Nintendo Switch 2 Tested: Major Boost with New Internals

Okay, let me see if I can make some sense of all this tech stuff for you. So, there’s this thing called semiconductors, right? In that world, power’s like the king or whatever. If you snag one of those low-power, high-performance chips, magical things might happen. You could have lighter gadgets, long battery life – we’re talking real portable magic here.

Now, Nintendo, those clever folks, decided to zig when everyone else zagged. They took a little chip from Nvidia, a Tegra X1, and put it right smack in the middle of their first Switch. Fast forward to today – 150 million units later, enter the Nintendo Switch 2. It’s like the kid who grew up and is trying to one-up their older sibling with more features – bigger display, a powerhouse chip, you get the gist.

I, meanwhile, am mostly glued to my gaming PC – it’s my jam. But my husband, he’s a Nintendo devotee, so we’ve always kind of had a console hanging around the TV. I’ve never been a superfan of the Switch as a portable thingy, but I can’t deny, it was like a portal to some amazing worlds. It’s that moment, you know? Breath of the Wild, stepping out of the cave – blinding sun and all. Magic.

Anyway, Nintendo and their friends have squeezed every ounce of juice from the Switch over the years. Gotta respect the hustle, right? But let’s face it, time marches on. We’ve got trainers in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet who are quite miffed about the so-so performance. Zelda fans felt like they needed a souped-up console for Tears of the Kingdom, and Fortnite – well, I guess it seems better elsewhere. So here comes Switch 2 with all its promises.

It’s curious though – some design choices and missing bits on the Switch 2 have left us all head-scratching. Yet, if it follows the tracks of its older brother, we might have another hit on our hands. Like, we didn’t waste any time – got to the store, snagged one, and have been fiddling around with it ever since. Exciting times ahead!

Diving into the innards of this thing, Nintendo teamed up with Nvidia to make a custom chip for the Switch 2. People are tight-lipped about the whole architecture, so what’s under the hood is still a bit of a mystery. But Digital Foundry folks have a knack for this. They say the CPU has eight cores – not the latest tech, but it does the job.

You’ve got Nvidia’s Ampere GPU, which cranks out power similar to current mobile GPUs. If you’re thinking of comparing this to your beefy laptop or PC, slow down a bit. It’s more like a sturdy mobile device doing its thing.

It even has 12GB of RAM, which might sound like a big deal – up from a meager 4GB, so developers got some elbow room now. Of course, raw stats can only tell you so much; until you know how this all works together on a system level, you’re kind of left guessing.

Power-wise, no official numbers for the chip alone, but the console’s pegged at around 19 W docked. We gave it a whirl on our meter and those numbers seem right. Battery life testing is next – stay tuned for that.

Anyway – wait, where was I? Oh yeah, that screen on the Switch 2! It’s a total upgrade. A 7.9-inch, 1080p LCD – clearer, brighter – just prettier all around than the original Switch’s panel. HDR10 gets thrown around, but don’t get too hyped about true HDR. It’s not OLED.

Still, the colors pop nicely. In Fortnite, night-time scenes and daytime brilliance shine, and the vibrant hues in Mario Kart World are just delightful. You’re only getting the 120 Hz refresh rates on the internal screen though; the dock doesn’t support VRR yet. A bit baffling considering what Sony and Microsoft are doing with their consoles.

Moving right along, this thing has improved Joy-Cons too. They snap together magnetically now, which feels solid. I wouldn’t give them a rough ride though – there’s a wobble, but nothing breaking apart.

All right, I don’t know about you, but chunky joysticks aren’t my favorite. These have bigger diameters now, but precise aiming can still be a hit or miss. And let’s not mention Joy-Con drift; one of those nagging issues they haven’t officially solved yet.

Handheld mode is still awkward for me. My gripe with the original’s ergonomics lingers. But docked or on a stand, it’s a better experience.

Performance-wise, with no numbers to go by, I’ll just say – smoother than the original, surprisingly so. Played a bit of Cyberpunk 2077; on the Switch 2, it’s less taxing, running satisfyingly, especially if you’re just diving into Night City for the first time. And Zelda BotW? Nearly flawless, makes the game feel reborn.

Shifting to Fortnite, on the original, it was one heck of a slog. You’d need patience to soldier through chopping graphics and chunking FPS. With the Switch 2, thankfully, they’re aiming for 60 FPS, and you can tell. Now, it’s hitting closer to that PC feel without much compromise.

All in all, the Switch 2 keeps noise levels shamefully low that silence is golden here. Even as it’s crunching – building hot worlds like Cyberpunk or battling through Fortnite, all mild whispers compared to a hefty gaming rig.

Sure, there’s room to nitpick – more internal space would’ve been fab; downloading monster-sized games feels like a time vortex. But slap it all together, and what you’ve got is genuinely engaging. It’s not about hitting the top benchmark anymore – it’s easily carrying the adventure with you wherever you’d like to dive in. Fun where and when you need it.