With 2025 now in the rearview mirror, we're at the end of the Switch 2's first full year on the market. To mark the occasion, players are looking back on their time with the console, what it did right, whether it was worth the wait, and whether it's a worthy successor to the legendary console that created it.
“Are you enjoying Switch 2?” asked u/Straight_Bar_8815. “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
disadvantage
A common thread throughout the comments is that the battery life is not good enough for a handheld gaming console, with some triple-A games running out of battery in less than two hours. But new features like DLSS are “game changers” in the latest releases. u/Tonymayo200 claimed, “Battery life is really terrible and annoying.” “All of these games can take dozens of hours, but the previous Switch OLED gave us at least twice that, sometimes even six hours of gaming time, so we had to stop and recharge every two hours.”
Many comments call for a more 40fps mode for a better balance between performance and quality.
Then there are those who are still disappointed with the LCD screen. There are cynical claims that “a lot was lost” in the transition from the Switch OLED model to the Switch 2, suggesting that Nintendo is skimping on future double-dipping when it inevitably releases new models. However, some, like u/Keyan06, counter that “OLED and VRR aren't really doable on handhelds with current technology because you can't drive the APU hard enough and strange visual artifacts appear in dark parts of the screen.” Luckily, in most cases, like u/mrmivo, it's “not a deal breaker”.
approval
On the positive side, commenters point out that all they wanted was a better version of the Switch, and they got exactly that. “When the Switch 2 first came out, I saw a lot of people complaining that it was ‘just a Switch, but better.’ I thought that was kind of mad, considering everyone and their mother wanted a ‘Switch Pro’ (aka Switch) but wanted a better product,” u/HarryxClam said.
Gaming is another highlight. Reviewers like u/Rawkhawkjayhawk said the game is “great” but “there's not enough of it to play.” And in just a matter of months, new Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Metroid, and Kirby games have been released, with The Duskbloods scheduled for release next year. Hopefully Animal Crossing will join that family soon. But even if you don't like any of it, several players have enjoyed revisiting games like Tears of the Kingdom through a new lens, noting that “Switch 1 games have been given a second life.”
So even if it raises issues about the LCD screen and poor battery life, this thread summarizes what many Switch 2 players will no doubt feel was a much-needed refresh for aging hardware. The first year of the console shows decent results. Let's see if we can maintain this momentum in 2026.
- brand
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nintendo
- original release date
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June 5, 2025
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$449.99
- operating system
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ownership
- solve
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1080p (portable) / 4K (docked)
- HDR support
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yes
