Nintendo Switch 2 vs Switch 1: What’s new, w...

Curious how the Swap 2 compares to the Swap 1? Tens of hundreds of thousands of players are asking the identical query.

Nintendo opened the floodgates for Switch 2 preorders on Thursday. Whether or not or not you managed to get one earlier than every retailer website crashed, you are in all probability questioning what makes it so completely different from the unique Nintendo Swap console.

After the Nintendo Direct Switch 2 livestream ended a few weeks in the past, I bought to spend a number of hours enjoying with the Swap 2 and upcoming video games like Mario Kart World and Metroid Prime 4. After almost 5 hours of hands-on time, I got here away very impressed with the Swap 2, but additionally involved about a few key components. Let’s dig in.

On the floor, Swap 2 looks like a reasonably iterative improve. Thankfully, that is probably not the case.

Nonetheless attempting to get your palms on the Swap 2? Take a look at our updated preorder guide, get able to preorder via Nintendo, and examine up on how to track Switch 2 restocks.

It is a way more premium-feeling system

It seems way more skilled than the Swap 1.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable

First, I wish to concentrate on the {hardware} and its new options reasonably than the software program.

The primary Swap was a godsend when it comes to industrial design in comparison with the Wii U. Nonetheless, over time, issues just like the Steam Deck began to make it really feel a little bit bit like a toy. Personally, the Pleasure-Cons have been all the time too small for me to make use of comfortably, rendering it a TV-and-Professional-Controller-only machine in my family. Admittedly, it proved to be a implausible system for youngsters, however I’m not a baby, at the least not bodily.

From the primary second I bought to carry a Swap 2 unit, I immediately favored the best way it felt in my palms. The 7.9-inch 1080p show (which helps HDR and 120Hz refresh price) is considerably nicer than the 6.2-inch 720p show on the predecessor console. Along with a much bigger display, the Pleasure-Cons even have some added muscle. I nonetheless would reasonably use the brand new Professional Controller (which feels nice, however is functionally similar to the final one), however I performed a number of video games utilizing Pleasure-Cons and did not have any comfort-related issues for as soon as.

Nintendo crucially maintained the identical stage of thinness from Swap 1 to Swap 2, so it is in that candy spot of “simply heavy sufficient to really feel premium and simply gentle sufficient to really feel comfy.” I would additionally prefer to shout out the magnetic Pleasure-Con attachment mechanism, which immediately shut down any skepticism I could have had about its reliability the second I attempted it. It well requires you to tug a little bit launch set off on the again to detach Pleasure-Cons from the unit, so it appears almost unattainable to do unintentionally. Miraculously, although, inserting the Pleasure-Cons magnetically works like magic. Nintendo completely nailed this facet of the system.

Swap 2 has extra horsepower, and it exhibits

The brand new Professional Controller feels nice.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable

It is no shock that Swap 2 is extra highly effective than its predecessor, as that console was underpowered when it launched eight years in the past. Nintendo did not present us with detailed tech specs on the occasion, so exact comparisons to different {hardware} should wait. Nonetheless, I can verify that Swap 2 is noticeably extra highly effective than the unique Swap.

Doing a cross-country race throughout Mario Kart World‘s attractive open world with out even a touch of loading between tracks is superior. Seeing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom run at a buttery easy 60 frames per second could be very convincing in individual. The Swap 2 can run Avenue Fighter 6 and Cyberpunk 2077 at ranges that appeared at the least acceptable from the temporary glimpses I noticed of them on the present. It is positively not a handheld PS5, however Nintendo forcing what’s functionally a pill to run (some) video games at 4K decision or 120 frames per second (Metroid Prime 4 seems unbelievable that means) is an actual sight to behold.

You need to use a Pleasure-Con as a mouse

The brand new Pleasure-Cons are very good.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable

Nintendo confirmed through the Direct one thing that all of us mainly knew already: The Pleasure-Cons have a mode the place they double as pc mice. I do not know in case you can actually use one on a PC (not till somebody hacks that collectively about 5 minutes after launch, anyway) however the main expertise I had with them was very PC-like. My principal publicity to the Pleasure-Con mouse assist was in a short demo of Metroid Prime 4, the place it…mainly performed like a PC first-person shooter.

The mouse controls are very responsive and really feel proper. I do assume the Pleasure-Cons are a little bit bizarre to carry with one facet going through down on a flat floor, as that positively triggered some unintended button presses at inopportune moments. I am additionally not bought on this turning into a daily function in video games after the launch window, and even one thing I personally wish to do, primarily as a result of I do not normally preserve a flat floor inside arm’s attain whereas I play video games. However I can verify that it really works exactly as supposed, and as an added bonus, you possibly can simply raise up the Pleasure-Con and resume enjoying Prime 4 with dual-analog stick controls seamlessly with out even pausing the sport.

Nintendo goes all in on social options

The fabled “C” button.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable

The one main factor I did not get to strive in any respect because of the nature of the occasion itself was GameChat, a brand new voice chat function activated by the brand new “C” button on the precise Pleasure-Con. Allegedly, you possibly can host Discord-like chats for small teams of buddies, full with very choppy-looking recreation streaming and even webcam assist by way of a individually bought accent. Nintendo is de facto going all-in on this with Mario Kart World, as seen in a more recent Direct devoted to that recreation.

You possibly can even pre-order a Piranha Plant webcam to your Swap 2.

To be trustworthy, it was fairly foolish seeing Nintendo spend like 10 minutes on the idea of voice chat within the Direct, one thing different consoles have had for actually 20 years. However late is best than by no means. The one half I am probably not bought on is that Nintendo actually appears to need you to make use of an open mic on the console itself as an alternative of a headset. The corporate alleges that it could cancel out undesirable background noise, however I did not get to check that. We’ll see. On the very least, Nintendo is acknowledging that folks like enjoying video video games with their buddies on-line, one thing the corporate has not all the time carried out nicely, or in any respect.

The battery life is outwardly worse vs Swap OLED

Right here is the beginning of the unhealthy information when evaluating the Swap 2 and Swap 1.

Extra horsepower and a greater show additionally imply extra drain on battery, which was confirmed by Nintendo, by way of Kotaku. (Womp, womp.) It has an approximate battery life of two to six.5 hours, relying on what you are enjoying on it. Examine that to the Switch OLED, which might vary from 4.5 to 9 hours, and it is not wanting so sizzling for the brand new console. Once more, that is one thing that was unattainable to check on the occasion, so we’ll want to search out out for positive when the console is definitely out. However do not anticipate superb battery life from Swap 2.

It is a a lot bigger drain in your pockets

It nonetheless comes with a dock, after all.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable

That is the worst information about Swap 2: It costs $450 to start. There’s additionally a $500 mannequin bundled with Mario Kart World, which truly seems just like the extra attractive deal as a result of Nintendo has gone wild with recreation costs this time round. Mario Kart World is a stunning $80 by itself and Donkey Kong: Bananza is $70. There’s additionally a little bit minigame assortment meant to be a tech demo for the console that’s, for causes I can not fathom, a paid obtain. Mix all of that with the truth that upgraded “Nintendo Swap 2 Version” variations of previous video games will include a price ticket for the improve, and it looks like Nintendo is nickel-and-diming us a little bit bit.

I will grant the corporate a little bit little bit of grace due to the Trump administration’s chaotic tariff coverage, however clients who really feel the load of a $500 console buy justifiably will not give Nintendo the identical good thing about the doubt. No matter all of the upgrades Swap 2 brings, it is $150 costlier than Swap 1 was at launch. It isn’t excellent.

UPDATE: Apr. 24, 2025, 3:29 p.m. EDT This story has been up to date with extra pictures of the Swap 2 and its equipment, in addition to new particulars concerning the console’s social options and preorder launch in the USA.