For such a powerful handheld console, PS Vita has remarkably long battery life

A true portable gaming device must be able to sustain itself long enough for players to actually enjoy playing with it. Now, given PS Vitas’s powerful nature, we were initially skeptical about its battery performance. So, we did what every gamer would do to see how long a handheld console will last: we played games! As soon as it’s fully charged, we began playing Uncharted: Golden Abyss, while turning on 3G and WiFi connections to add some drains. Shockingly enough, the PS Vita lasted for around three and a half hours before we saw the “Battery is Low” warning on screen. Turning off 3G connection and lowering the screen brightness down a notch further extend that time to 4 hours, which is fairly close to Sony’s claim of 5 straight hours of active gaming. Such battery life is good indeed, especially for a powerful handheld console like PS Vita. To fully re-charge this portable console, you will need around 2,5 hours in stand-by mode.

GSM Network Connectivity in Indonesia

When the PS Vita was first released in Japan, only few Indonesian distributors bothered to import the console’s 3G variant. Why? Because this particular functionality (3G connection) is region-locked, making it virtually impossible for use outside Japan. Fortunately, this doesn’t apply to the PS Vita Asia Value Pack, which was released later. This version of the PS Vita has a fully-functioning, fully-open GSM connectivity. We can connect it to the GSM networks here in Indonesia.
For our GSM connectivity testing purposes, we used one of the operators, XL. PS Vita got connected, and we could use 3G connection to access the PS Store and browse the internet. Speed is dependent upon your current location, but in several places, it could be nearly as fast as HSDPA.

There are two downsides to consider if you’re interested in the 3G version of the PS Vita. First, the 3G connectivity, while undoubtedly useful, will increase overall consumption, resulting in shorter battery life. Secondly, Sony has set a download limit of 20 MB so that you cannot download files larger than that from your 3G network. This restriction does not apply to WiFi, but it’s worth remembering that 3G connectivity allows you to access the internet practically anywhere. Of course, the download size limitation won’t get in your way when playing online.

Sound and Speaker Quality

While capable of producing clear sounds (enough to allow you to listen to game dialogs and such), PS Vita’s integrated stereo speaker unit is fairly ordinary. For optimum sound experience, we recommend plugging a pair of good headset into the audio output connector. Doing so will also give you some extra battery life.