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Jun 8, 2023 · Reviews. By Jon Porter. Contributions from. Henry Stockdale, Rhys Wood, Kara Phillips. last updated 8 June 2023. (Image: © Shutterstock / Wachiwit) TechRadar Verdict. The Nintendo Switch is...
- Jon Porter
Apr 24, 2024 · Apr 8, 2024 - A laid-back game that doesn’t ask you to do too much, simply grow strange plants and decompress. Check out IGN's expert reviews of the latest Nintendo Switch video games.
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- The Switch OLED does enough right to make it the current Nintendo flagship, but not enough to make most Switch owners upgrade.
- Nintendo Switch (OLED Model)
- LCD vs. OLED - What’s the difference?
- Do you plan to get a Nintendo Switch OLED Model?
- 20 Major Nintendo Console and Handheld Upgrades
- Here's what we thought of the original Nintendo Switch, a year after its release:
- Verdict
By Taylor Lyles
Updated: Nov 1, 2021 7:59 pm
Posted: Oct 6, 2021 1:00 pm
In 2021, Nintendo announced the latest iteration of its hybrid gaming console in the form of the $350 Nintendo Switch OLED model. Despite all of the things this hardware refresh does right, most notably the slightly bigger and much better-looking display, the unchanged internal specs and lack of significant improvements to the dock have left me ambivalent after spending a week using it. The excellent new screen certainly makes this the best Switch for anyone who doesn’t already have one, but the relatively slim list of upgrades for those who do also has me wondering why some of these design revisions weren’t rolled out with the 2019 model.
The crown jewel of the Switch OLED is, of course, the quality of the display itself. The OLED display is a significant change to the original Switch and vastly improves playing in handheld mode. As disappointed as I was to hear that Nintendo decided to keep a 720p resolution in handheld mode for this revision, it’s still a major step up in not only how good games look, but where they look good.
Specifically, the Switch OLED makes it a lot easier to play games in direct sunlight. No longer must we seek out dark corners to play in, or shield the screen while playing in the backseat of a car or on a plane! While not as bright as, say, the display on my new iPhone 13 Pro when at maximum brightness, I can now more comfortably bring my Switch outside with me and play a few hours while kicking back on my hammock. The display hits a sweet spot that makes it more of an incentive to take it with me wherever I go, making the Switch feel more mobile than ever and living up to the “play anywhere” promise.
The Switch OLED makes it a lot easier to play games in direct sunlight.
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To summarize the key differences between LCD and OLED, each has its own methods to light up and display an image on the screen. LCD displays typically use one backlight to light up an entire panel whereas OLEDs have self-lit pixels and display light on a pixel-by-pixel basis, which allows for deeper blacks and more vivid colors.
Additionally, while OLED displays are known for having greater issues with burn-in, a Nintendo spokesperson says features like auto-brightness and auto-sleep should prevent burn-in from happening on the Switch OLED. Naturally, I haven’t been able to test this over the course of a week. But, considering auto-brightness and auto-sleep are options that can be turned off, burn-in could still pose a threat – but you really have to go out of your way to make it happen.
The Switch OLED doesn’t just look better – it feels better, too. From the display’s glass screen to the revised kickstand, it does not feel cheaply made in any sense. The Joy-Cons also feel more securely attached than on my original Switch model, where they’ve always felt a little bit loose, especially at the bottom.
One catch is that, due to its extra three millimeters in length, some of your original Switch’s accessories may have compatibility issues. While any Joy-Cons will fit the Switch OLED – including third-party controllers like the Hori Split Pad Pro – some controller grips, third-party docks/mounts, and cases may not fit; I would not recommend forcing the OLED into any of these things to make it work.
I could easily tell that the screen made games a lot more vibrant.
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Yes, it's my first Switch
Yes, I'm upgrading
No, I'm sticking with my old one
No, I'm remaining Switchless
Even the darker and grimmer Metroid Dread benefits a lot from the OLED display. There are some sections that have darker blacks and subtly gray areas, particularly in the sections where an EMMI is patrolling, and the OLED’s ability to display absolute black made those areas eerier and creepier. And then there’s Samus Aran herself, whose white and bright blue power suit stands in stark contrast to the environment around her.
The Nintendo Switch OLED also adds a new feature not found in the original Switch or Switch Lite, called Console-Screen Colors. It’s enabled by default but is toggleable in the settings menu and has two options: the default Vivid and a reduced Standard option. While I thought at first the Standard mode would revert the console’s brightness and colors to look more like the original Switch, that is not the case. Instead, Console-Screen Colors serve one purpose: to increase the level of brightness and color saturation, particularly in lighter colors. So games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons look noticeably brighter, with bright-colored items and clothes given a lot more color, and they feel like they must be truer to the color scheme its creators intended it to display.
OLED display aside, the latest Switch refresh makes some other smaller, yet appreciated improvements to the overall design. The speakers on the Switch OLED are slightly bigger, but to be honest I did not find the slightly clearer and louder sound quality to be that big of a difference for the most part – not something I’d have noticed if I weren’t doing side-by-side testing.
Battery life remains mostly the same, as noted on Nintendo’s website. Though some games I tested, like Breath of the Wild, did last a few minutes longer than the 5.5 hours Nintendo estimated, other games, like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, were closer to the 5-hour mark (an improvement over the 2019 Switch, which gave out at 4 hours and 50 minutes). Again, from what I could find, the battery life improvements are modest and mostly just a few extra minutes.
My favorite improvement to the Switch OLED is easily the new kickstand.
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The Switch OLED has the same 3.5mm audio jack on the right side of the console, as well as the long-awaited Bluetooth audio feature (which is now enabled on all Switch models through a software update). I was able to seamlessly connect my Apple AirPods, though your Bluetooth performance and mileage may vary depending on the wireless headphones or earbuds you are using.
Outside of the display, my favorite improvement to the Switch OLED is easily the new kickstand. Taking some cues from Microsoft’s Surface Pro line, the Switch OLED kickstand is a lot firmer and more flexible, offering more angles at which you can set the Switch up without risking it falling flat if you bump the table. Its increased width means any worries or anxiety over breaking the kickstand are gone in the OLED model, which makes it a lot easier to play multiplayer games like Super Mario Party in tabletop mode.
A year and a half after release, the Nintendo Switch has delivered on its initial promise of allowing us to play high-quality games both at home and on the go – it just hasn’t gone much further than that. Being able to play its absurdly impressive (and still rapidly growing) library of both first and third-party games seamlessly on a TV and a handheld device is just as great as I hoped it would be, even if some design flaws have cropped up since we first got our hands on it. The Switch doesn’t have all the entertainment and social features people have come to expect from a home console, but that doesn’t stop it from being a disruptively good gaming machine with some of the best exclusives of this generation. - Tom Marks, September 28, 2018
Read the full Nintendo Switch Review
The revised dock also ditches the third USB port in favor of a LAN port, a welcome addition through which you can connect directly to a Wi-Fi extender or router via an Ethernet cable. I have a pretty solid internet connection and speeds, but that connection is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain that connects to the internet. For the original Switch dock, the only way to do that out of the box (without buying an adapter) was over Wi-Fi, which is generally not going to be nearly as fast as a wired connection. Games like Cuphead and Sonic Mania would take about 40-50 minutes to download on my Wi-Fi connection, but over LAN they take roughly 15-30 minutes.
The LAN port also vastly improves stability in games that have online functionality. I’ve always had lag when playing online for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Tennis Aces, and Splatoon 2 on my launch Switch, but I noticed no lagging or internet issues on my end when connected to an Ethernet port. (Note that Nintendo will sell the new docking station separately at a later date, so you do not need to spend $350 for a whole new Switch if that’s all you want, though you’d be better off buying the $30 adapter if you’re not annoyed by a dongle hanging off your dock).
After playing with it for a week, I’ve found that the Nintendo Switch OLED Model’s brighter, more vibrant, and slightly larger screen has made me want to take it out of docked mode much more often – and not just when I am about to travel. I feel more encouraged to lounge around on the couch or even in direct sunlight in the yard and play games hand...
- Taylor Lyles
Nintendo Switch OLED Review: The Best Switch, but Still Mostly the Same. Editor's Choice: A bigger, better display and an excellent kickstand make this a great handheld game system, but...
- Editor at Large
Mar 23, 2021 · The Best Nintendo Switch for You: Original, Lite, or OLED. by Andrew Cunningham, Arthur Gies, and Haley Perry
Oct 17, 2023 · TechRadar Verdict. The Nintendo Switch OLED is a welcome upgrade but one that pleases more than it wows. It's an inherently flawed product due to the console's original hybrid design: dock the...
