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The Star Trek franchise employed several styles of Hand-phasers. Star Trek Alpha did not go into details in regards to the amount of shots (clip size) or if the newer models had evolved into more efficient and/or powerful weapons. So, size and shape aside, how did the Federation Hand-phasers compare to each other? I'll accept the best answer with canon info that compares these devices, but would greatly enjoy it if somebody has access to more details regarding additional Federation Hand-Phaser weapons.

enter image description here

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  • That appears to be a Lego Phaser Pistol
    – Valorum
    Commented May 19, 2014 at 20:06
  • LOL. I'm addicted. A prop is a prop though. It's a pretty darn good Lego Phaser Pistol. I'm going to have to build my own now.
    – Major Stackings
    Commented May 19, 2014 at 20:08
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    Technically, those are both Type 2 phasers. In TOS, the type 1 was just the little black part above the pistol grip, which was removable, and in TNG, the Type 1 was similarly small, dubbed the Cricket due to its size.
    – eidylon
    Commented May 19, 2014 at 20:18
  • An image edit would be greatly appreciated. I'm on my cellphone now and cannot fix the error.
    – Major Stackings
    Commented May 19, 2014 at 20:28
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    It sucks that the images were wrong though, cuz the LEGO phaser was wicked-cool! ;)
    – eidylon
    Commented May 19, 2014 at 20:53

1 Answer 1

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There have been a range of Type I and Type II phasers seen in the various Star Trek series.

I'll address the TNG versions first:

Overview:
The Type I Hand Phaser had a substantially smaller energy capacity than the Type II (roughly 720000MJ versus 4500000MJ) and a smaller pre-fire chamber allowing a smaller range of destructive settings.

Clip size
Based on the power utilisation figures listed in the "TNG : Technical Manual", the type I phaser could be used on setting 1 (light stun) effectively indefinitely, recharging faster than exhausting. At setting 9 (disruption effects) it would exhaust its power supply in approximately 13 seconds.

The type II phaser would also run indefinitely at the lowest setting and exhaust its power supply at setting 9 in around 1 minute. It was also capable of higher settings up to level 16 (explosive effects) where it would exhaust its power supply in under 1 second but with devastating effect.

enter image description here

By the time of DS9, there had been a slight improvement to the Type II phaser, increasing its power capacity from 4500000MJ to 8790000MJ and a 15% overall improvement in discharge rates. The battery is also "hot-swappable" allowing immediate reloading. Per the "DS9 : Technical Manual"

enter image description here

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  • "slight improvement"? That's a factor of almost 20. Or is there one zero too much?
    – Raidri
    Commented May 20, 2014 at 9:14
  • @raidri - I think I've added a zero.
    – Valorum
    Commented May 20, 2014 at 13:26

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