The OLED Switch came out yesterday and there’s a lot to talk about. While there’s no performances enhancements, there’s a ton of improvements that make this model way better than both of the previous ones.
The two best aspects of the OLED Switch are the screen and the stand.
The stand gets about 140 degrees of mobility and can be locked in any position so that you can have the Switch displayed any way you like. The actual screen takes up a lot more space. About 80 percent of the extra screen space comes from space that used to be occupied by the black boarder along the regular switch screen. The tablet itself isn’t that much bigger.
The OLED screen itself is also significantly better than the regular one. OLED’s are superior to LCD’s. Think of the older Game Boy consoles. They were very difficult to see at times but people started modding them with a backlight to make them look much greater. That’s basically what the regular Switch is, it’s a console that has a built in backlight to illuminate the whole screen.
With an OLED screen, every single pixel has its own light source. This means that different parts of the screen can change color, contrast, and brightness independently of each other which will make your game look so much better. But of course, this is in handheld mode. If you’re already playing on a big TV screen that probably already has OLED, you were probably experiencing that in some ways. But when you play handheld or on the table, the experience will be so much better in multiple ways.
Another significant improvement is the built-in speakers. They are much louder than what you get with the regular Switch. If you have both the OLED and the regular at max volume, the OLED will be significantly louder.
The joy cons also fit so much better. With the regular Switch, you can feel where the joy con ends and the tablet begins along the back. When playing in handheld, you can feel a slight raise where the tablet begins. With the OLED, it’s much smoother.
As for battery life, it’s going to be around the same as the version 2, if not just a little better, but much better than the version 1. You should realistically be able to get 4.5 to 6 hours out of a single charge.
There are two minor issues though.
Lastly, the OLED Switch has 64 GB of built-in storage. The extra 32GB won’t be great if you have a ton of downloadable games but will be great if you have a lot of save data or smaller files/screenshots and videos.
The OLED Switch is a little heavier than the regular one when you take the size into consideration. The OLED is barely bigger than the regular as a whole. The tablet itself is only a little longer than the regular, the difference in length is the equivalent of the thickness of just one Switch Cartridge and the tablet is barely any thicker but I’d estimate it’s at least noticeably heavier.
It’s also a bit more difficult trying to get the joy cons in. You’ll get 90 percent of the joy con on without any problem but then you’re going to face a bit of push back when you’re trying to lock it.
If you don’t already own a Switch, then the extra $50 for a new OLED console versus a V1 or V2 is the definite way to go. If you already own one or a Lite, and you play in handheld mode a lot, you should definitely upgrade to the OLED at some point and trade the regular one in, you’d only end up paying like $100 to $150 extra. If you already have a Switch and you don’t care about the screen enhancements, but you were thinking of getting a new Switch to combat battery life, fan strength, or other “age” related reasons, you should consider the OLED versus a new V1 or V2.
If you’re also a fan of good design, you should also upgrade to the OLED, especially the white one. The white Joy Cons and Dock aren’t only sleek and beautiful, but the OLED dock is a lot more user friendly than the regular.
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