Is it normal for Wii U gamepad batteries to suck this much?

[Devsman]

I can fully charge it one day, then the next charge it again without even using it.

From fully charged, it might last half an hour or so.

It's like a dang Game Gear. Actually, I think the Game Gear lasts longer.

[Yew Nough]

Sounds like near-dead/worn batteries.

Did you check how much a replacement battery would be (and if it requires soldering?)

[Lamblahdelta]

Yup. The fact that you’re even getting half an hour, I’d consider yourself lucky. Battery has always been a major complaint of the gamepad. It’s worse than the PS4 controller imo.

[GlaceonChireiden]

Yep. Wii U gamepads have awful battery.

If you're playing VC games, I suggest just using a wiimote + classic controller instead of the awful gamepad

[Tonepoet]

All batteries wear down eventually, with both usage and time. Also, critically speaking, the original WUP-12 model number battery that originally came the Wii U. only held an advertised charge of 1500 milliampere hours, which is pitiful. Nintendo also allegedly made an official WUP-13 upgrade battery[www.play-asia.com] that held 2550 milliampere hours worth of energy, which is more reasonable for a device of that sort, and there are even higher capacity third party batteries.

You probably need to replace it at this point. The replacement process is not very difficult. The battery flap is screwed in, but just with a couple of #00 phillips head screws instead of tri-wing screws, and the battery itself is socketed rather than soldered into place, indicating it was probably meant to be user replaced anyway.

Now, if you have difficulty finding an official battery for a good price at this point in time, third parties like Tomee[www.amazon.com] and Ttx[www.walmart.com] provide some options for about $13. The tomee one is 3600 miliampere hours, so I would go with that over the ttx model. Yeah, maybe those companies have a reputation for being a bit chintzy with their accessories, but they have also been around for quite a while so I trust that objective measures like battery specs. are not misadvertised by them like a generic brand's might be.

There is also a Pickle Power battery that advertises 6,600 milliampere hours is a bit more expensive anyway. It is possibly worth the extra cost if it really is everything it claims to be, but you know what they say about something sounding too good to be true. There are other third party options as well[nerdtechy.com], though I can not speak as to which one is the best option personally.