With 2025 now in the rearview mirror, we’ve come to the end of the Switch 2’s first year on the market, and in commemoration, players are looking back at their time with the console to reflect on what it does well, whether it was worth the wait, and if it’s a worthy successor to the legendary console that birthed it.
“Been enjoying your Switch 2s?” asked u/Straight_Bar_8815. “What are your pros and cons”?
The Cons
A common thread throughout the comments is that the battery life simply isn’t sufficient for a handheld, running out of juice in less than two hours for some triple-A games, though new features like DLSS are a “game changer” for more modern releases. “The battery life is absolutely abysmal and annoying,” argued u/Tonymayo200. “All of these games you can sink dozens of hours into but you have to stop and charge every two hours when my old Switch OLED gave me at minimum double and sometimes even six hours of gaming time.”
Many comments call for more 40fps modes as a balance between performance and quality.
Then there are those who are still disappointed by the LCD screen, arguing that a “lot is lost” in the transition from the Switch OLED model to the Switch 2, cynically suggesting that Nintendo skimped out for a future double dip when it inevitably releases a new model. However, some, like u/Keyan06, refute this, “You can’t really do OLED and VRR in a handheld with current tech as the APUs cannot be driven hard enough and you get weird visual artifacts in the darker part of the screen.” Luckily, for most, like u/mrmivo, it “isn’t a deal breaker”.
The Pros
As for the positives, commenters note that all they wanted was a better version of the Switch, and they got exactly that. “When the Switch 2 first came out I saw a lot of people complaining that it’s ‘just a Switch, but better,’ which I thought was kinda infuriating considering (seemingly) everybody and their mother wanted a ‘Switch Pro’ AKA a Switch but better,” said u/HarryxClam.
The games are another highlight, as commenters like u/Rawkhawkjayhawk muse that they’re “great”, but that there’s “not enough of said games to play”. Then again, in a matter of months, we’ve had new Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Metroid, and Kirby games, with The Duskbloods set to follow next year. Hopefully, Animal Crossing joins that suite soon enough. But even if none of those tickle your fancy, several players point out that “Switch 1 games have been given a second life”, and that they’ve enjoyed revisiting the likes of Tears of the Kingdom through a new lens.
So, even taking issue with the LCD screen and shorter battery life, this thread sums up what a lot of Switch 2 players are no doubt feeling, that it was a much-needed refresh for the ageing hardware. It’s a decent showing for the console’s first year. Let’s see if it can keep that momentum going into 2026.
- Brand
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Nintendo
- Original Release Date
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June 5, 2025
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$449.99
- Operating System
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Proprietary
- Resolution
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1080p (handheld) / 4K (docked)
- HDR Support
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Yes
