On March 3, 2017, Nintendo released its best shot at the big boys in the creation of the Nintendo Switch. This innovative gaming console changed how gamers play by combining handheld and controller gaming. Eight years later, Nintendo looks to improve on the blueprint that changed gaming forever. From a new Mario Kart to a much-needed chat feature, the Nintendo Switch 2 looks promising, but is it enough for you to upgrade from your original Switch? Let’s take a look.
Upgraded Specifications
As with any new technology with a predecessor, we expect new features and better specs. The Nintendo Switch 2 delivers in that department. These upgrades can be considered quality-of-life changes from its previous version—ones you’d expect from a console release in 2025. To get the full, detailed version of these specs, you can get them here for the Nintendo Switch and here for the Nintendo Switch 2. I’ll be going over what the average consumer will care most about.
Size & Weight Comparisons: The Nintendo Switch is 4 inches tall and 9.4 inches long, while the Nintendo Switch 2 is 4.5 inches tall and 10.7 inches long. The thickness remains the same. So, players will get an inch here and there more of machine, but not much difference. The Nintendo Switch 2 will be a little heavier, clocking in at approximately 0.88 lbs without the Joy-Cons attached and approximately 1.18 lbs with them attached. That’s up from the weight of the original Switch, which is 0.66 lbs with no Joy-Cons and 0.88 lbs with them attached. Nintendo is going for more durability here by packing on the weight of their Joy-Cons and console.
Screen Upgrade: The screen gets a major upgrade. The original Switch has a 6.2 inch LCD display that only supports up to 1080p. The Nintendo Switch 2 will have a 7.9 inch color gamut LCD screen. The biggest change here is that it supports 4k at 60 fps.
Storage: The Nintendo Switch gets a whopping storage upgrade. Up from the original’s 64GB, it’s coming with 256GB of internal storage. As with anything else, the system will take some of this, so you’ll likely be getting only about 220GB of that, but it’s still massive, nonetheless. You can still use an external SD card to expand this to store more games.
Battery Life: The Nintendo Switch’s battery life is slated at 4.5 hours. The Nintendo Switch 2 will increase this number to 6.5 hours. This, of course, depends on what games you are playing.
What’s New With The 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 introduces a few new features that are sure to enhance the gaming experience for Nintendo fans. One thing missing from the original Switch was the ability to chat with friends(you needed an app to chat online with friends). The Nintendo Switch 2 presents you with GameChat. GameChat is a party system similar to that of what the Playstation and Xbox have. Gamers can now share their game screens, voice chat, and even video chat with the Nintendo Camera or any USB-C compatible camera.
The Nintendo Switch 2 has also upgraded the Joy-Cons and the playing experience for players. We are all familiar with the handheld and TV mode that the switch offers. The Nintendo Switch 2 will now come with a stand for a better tabletop gaming experience. This kickstand will give players 150 degrees of flexibility to play on any flat surface.
The Joy-Cons are now magnets for easier detachment. Another new feature of the Joy-Cons is the ability to be used as a mouse while gaming. I assume this will be a useful feature depending on what game is being played, and the mouse feature of the Joy-Cons changes how the player interacts with the game.
Final Verdict
With everything we’ve unpacked, the question is, is the Nintendo Switch 2 worth the upgrade? The Playstation 5 and the X-Box Series X both have 4k capabilities and many ways to connect friends and make playing together a great experience. The Nintendo Switch 2 has stepped into the same realm as these consoles with these new added features. The 256GB of storage alone is a great reason to add this console to your collection. With the Nintendo Switch 2 also being backward compatible, it gets a thumbs up and should be added to the great year of gaming ahead.
The console is expected to release on June 5th, 2025. Pre-orders are supposed to start on April 9th, but with the new tariffs imposed by Trump, that will see a delay.
