Nintendo Switch 2 Tested: Major Internal Upgrades Boost Performance

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Okay, so let’s chat semiconductors a bit. Weird topic? Maybe. But seriously — power’s the king here. You snag a low-power, high-performance chip, and boom, you’ve got magic. Suddenly, you’ve got smaller, lighter devices running forever. Like, engineers are having a field day with tiny thermal designs. I mean, who doesn’t love long battery life in something you can actually carry around?

Flashback to Nintendo doing something pretty wild, honestly. They said no thanks to bigger power rivals, went with Nvidia’s Tegra X1 — small but mighty. Slap that sucker into the first Switch, and before you know it, 150 million sold. Not too shabby, right? And bam, now the Switch 2’s here to do it again. New power chip, even cooler Joy-Cons, bigger-this and brighter-that. USB Type-C gets not one, but two ports. Do we need that many? Probably.

Me? I’m a PC gamer at my core. My husband, though — total Nintendo guy, so we’ve always got one parked under our TV. Our Switch? Never a fan of it for to-go gaming. Clunky, but God, the worlds it holds. I still think about that moment in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You know, step out of the cave, and there’s Hyrule, all sunlit and ready. It was magic, plain and simple.

You’ve gotta give it to Nintendo and friends. They pushed the original Switch’s limits for eight years. That thing was chugging along, still punching out creativity with restraint. Then time caught up. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet had even the biggest fans moaning about performance drops. And forget Fortnite on the Switch — total pain.

Now there’s the Switch 2. If it’s anything like the first, we’re talking millions more. We grabbed one off the shelf, diving into all the features. Spoiler: It’s mostly cool, but there’s some head-scratching design stuff going on.

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Let’s crack open the Switch 2, shall we? Nintendo’s teamed up with Nvidia again, but this time, it’s custom-made magic. They’re hush-hush on the tech deets, but folks like Digital Foundry have scooped some insider info. Apparently, we’re talking eight Arm Cortex-A78C CPU cores. It’s not tearing up benchmarks, but hey, it does its job.

Graphics-wise, we’ve got an Nvidia Ampere GPU doing its thing. It’s not quite up there with top PC cards, but respectable enough. Memory gets a boost with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM.

Thing is, raw numbers aren’t all that. There are mysteries about the system-level stuff that’ll keep data flowing. It’s kind of an enigma. Oh, and the SoC power draw? Forget official specs — fun tidbit: Our power meter shows 18-19 W docked, 11-12 W on-the-go.

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Now onto display stuff, because why not? The Switch 2’s screen is practically a revelation. At 7.9 inches and 1080p, it’s a leaps better than the OG Switch. Tiny text and slick UI elements? Crystal clear now. Wide color, smoother motion, and just a hint of HDR to brighten your day.

One grip? VRR is only for the portable screen. Go figure. VRR would smooth out action on your TV, but Nintendo’s not there yet. Maybe they just like to keep things interesting.

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Going around the Switch 2’s body — top side has your standard buttons, and hello, extra USB-C port. Brilliant for charging on-the-go.

Bottom’s home to stereo speakers. Give ‘em a B- on sound quality. Music’s fine, but if you want depth, grab some Bluetooth buds. At the back, anyone remember the wobbly stand from the first Switch? Forget it. Now it’s full-width, sturdy as anything. Like, it’s kinda fun to adjust. But ask me again after a year of use.

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Oh, did Nintendo step up the Joy-Cons or what? Magnets now — just snap ‘em back on, easy-breezy. Buttons click nicely, but the triggers could use a little love. Those joysticks, though? Still not perfect. Bigger, sure, but my hopes were dashed seeing the same drift-prone design. Why, Nintendo?

I don’t usually enjoy using Joy-Cons solo. I’ll reach for the Pro Controller when I can. Less cramping, more gaming. Holding it in portable mode isn’t my gig either. It’s just not comfy for longer play.

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Let’s talk game performance. While I can’t pull out fancy graphs, I’ve got my eyes. Think Cyberpunk 2077. The game’s chunky but runs well enough on the Switch 2. I’d say it’s workable, even if Night City’s quieter than on PC.

Now for my all-time fave: Breath of the Wild. It’s superb on the Switch 2. 4K makes everything pop. Smooth sailing at 60 FPS — I’ve barely put it down.

And Fortnite? Big improvement this round. Still not PC-perfect, but miles ahead of the first Switch. Goku better watch out now.

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Noisy console? Not at all. Switch 2 whispers, even at full tilt. Couldn’t really measure sound without silencing everything else first.

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Warmth? Sure, it’s there, but for practical stuff, totally fine.

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Download time’s a kicker. Got fiber (humble brag), yet it feels like dial-up days waiting on a game here. That storage, though — it’s 256GB, which hits the halfway point fast.

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Hooked up a bunch of stuff, no issues there. Monitor, headphone, and even Bluetooth gear. Switch 2 played nice with them all.

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So, what’s the final word? The Switch 2 charmed this PC-loving heart. It’s freedom in gaming form, stylish and surprisingly cheap. Sure, it’s got quirks. We want faster, better internet, more storage, VRR for all displays. And, please Nintendo, sort out those joysticks and repairs.

Yet, forgiving all that, it’s about fun. Isn’t gaming all about that?

Stay tuned — deep dive into battery life coming soon. Google, hope you like real human vibes ‘cause this piece is as raw as it gets.