Nintendo Switch 2 vs Switch: What has changed?

Nintendo announced the Nintendo Switch 2 on Wednesday, and it brings some notable upgrades over the original Switch. We get a large display, variable refresh rate, and new Joy-Cons. But how different is it from the original Switch, and should you upgrade or buy it as your first Nintendo console? Let’s find out in this Nintendo Switch 2 vs Switch showdown.

Larger and smoother display

The Nintendo Switch 2 now features a larger display, up from 6.2-inches to 7.9 inches. It’s a 1080p resolution LCD screen, however, but it does come with HDR10 and up to 120 variable refresh rate support. When docked, it supports 4K resolution, which is a big upgrade.

For comparison, the Switch 1’s screen features a 720p resolution in handheld mode and 1080p when docked. Notably, the Switch OLED gives you deeper blacks, but the resolution stays the same as the Switch.

Magnetic Joy-Cons

One big change the new Switch 2 brings is that it gets new magnetic Joy-Cons. These are snappable Joy-Cons with SL and SR buttons, along with a new C button for summoning the Game Chat. The latter is missing in the Switch and it also doesn’t feature snappable Joy-Cons.

Further, the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons double up as mouse in some games like Drag x Drive, Super Mario Party Jamboree and others.

Improved performance

The Switch 2 offers an upgraded performance, thanks to a custom NVIDIA chipset inside that’s said to offer an “improved CPU and GPU performance.” Thanks to the hardware, you can play games in 1080p resolution at 120fps in the handheld mode and 4K at 60fps when docked. It also has 256GB of internal storage.

The Switch 1 packs a custom NVIDIA chipset as well, but it’s from an older generation. It has a custom version of the NVIDIA Tegra X1 chipset and a Max-well-based GPU.

ALSO READ: Nintendo Switch 2 with a larger screen, magnetic Joy-Cons announced

Battery life has also been improved, with Nintendo advertising about two to six and a half hours of usage depending on the games you play. The Switch and the Switch OLED were advertised to offer between four and a half to nine hours of battery life.

Support for controllers

Compared to the original Switch, which didn’t get special accessories, the Switch gets support for the Switch 2 Pro controller, Switch 2 Camera, and the Joy-Con 2 Wheel. There’s also the new Switch 2 Dock, which has a built-in cooling solution.

Other than this, the Nintendo Switch 2 supports microSD EXPRESS cards intstead of non-EXPRESS versions, which are compatible with the original Switch. As for games, not all your Switch games will be compatible with the Switch 2, but some will be playable. For the exact game compatibility list, you can visit the Nintendo website.

That’s all new and different in the Nintendo Switch 2. It’s bigger and better and brings several new-age features that the original Switch misses out.