“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result” – Albert Einstein at a Nintendo shareholders meeting.

What’s happenin’, guys? It’s Joe, and I have…a dilemma. A health-related issue…specific to someone of my age and culture that’s a little…embarrassing. Can we talk somewhere private? Okay, look, I – and just keep this between you and me, but what do you call a fiendish cow with disposable income on the night the Nintendo Switch 2 released?

A Consoooooomer. It’s me. I’m a consoomer and my wallet is being milked dry by Nintendo’s second generation of handheld/home console/tablet/toaster. Don’t tell my wife, she’ll put the pieces together when the water gets shut off and I’m grinding through the Shell Cup with the Cow.

In the meantime, I spent an entire week with the console since it was released due to it being sold on the eve of my family vacation that required driving across the good and flat state of Michigan twice. And what did I do? I played vid’ya games.

During my week, I explored the system, battled its battery life, clicked its buttons, beholden the screen, and uncovered all of its dirty secrets down to the GameCube Easter Egg. Yes. Here is my review of the Nintendo Switch 2 after spending a week with it.

Nintendo Switch 2: Immediate Impressions

If you are coming from our Facebook, this is more unsolicited banter. If not, dust off that ‘ole Facebook account and join us!

The larger analog sticks on the Switch 2 (NS2) have more range of motion here, and it feels VERY smooth. The colored accents, along with the larger size, make this a completely new package from the previous 2017, Jurassic-aged offering. Drift free? No. Cretaceous age.

The buttons feel nearly the same as the first Switch (NS1) and have a dome click, though I’d prefer rubber. The bigger buttons are super welcome and make sense for a handheld of this size.

Taking the Joy-Con 2 out of the console is a painless endeavor, and they can be popped out with a single hand. They are kind of loud clicking back in, but it can be made quieter by holding the release button while putting it back on.

Yeah! Magnets!

The new Joy-Con grip is awkward to me. Yes, it works and is reasonably comfortable, but the flat surface feels super awkward, and (trigger warning, hot take) I wouldn’t recommend it over a pro controller. The grip definitely has third child syndrome, where it’s there by obligation, but we aren’t sending it to college. Junk drawer’d.

The dock is fine. It’s got the ports, ventilation, a reasonable size, and I have barely used it. The screen scratches super easily, so just don’t bother with the console altogether unless you have a screen protector or prefer it if you want your hunk of plastic to etch runes into your other hunk of plastic. The console makes a cute boot sound when waking up, though.

Overall, I enjoy the feel. It’s definitely bigger where it counts and a solid feeling device. Design-wise, it’s very well thought out. And no, the Joy-Con connection pin on the console doesn’t feel like it’ll easily break over time or by accident (famous last words, but I am not afraid to keep believing).

Nintendo Switch 2: Ergonomics

It’s big. As tall as the PS5 Portal and slightly less wide than the Steam Deck. It has a super thin profile that actually fits the contours of most adult hands. Accessing the right stick isn’t a chore when sitting in a chair, and the extra size of the shoulder buttons is welcome and ergonomic. For a mostly flat slab, it’s reasonably comfortable.

On my vacation, I tried every portable mode to maximize my couch potato comfort level and found that playing with the tablet on the kickstand with the Joy-Con detached to be the most comfortable. The screen is big enough to have some distance between your face without squinting, and the Joy-Con is big enough to fully grip in your hand and access all the buttons. The metal kickstand is also wide enough to put the console basically anywhere. Using the mouse is fine, but inconvenient when just vegging out.

Most of the time, my console sat in a grip case. I used the Savage Raven (Skull and Co.) dockable NeoGrip and MaxCarry case. It is super lightweight and has just enough plastic to give you a good grip. The modular nature of it gives you access to three grips varying in size (This isn’t an ad). The case is nice because the extra space is enough for my portable battery and game cartridge case, as well as the console in the grip (Also not an ad). It’s great, no notes.

Nintendo Switch 2: That Screen

The NS2’s biggest point of contention, in my opinion, is the screen (yes, even over the EULA and game prices) because, in true Nintendo fashion, they took a giant step back and then multiple medium steps forward with varying degrees of usefulness. Ripping the band-aid off: OLED is gone, LCD is now our friend. It’s HDR up to 500 nits, 7.9”, 1080p, 120Hz, and supports variable refresh rate (VRR).

Now I see you thinking, “Well, Joe, I should just wait until the OLED version in 4 years,” and I’ll say, “Okay, bet.” In short, OLED doesn’t play well with VRR and causes a strange flicker when in use. I don’t understand completely how that works, but I also don’t see that being fixed in the near future in a way that is still within the big N’s range for “affordability”.

The colors are vibrant and tuned accurately, while the screen is bright enough for a car ride and dim enough for bedtime. I’m 80% positive it’s MiniLED due to the slight vignetting on the edges and the screen spec at this size. This might be vague, but it’s honestly a pretty reliable indicator. Admittedly, while the benefits of the new LCD are immense, I can’t help but miss the magic that the OLED screen brought with its true blacks and power efficiency. Is having VRR that much more worth it?

Snappy OS and Games!

One undersold aspect of the new console is the complete overhaul of the OS and quality of life additions to it. While I can’t go into everything, here are some notable standouts:

• By holding Home, you can toggle Bluetooth audio and controller mapping for all buttons, including the new GL and GR
• The eShop and Nintendo Online apps support dark mode
• When screenshotting, you can click Home to view it full screen
• The OS is now filled with charming sound effects and chimes

However, one totally great and unobtrusive…”feature” is the console’s insatiable bloodlust for a Wi-Fi connection. I played offline for the duration of my trip and had to put the console down to tend to my baby, and EVERY SINGLE TIME I boot back into a game, it would:

1. Freeze.
2. Fail to connect to Wi-Fi
3. Go into the Wi-Fi settings to choose a network that doesn’t exist.
4. Gives you an error before letting you play the game.

This only really happens when you’re playing a game that has Wi-Fi enabled and is mitigated by using airplane mode, but God forbid you want to play Fantasy Life I without Wi-Fi.

For the games, I’m both impressed and underwhelmed, yet satisfied. My selection was pretty limited because I only bought the few games I had time to play: Mario Kart World, Cyberpunk 2077, and Fantasy Life I. These gave me a pretty good grasp of how the console handles first party, third party, and through the weird backward compatibility/emulation layer.

Mario Kart is definitely the lawful neutral of the bunch and offers higher pixel counts while focusing on the game systems over graphics. It’s nothing mind-blowing, but the whole package is super fun and has loads of charm.

Cyberpunk is probably the go-to performance metric between modern consoles and gets pretty blurry on the NS2 with DLSS doing a lot of the heavy lifting and some pretty awful-looking reflections, but the added control functionality is what definitely sells me on this port.

A highlight for me was with Fantasy Life I, which was a surprise day 1 upgrade that cost less than $3.00. While it’s not a wholly impressive upgrade, the higher fidelity graphics, doubled frame rate, and quick loading times make this the best place to play the game for me. No, I didn’t buy Welcome Tour.

Battery and Powah

I knew going into this the battery would be a concern, and, guess what, it’s a concern. I’ve spent over 6 hours in a car with this brick, and it eats through the battery very quickly (I played on almost full brightness and no internet access). Here’s my findings/estimates:

• Mario Kart World: 3.5 hours
• Cyberpunk: 2.5 hours
• Fantasy Life I: 3-3.5 hours
• Drain on Idle (overnight on sleep mode): -3%
• Setting it up for 2 minutes to take a cute photo: -1%

One other point of concern is that it appears to draw more power than it charges (At least with common fast chargers). I also calibrated my battery through recovery mode, so my reading is accurate.

Notably, handheld mode doesn’t get too hot, but definitely gets warmer than the NS1. Hopefully, in the future, we will see battery optimization measures like a refresh rate toggle or performance cap. If anything, we could expect a die shrink in about 2-4 years, so I guess we have that to look forward to?

Pros and Joy-Cons

Bad overused puns aside, is the Switch 2 Nintendo’s next big thing, or is it just the Switch 1 upgrade we’ve been asking for? Well…it’s definitely a Switch, but the second one!

Functionally, not much really changes with our home console/hybrid friend other than better performance and more features. For most people like me, I think this is enough.

It’s a great console, impressive even, with the most major flaws being in the battery life and the seemingly downgraded panel from OLED to LCD. This is paired with the current market trends towards video game price increases and the ever-looming dread of video game ownership.

This has plagued the Switch 2 since the initial April trailer, which might be enough to deter some; time will tell if that situation improves. However, in the meantime, I have enjoyed my time with the Switch so far.

Conclusion

The original Switch was a major catalyst in the recent flood of new and exciting handhelds, ranging from very powerful x86 handheld PCs like the Steam Deck all the way to the classic RG351P, due to its hybrid nature (and arguably the death of the Virtual Console).

The Switch 2 doesn’t recreate the stream, but paddles with the momentum, and that’s exactly what one should expect from this $450 dockable tablet with controllers.

You can find the Switch 2 (Once it’s in stock) at the retailers below:

• Amazon
• Best Buy
• Target
• Walmart

Oh, wait, I forgot the chat function exists. Consider that to be my review of Game Chat.

What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!

This page may contain affiliate links, by purchasing something through a link, Retro Handhelds may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you.