Should You Leave Your DS in Sleep Mode?
As a long-time Nintendo fan, I often debate whether it‘s better to leave my DS in sleep mode or switch it off completely. After testing this out extensively and digging into expert advice, I‘m comfortable leaving mine sleeping.
Sleep Mode is Generally Safe
Leaving your DS in sleep mode for days or even weeks at a time does no harm and is officially supported by Nintendo. I‘ll explore a few minor downsides later, but you shouldn‘t worry about damaging your system.
Sleep mode saves your game state and system memory to RAM while powering down non-critical components. This enables quick resumes while only drawing about 10% of the full operational power.
Key Benefits of Sleep Mode
Sleep mode delivers convenience without sacrificing much battery runtime.
| Benefit | Details |
|---|---|
| Very low battery drain | Sleep power is measured in milliwatts – leaves plenty of charge even after days |
| Avoid losing game progress | RAM retains your exact play session state |
| Resume quickly | Boot directly back into your game or app |
| Still receives notifications | SpotPass and StreetPass remain active |
| Safe charging | Can even play while plugged into AC adapter |
Pretty nice for grabbing short gaming bursts!
Small Downsides to Consider
Sleep isn‘t as efficient as fully powering off in some areas:
- Draws a tiny bit of continual power, so will eventually drain fully after weeks/months
- Doesn‘t accumulate Play Coins like when turned off
- Components remain at moderately elevated temperature
These are pretty minor issues for most of us. But if storing your DS unused for over a month, a full power down is ideal.
Nintendo‘s Official Stance
Per Nintendo‘s support site, leaving your system sleeping or charging indefinitely won‘t risk any physical hardware harm.
Modern lithium-ion batteries don‘t suffer "overcharging" issues like old nickel-based chemistries. So once your DS battery reaches 100%, the charger maintains that level without damaging longevity.
I keep my DSi plugged in for a few days at a time and still get over 5 hours of play per charge after years.
My Own Experiences
I developed the habit of closing my DS to suspend games back in the GBA SP days. Coming back hours or days later to instantly resume has always been great.
Based on the technical details around low power draw, safe charging thresholds, and normal lithium-ion aging, I‘m very comfortable sticking with sleep mode for real-world use.
I have pushed it to the extremes before though – leaving games suspended for over a month and coming back to drained systems. But after a recharge they fired back up flawlessly, even years later.
While not ideal, even these scenarios didn‘t cause any permanent problems. So don‘t sweat it if you accidentally leave your DS snoozing!
Let me know if you have any other questions about DS power usage. Happy gaming!
