Nintendo Switch – OLED Model w/ White Joy-Con

As a kid I owned a Nintendo, an original Gameboy, and a Super Nintendo. I’ve been aware of the Nintendo consoles since then, but haven’t put any time or money into the platform since my Super Nintendo days. Instead Sony has been getting my time and money. Using the PS5 as my benchmark, initially I was very disappointed in the Switch. However, after purchasing the top Nintendo exclusive games and putting considerable time into it, I’ve come around and I’m definitely happy I purchased the Switch OLED. What I failed to understand when I purchased the Switch is that Nintendo is not competing directly against Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo has essentially become the “Disney” of gaming. In that I mean that Nintendo has their characters and storylines that we’ve all grown up with. Now we want our kids to share in that experience, which doesn’t really require an 8k capable GPU. Instead, being a clever company, Nintendo has targeted kids with a comparatively less expensive console, sporting handheld capability, tons of swag, and easy to configure parental controls. For adults that want to play after the kids have gone to sleep, the platform supports some more mature titles, and a regular controller experience.I really like the classic games like Zelda, Mario, & Metroid. The gameplay is improved and the stories are familiar. Nintendo’s Pro Controller is fantastic (it’s also a must for adults). I like being able to take the console on trips, and dock it at my TV at home. I also really appreciate the use of micro SD storage. Downloaded games seem to average around 5.5 GB in size, so adding a 256 GB micro SD to your built in 64 GB of storage should allow plenty of space for most people. I like the game sales in the eShop, as that’s the time to buy. And while I don’t recommend it, the ability to purchase cartridges is a bit nostalgic for me.I really dislike the terrible, dated hardware choices that Nintendo made. The OLED screen may be an improvement over the original Switch, but it’s still not great at only 720p resolution. The wired network adapter in the dock is slightly faster than the wireless adapter in the console, but both are terribly slow and it takes a long time to download games. The Nintendo network speeds are also laughably slow, and I wonder if they are trying to preserve the nostalgia of the load screen. Keep in mind that unless you want to get up to change your game, or potentially have your kid lose a game, you’ll want to download your games from the eShop. So you’re really forced to deal with the slow network experience everytime you want something new. It’s still worth the suffering up front for the long-term convenience of having it downloaded. Another confusing hardware choice is the Joy-Con controller. These things are overpriced trash. I can see where Nintendo was going, but they have some major shortcomings. To charge the Joy-Con’s they need to be connected to the console, or you have to purchase the charging grip (~$35). Nintendo included a grip, but not one with charging capabilities, which means you’ll have to switch to handheld mode to keep playing, or stop playing while they charge. Instead of buying a charging grip, I recommend the Pro Controller, which has a USB-C port on the front for charging while playing. It’s better than the Joy-Con in every way, and cheaper. Which brings me to my biggest complaint, the price. Just like Disney, Nintendo is fully aware of the grip they have on your kids, and thus they charge accordingly. There is no part of this console that makes it worth the price. You either want to play (or your kids to play) Zelda, Mario, Metroid, etc. or you don’t. If you do, then you will pay. Need an extra power adapter so you don’t have to disconnect it from the dock everytime…overpriced. Need replacement Joy-Con’s because the included ones started to drift…overpriced. Any game at regular price…overpriced. Why would I pay Nintendo more for a game that’s going to look and play better on my PS5 for less money?I think you get my point. The Switch is not for everyone. If you have kids, or you love the Nintendo original titles, there’s likely a Switch in your future. If you’re buying it for you (an adult), get the Pro Controller and don’t look back. If you have another “serious” console, don’t buy any non-exclusive titles for the Switch. They’re usually cheaper and better on literally any other console.

I have never owned a Nintendo Switch before, but have played games on and off for some years on PC, Xbox, Apple TV 4K, and on mobile phones. The Switch OLED intrigued me and my brief impressions, after buying one and toying with it a bit, are the following:On the plus side: the screen is bright with deep and impressive colors; the screen size is ample – much larger than that of an average 6.1″ phone; the charging adapter is sturdy looking; the joy-con controls and the Nintendo OS are both intuitive and easy to use; the OS appears to be reasonably glitch-free – updates are very quick and setting up two separate user accounts and linking them to two separate Nintendo accounts was very easy. Installing a micro SD card was also very easy and the console automatically updated to enable SD card storage. It will download content by deafult to the larger storage drive, in this case – to the micro SD.On the minus side: the bright screen quickly drains the battery; auto-brightness makes certain games look dim; charging is rather slow; purchasing games from the e-shop is a bit cumbersome; Nintendo will send you TONS of emails for everything that you buy/change, etc.If this is your first time (like it was for me) using a Nintendo Switch console, the most important thing to know, I think, is that you will need to create a user account on the console for each person who uses the console. Those user accounts ARE NOT the same as Nintendo accounts. You will need to make Nintendo accounts separately, preferably BEFORE you turn on the console for the initial setup. You won’t be able to buy an individual or a family subscription for Nintendo Online until you start the console, set it up, link the user account you created on it initially to your (already created) Nintendo account, and then purchase said subscription through the console and not through another device.Other than that, the Switch OLED works well and has deep, vibrant colors. Time will tell how long the battery and everything else will last. The build quality is certainly good.

Disclaimer: In my pictures, you can see I received the Japanese version. I bought mine from a third-party seller, no matter the region. Any switch can play any physical or digital game, as they are not region-locked. If you end up getting one overseas, make sure your router’s Wi-Fi channel is under 149, or you’ll have trouble connecting to the Wi-Fi.Now to start… I myself wasn’t interested in upgrading, as I at first didn’t see the point since the improvements seemed minor. Oh boy, was I wrong! To start, the main upgrade is the screen, which is so much better than the original. It’s way brighter and makes every game you play look better in handheld mode. I couldn’t help but want to play on my switch more than my dock just because of how good it looks.This switch is also so beautiful. I love the design of the dock. The joycons and the switch itself as they are based on the game’s team colors that are picked each time. The switch also has engravings on the joystick and console so that you can actually feel the texture difference. The work that Nintendo has put into the console is incredible.Don’t even get me started on how they changed the power and volume buttons to make them easier to press. I also love the new fully adjustable kickstand and Ethernet port, which make it much easier to dock.Oh, and the sound coming from the switch sounds so much better now that they changed and added another speaker!If you’re interested in getting your first switch, I highly recommend this one! But if you’re upgrading, I know I said earlier that it’s not much of an upgrade; that’s still true, as they only made the storage bigger, added a bigger and brighter screen, added Ethernet, and improved kickstand support for old switch owners. It’s your choice if you really value the handheld experience or a better kickstand. But if you do, you will not be disappointed!