PS Vita often shows low battery post charging for couple of hours

You do not seem to be alone as long as this issue is concerned. There have been multiple complaints from a considerable number of users who have reported this issue. There have been a few fixes suggested. Check if they work for you.

One of the fixes would expect you to follow these steps

• Let the PS charge for around five hours - no matter whether it shows as charging or not.
• Remove the cable and clean it up to remove any dust particles.
• Put it back to charge and switch off. Repeat the steps around five or more times until the LED starts to blink.
Leave it on charging for three hours.

The solution may or may not work in your case. Kindly check if it works for you. Some suggestions over the web expect you to open the Vita and realign the battery. However, I would not suggest it if you have no technical competence to open and set it up properly. The best solution would be to sent it to the service center.

PS Vita battery is lithium based battery. And the Vita models are known for the battery calibration issues. And it seems that you have to let the battery discharge few times before letting it get status calibrate properly. Though not all the time you'd find the PS Vita to be showing the proper discharge status.

1. Avoid partial discharge, let your PS Vita discharge completely.
2. Connect PS Vita to power source once you let the device drain completely.
3. Keep the device nearby cool surface. Avoid extremely hot and extreme cold temperature.
4. If device is getting too heated during the play, kill the background services and apps in PS Vita.

Few things to note, that you should not play during the charging time. As that way you'd find that the device often may not properly gets calibrated as the battery gets used during the discharge. So don't touch the device while it is charging itself.

Most of the PS vista users suffer from this problem. It clearly tells your console gets 5 to 6 years old. At this point, your battery life gets reduced. In PS vista, lithium batteries are placed. These batteries should be active in order to stay healthy battery life. When you charge your battery regularly, it is possible to get drained or dead. To control this fact, drain your battery completely and then put a charge in deep once in every week until the battery reaches 100%. It will result in long and healthy battery life.

Here are some tips to control your battery getting drained.
1. Make sure the charging adapter works properly.
2. Blindly put the console in charge from 3 to 5 hours.
3. Don't use console when it is in charge.
4. Keep the console in a cool place to avoid heating.
5. Use proper lithium batteries for the console.
6. Unplug the charger when the console gets heated.
7. Check the indicating light, whether it works properly or not. When the console in charge, it blinks in orange light.
8. When the charge gets completed, the indicator will turn off. If this function is not working properly, then you need to look after your battery and the charging port.

These are some of the suggestions. It may work or may not. It depends on the situation and condition of your console.