Nintendo Switch 2

So it’s been a few weeks now and if you follow us on X you’ll know I’ve made the choice to go all in on the Nintendo Switch 2, this review is slightly later than we would have liked but we wanted to have the maximum time and chance to try out the console before we give it the old PowahDunk pass or fail, as with previous hardware reviews we are gonna post the specs and then i’ll go into the various aspects of the console good and bad, lets go!. 

The following blurb has been taken from the official Nintendo Website, Nintendo Switch 2 Technical Specs which can be found here. 

The Specs 

Approximately 4.5 inches tall x 10.7 inches wide x .55 inches thick (with Joy-Con™ 2 controllers attached). *The maximum thickness from the tip of the control sticks to the protruding parts of the ZL/ZR buttons is 1.2 inches.
Weight	Approximately .88 lbs (Approximately 1.18 lbs with Joy-Con 2 controllers attached)
Screen	Capacitive touch screen 7.9-inch wide color gamut LCD screen 1920×1080 pixels HDR10 support VRR up to 120 Hz
CPU/GPU	Custom processor made by NVIDIA.
Storage	256 GB (UFS) *A portion of the storage is reserved for use by the system.
Communication features	Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi 6) Bluetooth In TV mode, Nintendo Switch 2 can be connected using the wired LAN port on the dock.
Video output	Output via HDMI connector in TV mode Maximum of 3840×2160 (4K) resolution at 60 fps (TV mode) Supports 120 fps when 1920×1080/2560×1440 resolutions are selected Supports HDR10 *Maximum 1920×1080 resolution in tabletop mode and handheld mode, following screen resolution.
Audio output	Supports linear PCM output 5.1ch Output via HDMI connector in TV mode *Surround sound effect can be applied when outputting to headphones or to the built-in speaker (surround sound effect when outputting to the built-in speaker requires a system update).
Speakers	Stereo The independent enclosure structure provides natural, clear sound quality.
Microphone	Built-in microphone (monaural) Noise cancellation, echo cancellation, and auto gain control provide a more comfortable voice chat experience.
Buttons	POWER Button/Volume buttons
USB-C® connectors	2 USB-C® connectors The port on the bottom is used to charge the console and connect to the Nintendo Switch 2 dock. The port on the top is used to connect accessories and/or charge the console.
Audio jack	3.5mm 4-contact stereo mini-plug (CTIA standard) Please note: Nintendo cannot guarantee functionality with all products.
Game card slot	Both Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch game cards can be inserted.
microSD Express card slot	Compatible with microSD Express cards only (up to 2 TB) *microSD memory cards that are not compatible with microSD Express can only be used to copy screenshots and videos from Nintendo Switch.
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyroscope, and mouse sensor located in Joy-Con 2 controllers Brightness sensor located in console
Operating environment	41-95 degrees F / 20-80% humidity
Internal battery	Lithium-ion battery/5220mAh
Battery life	Approx. 2 – 6.5 hours *These are rough estimates. The battery life will depend on the games you play.
Charging time	Approximately 3 hours *While the system is in Sleep mode.

Nintendo Switch 2 Dock

---

Size	Approximately 4.5 inches tall x 7.9 inches wide x 2 inches thick The height includes the .08 inches added by the feet on the bottom of the dock.
Weight	Approximately .84 lbs
Ports	2 USB Ports (USB 2.0 compatible) on the side System connector AC adapter port HDMI port LAN port

Joy-Con™ 2 Controllers

---

Size	Approximately 4.57 inches tall x .56 inches wide x 1.2 inches thick *The maximum thickness from the tip of the control sticks to the protruding parts of the ZL/ZR buttons is 1.2 inches.
Weight	Joy-Con 2 [L] 2.3 ozJoy-Con 2 [R] 2.4 oz
Buttons	Joy-Con 2 [L] Left Stick (pressable) Up/Down/Left/Right/L/ZL/SL/SR/- Buttons Capture Button Release Button Sync ButtonJoy-Con 2 [R] Right Stick (pressable) A/B/X/Y/R/ZR/SL/SR/+ Buttons HOME Button C Button Release Button Sync Button
Wireless	Joy-Con 2 [L] BluetoothJoy-Con 2 [R] Bluetooth/NFC
Sensor	Joy-Con 2 [L] Accelorometer Gyroscope Mouse sensorJoy-Con 2 [R] Accelorometer Gyroscope Mouse sensor
Vibration	HD rumble 2
Internal battery	Lithium ion battery / battery capacity 500mAh
Battery life	Approximately 20 hours *Battery life may vary depending on the usage.
Charging time	Approximately 3 hours 30 minutes *Joy-Con controllers are charged when attached to the system or Joy-Con 2 charging grip.

Joy-Con 2 Strap

---

Size	Approximately 4.6 inches tall x .65 inches wide x .28 inches thick *Excluding cord part
Weight	Approximately .25 oz *Excluding cord part

Joy-Con 2 Grip

---

Size	Approximately 4.57 inches tall x 5.67 inches wide x 1.58 inches thick
Weight	Approximately 3.35 oz

The Hands On 

So technical stuff out of the way, how is the console from someone who isn’t a tech head but spent far too long attached to both the original Switch and the OLED release which we covered on this website on launch HERE. 

First of all the unit with the Joycons is BIG, feeling and looking much larger than both the original and the OLED in both unit size and screen size it initially took me back, then when I actually used the unit in handheld I felt the benefit of the larger and clearer screen instantly (I set up the console in Docked to allow it to charge and make use of the Ethernet port on the dock), while I’ve never had an issue with the screen size of the original Switch I wager this will make going back to it a rather rough ride. 

The unit and the joycons look sleek and feel much sturdier than the original units, the magnetic clip for the joycons especially feels solid and almost like witchcraft when it comes to how solid they feel locked into the unit, the screen does feel like it’s a fingerprint/dust magnet especially in a busy household like mine so screen protectors are a must as well as a carry case but currently they seem to be like gold dust. 

The set up was painless, the U.I was smooth and the save and profile transfer only took around 15/20 minutes which was much quicker than I expected, especially with the amount of game saves I had to transfer (more on that aspect later!) around 40 minutes in total from start to finish before I was sat in the familiar but more refined main screen of the Nintendo Switch 2. 

The Joycons feel more accurate than the previous ones but for the most part they are business as usual, a fine controller but not the master of all trades, FPS games still feel awkward without the use of Gyro with them, fortunately we have the Switch 2 Pro Controller that is such a worthy successor to the original, it feels amazing to hold, brilliant feedback, additional mappable buttons on the handles and what feels like a more accurate D-Pad, that aspect being one of the only things that held the original Pro Controller back. 

The major new feature of the Joycons is that it can be now used as a “mouse pointer”, something I didn’t put much stock into until I tried out Cyberpunk 2077, it felt so natural playing the game like this and makes me insanely excited to try Metroid Prime 4 with this new controller feature and as a bonus, you can use a USB Mouse with the dock for the true mouse aim experience, the only issue with this control scheme is that the game still expects you to use the buttons on the Right Joycon meaning it’s not the most intuitive but it’s a good concept and one I can see Nintendo nailing for their games going forward. 

The U.I & Performance.

The first thing that jumped out at me was how quickly screens would load, from settings to eShop and even the Nintendo Online section, everything was so snappy, long gone are the days of lag and waiting for the eShop to open when you want to check your wishlist, the news channels are still there and for the most part everything is how you remember only with the tweak that they load instantly, ideal. 

The Switch 2 has a built in 256gb of memory that sounds good at initially but Switch 2 games are also much larger than Switch 1 games, Street Fighter 6 for example comes in at around 48gb and Mario Kart World 21gb, couple that with some of your heftier Switch titles and you’ll soon be on Amazon looking for a MicroSD Express card to top that storage right up, a shame you can’t use your old ones from the Switch 1 but I believe this is due to read and write speed. 

Download times seem a little quicker too, that could be placebo but it was a major concern due to me recently moving to an area where my internet speed has considerably dropped, still within the launch day I was able to download Street Fighter 6 and Mario Kart World alongside several of my chosen Switch 1 titles. 

I had a look around the new features of the console, Gamechat seems like a fine gimmick with the Camera and something I can’t wait to see Nintendo expand on in the future, I can really see it coming into its own in Mario Party when you steal a friends Stars but for now it got a few chuckles out of me while playing Mario Kart World online, seeing people’s faces fly passed me giving shades of the Mario Kart Arcade game. 

Nintendo Online Expansion Pass now has access to 3 Gamecube games, Zelda: Wind Waker, Soul Calibur 2 and F-Zero GX, a fine mix of games and while Zelda isn’t quite the HD Remaster from the WiiU, if you pay for the Expansion Pack it’s a very nice freebie, I found myself really getting stuck into F-Zero GX over the other two, bizarre when Soul Calibur 2 is on offer but the blistering speed and timeless graphics won me over very quickly. 

Another nifty bonus of the NSO subscription is you get the Switch 1 enhancement patches for free, I took advantage of this for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom though it is available for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Kirby and the Forgotten Land and other titles such as Rune Factory and Fantasy Life: I, the Tears of the Kingdom patch usually £7.99 is worth every penny for such a fluid 60fps and visually improved experience, a game that once somewhat struggled on the original Nintendo Switch now absolutely bosses on the new console making it feel almost like a brand new experience.

While on the subject of patches and performance, many Switch 1 titles have had improvements too due to the improved specs of the Switch 2, while it’s not every title and some aren’t as impressive as others I would suggest going through your collection and seeing what works well, for me Bayonetta 3 ran at a constant 60FPS now which was a god send, Shin Megami Tensei V also ran at 60 where as Shin Megami Tensei: V – Vengeance ran the same, lastly Lollipop Chainsaw: RePoP has gone from being an unplayable janky mess to a rather playable, janky mess instead, it ran wonderfully but the resolution was a bit washed causing Vaseline screen throughout, still it was miles more playable than on the previous console so it’s worth seeing what your favourite game performs like now. 

Sadly there hasn’t been enough change in terms of the menus, game management is still quite clunky, especially when it comes to deleting Game Saves, due to the amount of games I have played/reviewed over the years I have spent literal hours trying to clear my save backlog out with what feels like barely a dint as you have to do this one by one, hopefully Nintendo look into adding more features for game and save management going forward but so far this remains mostly untouched from the original.

So the patches are nice, the console is sleek and fast but how are the games? Well I had the chance to look at 3 of the launch titles and I’ll just leave you with my thoughts on how each of them were. 

Mario Kart World 

My first foray into the world of Switch 2 and it looks absolutely gorgeous with such a consistent framerate, it was like a true awakening as to what this console upgrade would be like, 4K Mario Kart with an open world, a completely new way of racing in the 24 player elimination race and the way the tracks just bleed into each other until you complete all the courses, absolutely mind blowing for someone who doesn’t really play Mario Kart outside of a curiosity, for fans of it I can really see this being a game changer and it is obvious from the get-go why this is the pack-in title. 

Street Fighter 6 

I had concerns about this title up until I saw it in motion, I’ve played this game on the Playstation 5, my slightly underpowered Laptop and now the Switch 2 and I’m happy enough to say this is a healthy middle ground between them. 

Visually it’s sharper than what I was pushing on my Laptop but not quite the visual strength of the Playstation 5 version, framerate is solid in matches but still locked to a rather off putting 30 fps in the World Tour, the main reason for wanting this version is to have that mode on the go for brief pick up and play grinding. 

Online held up well enough, it’s crossplay so you can play with other formats but unless you’re on a wired connection the WiFi on the Switch 2 gave me the worst performance of the three online, it was the laggiest consistently when on crossplay, slightly less lag when I went just for Switch 2 consoles but I would suggest making use of the Dock with this one if you want to play online. 

The new features are just as gimmicky as the first person mode in Ultra Street Fighter II, motion controls using the Joycon and Calorie Battle is more of a party mode where you try and burn the most calories using the joycons, fun little additions but that’s all, fortunately everything from the main game has come over and you also have DLC in the form of Season 1 and 2 so you have all the characters ready for you to jump into Season 3 when that starts around August. 

All in all a fantastic way to play Street Fighter 6, not the most ideal way but the portability makes World Tour or some brief training much more viable.

Cyberpunk: 2077 

In all honesty I haven’t had much of a chance to play this one having only just picked it up out of curiosity and for the purpose of this review and while Mario Kart World is the pack-in, I would honestly say that Cyberpunk 2077 is a much stronger presentation of what to expect from this new console going forward. 

It looks amazing, obviously not quite the level of the Playstation 5 version but certainly stronger than the Playstation 4 version, it has every bit of content released for the game prior including the Phantom Liberty DLC, a performance and quality mode, use of the mouse pointer controls and a mostly consistent framerate, yes there has been some drops when action gets frantic but for the most part it’s been a smooth experience and the chance to play one of my all time favourite games again only in handheld, priceless. 

If you haven’t played the game before or are curious as to what the Switch 2 can do in terms of raw power, Cyberpunk 2077 is the game that’ll sell you on the future of the console, at least until Donkey Kong drops next month. 

Is It Worth It? 

The common question I’ve had from curious friends and mutuals is “Is the Switch 2 worth the upgrade?” and the best answer I can come up with is Yes but not yet, currently it’s an amazing piece of kit that offers a fantastic future but doesn’t quite have the library to back it up, give it 6 months or so when some of the heavier hitters like Donkey Kong and Metroid land and the 3rd Party developers start filling the library out and yeah you’ll have a console on the lines of the Steam Deck but with the charm of Nintendo titles. 

As of now it feels very much like the Switch Pro everyone has been clamouring for, so for my money yes it’s a worthy purchase if you loved the Switch 1, it’s only going to get bigger and better for the console when the library starts to build and Mario Kart World is just a brief glimpse at what magic Nintendo has in store for the hybrid console that can.