Cliff Notes – I’m not buying a Switch 2 until Nintendo makes major hardware changes
- The Nintendo Switch 2’s hardware, particularly its screen and Joy-Con design, has received criticism for being subpar compared to its predecessor, the Switch OLED.
- Concerns about the console’s performance include inadequate VRR and HDR capabilities, alongside disappointing battery life that reportedly falls short of Nintendo’s claims.
- The lack of compelling new games and tech demos raises doubts about the console’s potential, leading some consumers to reconsider their purchase until significant improvements are made.
I’m not buying a Switch 2 until Nintendo makes major hardware changes
The perfect Christmas gift? (Nintendo)
The hardware design and capabilities of the Nintendo Switch 2 come under fire from a reader who’s not impressed by its screen or its controls.
It’s getting on towards Christmas now. Mince pies are already in shops and I’m certain the second Halloween is over you’ll never be able to enter a shop until next year, without hearing an endless loop of mind-numbing Christmas songs. This time of year means a lot of different things to different people but mostly it means presents and at the beginning of this year I was planning to make mine a Nintendo Switch 2.
I can’t pretend that the Switch 2 launch hasn’t gone well from a sales point of view, since it’s the fastest-selling console and all that stuff. But I don’t believe I’m alone in thinking that so far it’s been a bit of a disappointment. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza have reviewed well, and I’d probably get them if I had the console, but I don’t see anyone calling them all-time classics.
Although we know everything will arrive eventually there’s nothing on the immediate horizon that seems all the amazing, with things like Splatoon Raiders and a new Fire Emblem seeming like just about the least exciting games possible to announce early. But I’m not here to complain about the software, but the hardware.
I have held and used a Switch 2 but while the form factor is fine, I found the magnetic connections of the Joy-Cons to be very worrying. They constantly feel like I’m going to snap them off and while I didn’t try and push them to their limits, because it was a friend’s console, I found the previous, simpler, rail system to be a lot better.
Another obvious problem is the screen, which is not OLED and looks very misty and unimpressive to me. There’s tons of ghosting of images and a lot of unintended motion blur that I find very ugly.
I know it’s a cost issue, but for me this is the wrong compromise to be making. The whole point of it being a portable rests on it having a good screen, because that’s all you’re reliant on unless you attach it to the TV, which I very rarely do with my existing Switch. But it’s an awful screen that’s worse than the Switch 1 OLED that I already have.
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And I don’t know if this is a hardware or a software thing more, but the VRR and HDR is really bad and doesn’t even seem to be in most games. That would be bad enough, but Nintendo made a point of emphasising that the Switch 2 could do it and yet it doesn’t really seem like it can.
But then one of the other problems for the console is that there are no real tech demos, so it’s really unclear what the console can and can’t do, especially as all the big games so far were originally designed for the Switch 1.
And then there’s the battery life, which is also awful. Nintendo says over six hours is possible but according to what I’ve seen, and my friend’s comments, it barely lasts half of that. Again, I’m sure it’s a cost issue – you don’t want the Switch to cost a grand – but as a portable it seems very lacking.
I don’t like to not be able to play the latest Nintendo games, but I refuse to buy the original model. I’d get a Switch 2 Lite or a Switch 2 OLED Model but not what they’re selling at the moment. I don’t imagine we’re going to see either until at least 2027, so I guess until then the Switch 2 is not for me.
But maybe that’s for the best, because by that time hopefully it’ll have some more interesting games that push the system, and aren’t just up-rezzed Switch 1 games. The downside is now I don’t know what to get myself for Christmas.
By reader Stonie
Nothing’s perfect (Nintendo)
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