I was not alone.

Perhaps the two most notable discussions are:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/1gh72ug/so_is_meta_simply_ignoring_the_controller_battery/

and

https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/Get-Help/Quest-3-Headset-and-controllers-battery-draining-fast/td-p/1173489

I only bought the Quest3S to play one specific game (Thrill of the Fight) for some cardio 3-4 days a week.

I have a setup and shutdown routine that is identical each and every time I play it. I'm the only one in this 2 person household that uses it.

From reading the discussions I saw all sorts of theories as to what might be causing the drain, including:

a) the way you store the controllers (laying flat versus hanging)

b) not turning the headset off completely

The only 'solution' anyone seems to have is to remove the batteries after each use, which seemed ridiculous to me.

So I decided to start testing the batteries using my Klein Multimeter.

I would test the batteries before and after each time I used the Quest, which as I say, was generally around 3 times per week.

TESTING METHOD

1. Take batteries out of controllers. Use the multimeter to test and record the voltage in mV.

2. Play Thrill of the Fight for approximately 45 minutes.

3. Take off headset and completely power it down. Test the batteries again and record the voltage.

4. Put batteries back in controllers and store the controllers.

I would vary the way I stored the controller to see if there were any difference, including

a) laying flat, joysticks up

b) laying flat, joysticks down

c) hanging from the wrist strap

5. Wait a few days. Repeat.

After doing this for a while, I found that the controller storage method made no difference.

The batteries were definitely decreasing while in storage. My spreadsheet shows that on average they lose 24 mV per day (each controller battery) while in storage.

For reference, during my 30-45 minute Thrill of the Fight sessions, each controller battery loses about 20 mV.

So each controller, just sitting around doing nothing all day, is using up about the same amount of battery juice as a daily workout session with a boxing game.

So you are essentially using your Quest 3S controllers each and every day, whether you realize it or not.

POSSIBLE PARTIAL SOLUTION

But I kept digging into what people had posted about this issue and their possible solutions.

Eventually I ran across a post where someone mentioned Meta telling them to do a 'hard reset' on their controller.

For the Quest3S controllers it works like this:

Left controller - Hold the Menu and Y button at the same time for 4 seconds. The controller will vibrate and the white light will starting flashing for a little while.

Right controller - Hold the Meta and B button at the same time for 4 seconds. Same thing.

So I tried this before storing the controllers, and what I found is that my batteries no longer depleted during storage.

My batteries no longer showed an average depletion of 24 mV per day while in storage.

Using the hard reset method, I have yet to experience a decline in mV during storage, no matter what way I store the controllers, and in fact there's an average gain of about +10 mV per day.

(AI explains this as: "Chemical reactions inside the battery slow down after usage, allowing the internal components to reach a more stable state. This can result in a small increase

in the open-circuit voltage).

I also discovered that this hard reset is not a permanent solution. It only works until the next time you use the controllers.

Now it should be said that I have not tested this for long terms yet. My longest storage period during this testing has been 5 days. I'll try a longer term test during

my next vacation.

So here is my current routine:

1. Play VR

2. Take off headset, completely power it down (hold power button for beyond just putting it to sleep) .

3. Perform hard reset on controllers before storage (described above)

It's still a little annoying having to do this, but preferable to the hassle and extra wear and tear of physically removing and reinserting the batteries each time.

T

TomCgcmfc

Honored Contributor

purrfectchaos Kudos for your testing efforts mate! I don't have this issue with either my Q3 or QPro. Once I fully power down the headset they automatically turn off and don't drain/discharge. If you've tried the process outlined in the green checked meta support post, and maybe even a factory reset may help. When you get updates try to make sure that any controller updates finish/success before playing everything.

The only other thing I can think about trying is to go to your quest home settings/general/update and disable the option to automatically update and also the option to update and save when powering down. Just leave the middle security option enabled. I don't know but if you enable it to update after powerdown it may be trying to startup your headset once in a while. Just a wild guess, lol! Cheers.

i9 13900K water cooled, RTX4090, Z790 MB w/wifi6e, 64Gb 6400 ram, 2x2TB SSD, 1000W PSU, Win 11, QPro, Q3, w/Link and Air Link, Vive Pro1 with 2x2.0 base stations, Etsy lens mod and Index Controllers

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purrfectchaos

Participant

Thanks Tom! I should note that I have had automatic updates disabled since day 1 of purchasing the Quest 3S.

I bought the Quest 3S around Christmas-time when there was that issue with some people having their headsets bricked by an update. That convinced me to disable any automatic updates right from day 1.

I think I would rather avoid any kind of factory reset. Beyond the hassle, when it comes to software, I'm just a believer in 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' At the moment, everything else appears to be perfect with my Quest 3S, and I can live with simply holding a few buttons before storing the controllers if it solves this issue for me. Judging by the number of discussions on this issue, I have my doubts that a factory reset would be worth it at this time.

I do want to check my settings for the option to 'update and save when powering down' though. I don't recall seeing that. I seem to just remember disabling one option to turn off automatic updates.

Thank you

O

oma012

New Participant

Yo estoy igual los controles se comen las baterías aunque no uses el Oculus, en temporada de calor deje de usarlos un mes y al retomar el juego los controles estaban a 0% a pesar de que la última vez que los use estaban la 100% y con la baterystrap es lo mismo se descarga sola y luego para cargarla tengo que estar reiniciando la pila del strap, con el Oculus 2 esto no pasaba nunca las baterías del strap y los controles no tenían ninguna anomalia y lo peor es que no me puedo quejar por estar a 3 horas de la base de meta pero hacia el sur no me pueden ayudar en nada por eso quite el meta plus

MetaStoreHelp

Community Manager

Hola oma012!

Aveces las baterías de los controles del Quest siguen descargándose incluso después de suspender el dispositivo. Esto es debido a que los controles no se apagan completamente cuando el dispositivo está suspendido, sino que siguen en modo de espera. Este estado de espera consume energía y hace que las baterías se descarguen gradualmente.

Para apagar los controles individualmente, puedes presionar y mantener el botón Meta o el botón Menú, dependiendo del controlador, hasta que el LED cambie de color o sientas una vibración, lo que indica que se ha reiniciado. Alternativamente, si no se van a usar los controles, se puede optar por quitar las pilas para evitar la descarga.

Así mismo, es recomendable mantener el software del Quest y los controles actualizado para ayudar a mejorar la eficiencia energética.

Si tienes alguna otra pregunta, no dudes en ponerte en contacto con nosotros. ¡Estamos aquí para ayudarte!

¡Que tengas un excelente día!

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