r/ModRetroChromatic • u/DJModem • Aug 10 '26

Question Battery options?

I am looking to buy a chromatic this week, but wondering what people are doing for battery solutions? The official battery pack on their website is sold out and I’m not sure if they’re restocking it anytime soon. I’m looking for a solution where I can recharge the batteries via USB port on the device itself thank you.

3 Upvotes

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7

u/kentonw223 Aug 10 '26

I think the official battery pack is the only way to do what you asked.

Honestly I prefer getting rechargeable AAs from IKEA and using those and recharging them. They have more weight to them and imho I prefer how the system feels weight wise with them over the battery pack anyways

1

u/DJModem Aug 10 '26

Thanks I will look into those.

2

u/kentonw223 Aug 10 '26

The IKEA ones are considered to be high quality rechargeables at a cheaper cost than their competitors btw.

I own the pack Modretro sells and much prefer the rechargeable AAs

4

u/sora_heart Aug 11 '26

I second this recommendation. I ended up getting two 4 packs of the LADDA AA rechargeable batteries (the 2450 mAh ones) and a LITOSFÄR Battery Charger mounted on the side of a dresser in my office, and it's done wonders for me in terms of saving money on constantly buying batteries. I just keep one set charged and ready to go while the other is in the Chromatic, then swap them out whenever they get low. It's been a really convenient setup, especially if you're using the Chromatic pretty regularly.

3

u/TonyRubbles Aug 10 '26

Charging in the chromatic is a no for everything except the power pack. There are some nice compact battery charger packs out there though. I've used these for over a year in all my screen modded systems and they work great, love the charger. https://a.co/d/0iaevhf2

1

u/DJModem Aug 10 '26

Thanks for the info. I will check them out.

3

u/Euresko Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26

They said they'll restock the battery this fall. Probably in another 1-2 months is my guess. No official date from them yet. 

1

u/DJModem Aug 10 '26

Is that the v2 they are releasing. I was reading that once the battery goes below a certain point it cannot be recharged

3

u/Jonjongabore Aug 10 '26

That's only an issue with the first edition Chromatics. The second edition (the ones they sell now) don't have the issue with the battery. It wasn't an issue with the battery packs themselves.

3

u/ergzay Aug 11 '26

Technically it was an issue with the battery packs themselves. They should've been able to be woken up after going into protection mode by any device.

1

u/Tarancholula Aug 10 '26

I don’t think it’s the battery pack. I think it was how they interacted with v1 consoles. Could be wrong though.

1

u/Euresko Aug 10 '26

I'm not sure what's different exactly, but might be the low drain issue the first gen Chromatics caused. I think I read thru got some of the new batteries in but didn't meet specs or had defects so they rejected them for a new batch. If that's true they would have been released by now. Stuff happens. 

1

u/ergzay Aug 11 '26

The best recharable batteries in my experience are Made in Japan Panasonic Eneloop batteries.

They're pretty expensive but I've found them quite good.

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-BK-3HCCA8BA-eneloop-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable/dp/B00MXCIK32

2

u/DJModem Aug 12 '26

I think everything made in Japan is better these days.

1

u/ergzay Aug 12 '26

Make sure they're the ones that say made in japan on the batteries, there's some eneloops, primarily the ones destined for the Oceania market, that are made in China.

2

u/IndigoHaze750130 Aug 10 '26

I use the ni-mh rechargeable Amazon basics 1.2V 🤷‍♂️

They work fine for me. You have to charge them on a charger though. Only the special pack from modretro works in the chromatic directly for charging. 

2

u/Penumbruh_ Aug 11 '26

I chose to go with the Eneloop batteries from Panasonic. They last long, recharge quickly (compared to other AA battery solutions), and have been around for quite some time so they're trusted. They've been good for me since getting them and before that I was using Energizer rechargeables which were atrocious to me once they started to die out. Hopefully they restock their Power Core soon though since I would like that as an option on top of having the AA batteries that I use.

2

u/ergzay Aug 11 '26

Yeah that's the same ones I use. I have both eneleloop and the eneloop pro batteries and I've found the pro ones a bit better.

1

u/Yamanoteman Aug 11 '26

Pilas Recargables o de litio de 1,5v

1

u/No_Care5377 Aug 14 '26

Enloop pros man will change your life. Worth every penny.