Nintendo Switch OLED, reviewed: It's great, but is it for you?
Tech Industry
Speaker 1: Nintendo has a brand new switch in 2021 and I've been playing it. Do you buy it? Let's discuss.
Speaker 1: So Nintendo launched the switch in 2017. It's been four and a half years for Nintendo's game console, life cycle so far. And the switch is a fantastic place to play games with kids play all of the Nintendo games that come out once in a while, and also tap into a lot of indie games. The switch is [00:00:30] pretty much the same thing that it was back then, which is that it's something you play handheld or you play docked and you could also play N tabletop mode. So the switch O led is kind of the, that I've been waiting for for a long time, because the hardware for the switch has started to feel a little bit crusty and old. You have the PlayStation five, you have the Xbox series X, these things can perform incredibly graphically. They have nice new controllers. It was a nice, shiny feel.
Speaker 1: The switch had an older LCD screen [00:01:00] and it was really annoying to stand up on tables. Those two things have been addressed. The switch Ed's two best features are its display and the kickstand on the back. So the display is a seven inch OED. Now OED has brighter, richer colors. It also has darker black levels. Basically when it's black dark, it looks completely black. Now, you know that if you've used other ed displays or phones or, or that type of stuff, Nintendo, [00:01:30] hasn't had an ed display on its, uh, switch hardware. The previous 6.2 inch LCD display on the original switch is not great. It's serviceable, but the new one on the switch OED is a lot more vibrant putting it side by side. It's even better in person than it looks in the videos and photos, colors are richer and I can see things better also, cuz my eyesight is starting to go. I like the fact that it's a little bit bigger. I mean, look, I bought a Kindle Oasis because it had a slightly bigger screen. [00:02:00] That's what Nintendo is doing here, providing you with a little bit stuff in the switch hardware equation.
Speaker 1: Now the kickstand was the other thing on the back of the switch, the original switch. There's that little pop out kickstand. We're standing up on tables. It's terrible. You may not even use it because a lot of people use the switch in hand mode or they dock with their TV. Technically there's a third mode for the switch, which is tabletop mode. [00:02:30] Tabletop mode means you stand it up like a little arcade machine, um, and play with it with the joy con controllers. It's great if you're traveling with kids, a lot of times I gave up on it because that kickstand the new one bends to a variety of angles and it's delightful. See if bends like that. It goes all the way back there. And then it does that and it stays at any one of those angles. I mean, it's just this, you know, plastic kickstand, but it's so much better than the one before not to [00:03:00] wax too poetic about it.
Speaker 1: But if you're using it in tabletop mode, this is going to bend to the angle that you want a lot easier and more on the fly. So I found that standing it up and playing games with my kid or by myself, I found I actually wanted to do it more. How much? Well that's the thing, you know, when it comes to how much I'm gonna use the kickstand, not that much. So it's, it's a nice feature. It's not a must have feature. And the other things on the switch all led there aren't that many more new things. It's got more base storage, 64 [00:03:30] gigabytes versus 32 before. Look, you're gonna get a micro SD card. So that's cheap. You can expand the storage. 64 though, does hold about a dozen games or so downloaded. So that might be more than enough for people who are not buying a lot of switch games.
Speaker 1: Um, so it's at least nice that um, the onboard storage now is serviceable. And the other thing is the speakers are a little better, which I didn't really notice that much because I don't really tend to pump up the speakers on [00:04:00] the switch too much. The dock is also new, but it still is basically the same dock as before in that the older switches can dock with the new dock, the new switch can dock with the older switch docks. The new thing here is an ethernet port. If you really wanted wired ethernet, nice to have, but you do remove one USB three port inside it's firmware upgradeable. Apparently I don't know what that's going to mean in the future, but the nice new doc [00:04:30] is fine. One thing that hasn't changed the joy cons, that's a good and a bad thing. So Nintendos snap out JoyCon are the same as they've been since 2017, you can get white ones with the new white and black switch O led model, which looks really nice.
Speaker 1: Or you can get the red and blue JoyCon model with the switch Ole. You can also pop your other joy cons and Nintendo's commitment to that backwards compatibility with the dock. And the JoyCon is great if you have a lot of gear lying around, but JoyCon have tended to drift [00:05:00] over time, which has frustrated a lot of people. I find that the Joycons kind of wear down a little bit. The analog sticks are not as good for me as what I can get on a PlayStation five or an Xbox series X. There are no analog triggers that rumbling haptic stuff is fine, but I'd like it to be better. Basically. There's no pro version of those joy con. So you're stuck with the same ones as before. That is what it is.
Speaker 1: [00:05:30] And that's pretty much the story with the switch. Ed. This is basically a slightly upgraded switch with a couple of things that I've been looking for for years, which is a better display that has less bezzles looks much more like a tablet, much more modern. And it finally has that nice kickstand doesn't have the better joy cons, but for $50, I would pay that if I was getting a switch for the first time to get the best switch, I think this is the best switch. What this isn't. However [00:06:00] is next gen right now you have the PlayStation five, the Xbox series X, and who knows when Nintendo is going to be releasing some sort of a next generation console. I mean it's only been four and a half years, but will Nintendo create some sort of, uh, mythical 4k gaming enabled switch? Will there be a chip upgrade to enable new graphics?
Speaker 1: So far, Nintendo has not indicated that that would be the case, but you never know. Every other year in Nintendo has some form of new gaming, handheld hardware [00:06:30] going back to the game boys. And whether that means a new design or a couple of new features that something to think about when you decide on whether to upgrade again, if you're thinking about this though, like a Kindle or an iPad or something that you said, you know what I wanted to get those couple of upgrades, it's worth it to me. I'll figure out what to do with the old one. Maybe I'll gift it. Maybe I'll sell it then maybe it is for you. And maybe it is your first switch. Also, you might want to consider whether those previous switches are more [00:07:00] of a fit for you. All the features on the ed switch are really designed for tabletop or handheld modes.
Speaker 1: When it's docked, it still plays 10 80 P games, just like the previous switch did. In which case you don't really need this one and kids. Well, my kids were totally uncited by ed switch. They didn't really see the idea of a slightly bigger screen being that captivating. And that's because it's more of a grown up thing to me. I feel like it excited me because my eyes are failing. And I [00:07:30] like the idea of a slightly bigger screen. That type of incrementalism may not play out with your kids who may want shinier newer things or save their money, something else. In which case that upgrade, think about who it's for the switch light remains great for handheld only games, which is what a lot of people may be using. Something like a switch for, in which case at $200, it's a lot less than the three 50 of the OED switch and that original switch while it is aging out, it still basically is the same it experience with a [00:08:00] different screen and that'll kickstand.
Speaker 1: And if you find that on sale, this holiday, or maybe bundled with games, we don't know what's coming, but with a new switch, maybe that happens that could end up being a lot more appealing as one to pick up. And then you throw the other money that you'll be saving into games because those are expensive on the switch. You know, look, if I were getting a switch right now, I would be getting the EDD switch. I love the screen to me. I like the versatility of it all. I [00:08:30] like shiny, nice feeling gadgets, but you know, that's a grown up decision and it may not factor into how you're actually thinking about getting this for somebody else. It's the best switch right now, but it's 90 a next generation switch. You just let that filter in to your decision making process. As we think about this switch and where it's at in 2021 for more information about the switch, check out some of the links below. And if you have any comments, please let me know too, in the video. I'm Scott Stein. Thanks for watching.
