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Nintendo Switch | Hardware Review Thread

Shrike Alvaron

Shrike Alvaron

Member
Minsc said:
I don't understand all this power bank confusion. We have a thread on the review from Digital Foundry where it clearly shows any cheap USB C power bank is good enough to charge the Switch while in use playing the most demanding games, like Zelda.

It takes about 2-3 hours to charge while off with said power bank at 3V / 5A, and charges around 8% / hour under heavy load.

You aren't going to get faster charge times or better charging with fancy 15V chargers, 3 hours is the best there is. Switch is not charging faster than that. That's the charge time from the official wall plug.

I feel like there's so much conflicting information about it, it's crazy. Any USB-C power bank is all you need, and even normal USB-A ones should also be fine, but now I'm a little confused. Either way, it'd very much extend the duration of the switch starting at 100%.
Click to expand...

A Youtuber, Blunty, posted a video today saying that you NEED a 15V/2.6A charger for it to charge properly. Ironically, he blasts The Verge for jumping the gun on recommending batteries and chargers for the Switch based on incomplete information when he himself doesn't know any more than than anyone else as he didn't actually test anything and is just going off what's written on the back of the Switch I guess. It really feels like a low-key ad for Razer's upcoming 15V battery bank and disappoints me since I had enjoyed his previous videos on the Switch.
 
Z

ZeoVGM

Banned
IGN said:
As a handheld, the Switch is a powerful piece of hardware with a gorgeous screen, but it's too large and power hungry to feel like you can really take it anywhere.
Click to expand...

I hate this part of IGN's article. I'm sorry but that's just nonsense.

It certainly isn't too large to "feel" like you can take it anywhere. Many people bring bags to work and to college. You put it in your bag, you pull it out and you play it on breaks and at lunch. It's perfectly portable.

As for the "power hungry" complaint, the battery complaints have been silly since day one. If you grab your Switch off the dock in the morning and it to work or school and play it on breaks, the battery will be fine. You then get home and put it back on the dock.

If you plan on bringing a Switch on a plane or some vacation, you're going to do the same thing you already do with smartphones, the 3DS and the Vita: bring a charger.

I get it, the battery sucks. There's nothing that can be done about it though. And it shouldn't be a big deal.
 
D

Donnie

Member
Skyzard said:
Yeah, the review isn't a great read but it gets a lot of viewers I'd imagine so I thought it was worth posting. Though about Zelda, I think she excluded it from that comment as she mentioned it separately. She was probably referring to Bomberman, 1,2 Switch and the lack of other big titles at launch, which seems fair.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah not saying it wasn't worth posting. Just thought that bit was silly. I mean how can they say they haven't proved something, when one of the first games just by itself more than proves it. Excluding it is like saying you've got not evidence I committed a crime, excluding the murder weapon with my finger prints and the victims blood all over it :D
 
M

MikeyKlump

Member
ZeoVGM said:
I hate this part of IGN's article. I'm sorry but that's just nonsense.

It certainly isn't too large to "feel" like you can take it anywhere. Many people bring bags to work and to college. You put it in your bag, you pull it out and you play it on breaks and at lunch. It's perfectly portable.

As for the "power hungry" complaint, the battery complaints have been silly since day one. If you grab your Switch off the dock in the morning and it to work or school and play it on breaks, the battery will be fine. You then get home and put it back on the dock.

If you plan on bringing a Switch on a plane or some vacation, you're going to do the same thing you already do with smartphones, the 3DS and the Vita: bring a charger.

I get it, the battery sucks. There's nothing that can be done about it though. And it shouldn't be a big deal.
Click to expand...

I mean it is kind of a valid complaint then right?
 
B

BlastProcessing

Member
Bruce Springsteen said:
The switch is a hard sell if you don't plan on taking it on the go, which I feel many will leave it docked to the TV, like I will when get it with a steep price drop.

It's technologically compromised as a home console because it has to be portable and it's compromised as a portable because it's massive. I laughed at the Gamespot video review of it when the guy tried to sell its portability by barely stuffing part of it in his massive pant pockets, plus the weak battery life.
Click to expand...

When I think of the long history of the portable, from the Gameboy to now, I can only think of a few that are really pocket friendly. Portable gaming has pretty much always relied on carry cases and bags. Especially because a large part of the market has always been kids with smaller pockets anyway.
 
L

lt519

Member
ZeoVGM said:
If you plan on bringing a Switch on a plane or some vacation, you're going to do the same thing you already do with smartphones, the 3DS and the Vita: bring a charger.

I get it, the battery sucks. There's nothing that can be done about it though. And it shouldn't be a big deal.
Click to expand...

This is the thing, they act like chargers didn't exist. If it couldn't maintain a positive net charge while playing and charging that'd be a huge gripe. But fact of the matter is if I'm watching videos on my phone/tablet on a cross country trip I need to charge it between flights and/or use a power bank too.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
Shrike Alvaron said:
A Youtuber, Blunty, posted a video today saying that you NEED a 15V/2.6A charger for it to charge properly. Ironically, he blasts The Verge for jumping the gun on recommending batteries and chargers for the Switch based on incomplete information when he himself doesn't know any more than than anyone else as he didn't actually test anything and is just going off what's written on the back of the Switch I guess. It really feels like a low-key ad for Razer's upcoming 15V battery bank and disappoints me since I had enjoyed his previous videos on the Switch.
Click to expand...

Yup, strange. Clearly you don't given Digital Foundry's video, and given the official car adapter is only 5V / 3A, I don't see why people would think you'd need more, unless they also think the official car adapter is incapable of charging up the switch while in use, which would be pretty crazy as an official accessory.

I mean I humored the idea for a while myself, but it's just ridiculous as ever.

A 5V / 1A charge can charge up an iPhone 7+ while running a 3D heavy game with bluetooth and internet sharing. Yet a 5V / 3A can't charge up a switch in use? The Switch's battery isn't even that much larger than the iPhone 7+, certainly not even close to 3x the amount to account for the difference in watts between the two scenarios.
 
A

Agent Unknown

Member
Originally Posted by IGN
As a handheld, the Switch is a powerful piece of hardware with a gorgeous screen, but it's too large and power hungry to feel like you can really take it anywhere.
Click to expand...

This just sounds mind bogglingly dumb. Ever hear of charging your devices? I got by just fine with the 3 hour battery life in my launch OG 3DS for over 4 years until I got my N3DS. Why? Because I realized it was a portable and managed my play time accordingly and carried a charger with me like my phone and all my other portable devices.

Seriously that IGN review was terrible and really unbalanced compared to most of the other reviews. Surprised Jose or someone else from the NVC crew didn't review it. Not saying they'd be fawning over it mind you but...ugh. This review, seriously.
 
D

Dystify

Member
Agent Unknown said:
This just sounds mind bogglingly dumb. Ever hear of charging your devices? I got by just fine with the 3 hour battery life in my launch OG 3DS for over 4 years until I got my N3DS. Why? Because I realized it was a portable and managed my play time accordingly and carried a charger with me like my phone and all my other portable devices.

Seriously that IGN review was terrible and really unbalanced compared to most of the other reviews. Surprised Jose or someone else from the NVC crew didn't review it. Not saying they'd be fawning over it mind you but...ugh. This review, seriously.
Click to expand...

Jose is doing the Zelda review for tomorrow. I'm sure he's busy. :D
 
K

KAL2006

Banned
ZeoVGM said:
I hate this part of IGN's article. I'm sorry but that's just nonsense.

It certainly isn't too large to "feel" like you can take it anywhere. Many people bring bags to work and to college. You put it in your bag, you pull it out and you play it on breaks and at lunch. It's perfectly portable.

As for the "power hungry" complaint, the battery complaints have been silly since day one. If you grab your Switch off the dock in the morning and it to work or school and play it on breaks, the battery will be fine. You then get home and put it back on the dock.

If you plan on bringing a Switch on a plane or some vacation, you're going to do the same thing you already do with smartphones, the 3DS and the Vita: bring a charger.

I get it, the battery sucks. There's nothing that can be done about it though. And it shouldn't be a big deal.
Click to expand...

I agree

The internals of the Switch shows Nintendo out the largest battery they could inside. 3 hours and a half for Zelda on medium brightness and no WiFi is good. In fact the original 3DS had similar battery life. If you played a game with half decent graphics on a smartphone you would get the same as well. And this is with games like Zelda. If we played something like Bomberman who knows how much longer the battery life will be. With the addition of USB support for charging with any UCB-C cable as well I think this complaint isn't valid.

As for size complaint. We live in a age large smartphones are popular. People also don't carry handheld games consoles in their pockets. The 3DS XL and DS XL started selling better then their smaller sized little brother's when they released. Showing there is a bigger demand for larger portable systems. Also a 6"2 inch screen is the perfect balance of portability and having a big enough screen for games like Zelda and also having comfortable controls instead of uncomfortable mini controls.

The Switch design is remarkable and is a striaght 10 out of 10 for me.

However the main complaints are huge. Lack of Virtual Console at launch as well as YouTube and Netflix and Web browser apps are huge ommissions.

The JoyCon sync issue is also a major issue and Nintendo has not addressed it at all.
 
T

Timeaisis

Member
Dystify said:
The embargo for all reviews has ended at the same time as the Switch hardware today. Most reviewers did not get the games yet or just very recently, so those reviews will take a while. Zelda is coming tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Trying to decide if I should get 12 Switch lol.
 
C

CrazedProfessional

Member
Wow ProJared seems to hate it from his video wtf.

He basically says the system isn't ready, the kickstand sucks, you can't charge in tabletop mode and Nintendo is ignoring the sync issues on purpose. Games are not there yet and 25.9gb is too small of a memory
 
pots555

pots555

Member
I'm starting to wonder why reviews exists. If you are decided to get the console, you'll get it no matter what.
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
I think the Switch officially charging in kickstand mode would make for lot of tears and shattered displays.
 
L

lt519

Member
ShinUltramanJ said:
The reviews are pretty grounded.
Click to expand...

It's tough to review hardware with only one game, they'd be doing everyone a disservice if they didn't say to wait and see unless you are willing to pay $300 for Zelda on the go.

It's not like reviewing a smart phone or tablet that has a pre-existing library. They can't be purely objective about the hardware and provide a recommendation without there being a justification for the hardware to exist.
 
B

BillyJack

Banned
ZeoVGM said:
I hate this part of IGN's article. I'm sorry but that's just nonsense.

It certainly isn't too large to "feel" like you can take it anywhere. Many people bring bags to work and to college. You put it in your bag, you pull it out and you play it on breaks and at lunch. It's perfectly portable.
Click to expand...

This is hilarious.
 
P

primasaurus

Member
DF did a decent review that was positive for the Switch

IGN didn't like the whole concept of the Switch at all and scored it accordingly
 
M

mr teaspoon

Member
MarkRenton said:
720p ui docked is god awful IMO
Click to expand...

Am I the only person who couldn't care less about this? Obviously you're welcome to your preferences, no offense meant. Just, I can't imagine seeing anything on the Switch UI that I'd feel like I was missing those extra 360 lines of resolution.
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
calc84maniac said:
Well, that doesn't seem to be a problem for the headphone jack. (Or is it?)
Click to expand...
To clarify, I'm not condoning the choice. It's people who should be able to make their own choice.

But to further explain, a headphone cable will run from the console to whoever is playing it. There's nothing really going on in-between. I mean we have all used headphones.

When charging the console in kickstand mode, unless you're charging it off a powerbank, you're running a cable from the console to a wall while no one is holding the console, it's just sitting on a table. Mix that with parties, kids, motion games, booze, and you'll see a lot of opportunities to trip on that wire and send the Switch flying.
 
Tonidayo

Tonidayo

Member
Guys, as the switch is made for the go, am I right if I say that I can play it during my flights, as it's possible to play by plugging the cord into the air plane's seat socket?

Just like a PS vita basically, correct?
 
M

Majine

Banned
As someone who never owned a Wii U I'm excited to play both Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 as if they are totally new games.
 
G

greelay

Member
Majine said:
As someone who never owned a Wii U I'm excited to play both Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 as if they are totally new games.
Click to expand...

Yeah, thatll be a cool experience for a lot of people. I missed splatoon the first time around, so thatll be interesting. But I hit most other big wii u titles that they could conceivably port over.
 
F

flatearthpandas

Member
Bruce Springsteen said:
The switch is a hard sell if you don't plan on taking it on the go, which I feel many will leave it docked to the TV, like I will when get it with a steep price drop.

It's technologically compromised as a home console because it has to be portable and it's compromised as a portable because it's massive. I laughed at the Gamespot video review of it when the guy tried to sell its portability by barely stuffing part of it in his massive pant pockets, plus the weak battery life.
Click to expand...
It's not really that massive though imo. The first time i saw one irl I saw someone on the train surfing the internet just hours later on a tablet a decent size bigger even with joycons attached. I can fit my 10.4 galaxy tablet into my average to small general use bag without much trouble and that's way bigger than a switch. Looking at the DF review, a portable charger isn't going to work wonders but will give it the juice for like six to eight hour session away from an outlet which is more than enough for anything but a long flight.

Not to be overly defensive but a lot of the portable "concerns" strike me as a bit overblown. TV concerns are real though. For most people, the portability understandably compensates. For those with no desire to remove it from the dock, yeah, they've got some power issues to swallow.
 
grim-tales

grim-tales

Member
mr teaspoon said:
Am I the only person who couldn't care less about this? Obviously you're welcome to your preferences, no offense meant. Just, I can't imagine seeing anything on the Switch UI that I'd feel like I was missing those extra 360 lines of resolution.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking similar, it's just the menu/home screen so its not like you'll be staring at it for long (and what is there to look at?)
 
S

Solidsnake32292

Neo Member
Majine said:
As someone who never owned a Wii U I'm excited to play both Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 as if they are totally new games.
Click to expand...


Never played either. Very excited for both! Even the Fiancé is excited for Mario kart and she's been asking when Mario Party is coming as that's a favorite of hers. I'm assuming can't be too far off.
 
butman

butman

Member
CrazedProfessional said:
Wow ProJared seems to hate it from his video wtf.

He basically says the system isn't ready, the kickstand sucks, you can't charge in tabletop mode and Nintendo is ignoring the sync issues on purpose. Games are not there yet and 25.9gb is too small of a memory
Click to expand...

Just saw it.
I'm totally with him, i will wait until Christmas for the lineup, or wait for the NEW Switch. I bet that all these flaws will be obviously fixed . Because, "why make a perfect console at launch if we gonna make a better version of it?"

He also said that Zelda was "mmm....is worth it....eh". Don't known if he isn't a Zelda fan or is the embargo talking. Waiting for his review tomorrow.
 
TLZ

TLZ

Banned
IGN
the bottom line is that the Switch doesn’t do any one of the many things it can do without some sort of significant compromise
Click to expand...

Den of Geek
Best of all, the Switch doesn’t feel like a compromise in any of its configurations
Click to expand...

giphy.gif
 
F

flipswitch

Member
So they removed the system clock setting ( forgot the real name) from Wii U/3DS that tracks everything you do or played. Really stupid move.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
ZeoVGM said:
I hate this part of IGN's article. I'm sorry but that's just nonsense.

It certainly isn't too large to "feel" like you can take it anywhere. Many people bring bags to work and to college. You put it in your bag, you pull it out and you play it on breaks and at lunch. It's perfectly portable.

As for the "power hungry" complaint, the battery complaints have been silly since day one. If you grab your Switch off the dock in the morning and it to work or school and play it on breaks, the battery will be fine. You then get home and put it back on the dock.

If you plan on bringing a Switch on a plane or some vacation, you're going to do the same thing you already do with smartphones, the 3DS and the Vita: bring a charger.

I get it, the battery sucks. There's nothing that can be done about it though. And it shouldn't be a big deal.
Click to expand...

I don't carry a bag and if I did I still wouldn't put the switch in there with that exposed screen and the protruding analog stick. They aren't wrong on that issue as its a giant step down from the n3ds which to me is the pretty much handheld perfection. I get concessions have to be made since it's a hybrid but in its current form I'd never take the switch out of the house.
 
N

Ninja Dom

Member
mr teaspoon said:
Am I the only person who couldn't care less about this? Obviously you're welcome to your preferences, no offense meant. Just, I can't imagine seeing anything on the Switch UI that I'd feel like I was missing those extra 360 lines of resolution.
Click to expand...

What happens with the Wii U? Does the UI go to 1080p?

Thing is, I've got a Wii U but I can't tell the UI res.
 
X

xandaca

Member
The reviews seem to broadly back up my feelings from playing it a few days ago: remarkable achievement as a handheld, a sideways step at best as a home console. I'm surprised more people haven't brought up the tight and imprecise-feeling analogue sticks and slightly-too-small buttons on the joycons, which would make the Pro Controller an absolute must if I ever buy a Switch, given I'd be using it almost exclusively at home. Interested to read what GAF makes of it once the hype has died down a bit.
 
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