Nintendo’s reveals of the Switch 2 have largely focused on the games, but they have now dropped information on their website going into much more detail about the technical specs of the Switch 2. This is a bigger and better Nintendo Switch and today I’m going to dive into the details related to the hardware for the Nintendo Switch 2 console.

Without further delay, let’s dive into the hardware for Nintendo Switch 2.

System Size

The original Nintendo Switch is approx 4in high and 9.4in long with the Joy-Cons. Switch 2 is bigger at 6.5in high and 10.7in length, again with the Joy-Cons. Given it’s larger it’s also slightly heavier weighing in at 1.18lbs compared to the original Switch at 0.88lbs. The systems are the same width, as Nintendo showed off in their reveal presentation. Overall, it’s bigger and slightly heavily, but still lighter than a Steam Deck.

Screen Size

Switch 2’s touch screen is 7.9 inches, which is bigger than the original Nintendo Switch (6.2in) and the Nintendo Switch OLED (7in). However, it’s an LCD screen rather than OLED. The Switch 2 has a resolution of 1080p in handheld mode, compared to 720p to the Nintendo Switch. The Switch 2 screen supports a variable refresh rate (VRR) up to 120 Hz.

Joy-Cons

Switch 2’s Joy-Con 2 are improved over the Switch, given they attach magnetically to the side of the console. The original Switch Joy-Cons weigh around 1.8 ounces (left) and 1.7 ounces (right). The new Joy-Con 2 weigh around 2.3 ounces each. The increased weight may be to do with the mouse sensor in each Joy-Con, and this allows you to flip the Joy-Con 2 to the side and use each of them as a mouse.

On the right one there is a new C button for GameChat, allowing for in-game chat functionality similar to Discord for online multiplayer support, but you can also just share your gameplay with other players too. While the Joy-Cons for Switch 2 don’t have Hall-effect technology, Nintendo have said “The control sticks for Joy-Con 2 controllers have been redesigned and have improved in areas such as durability.”

Each Joy-Con 2 has a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope. They both have wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 3.0 and the right Joy-Con 2 has NFC wireless technology. Each Joy-Con 2 has approx 20 hours of battery life and require 3.5hours to charge.

Storage

Switch 2 has 256 GB of flash storage, much more than the original Switch’s 32GB. You can also expand the Switch 2 storage with a microSD express card. The original Switch supports microSDHC and microSDXC, so you’ll need a new memory card for the Switch 2 if you’re looking to expand the internal storage.

CPU/GPU

Switch 2 has a custom Nvidia processor, although both companies are tight-lipped when it comes to the finer details. According to leaks from the motherboard, it’s supposedly a custom Tegra T239 processor. That would mean similar power to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The Switch 2 also has Nvidia upscaling technology to boost the visuals up to 4k when docked. Finally, it’s rumoured to have 12GB of RAM.

Ports

Switch 2 has a port for game cartridges, two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The USB-C port on the bottom of the console is for charging and connecting to the dock. There is another port for the microSD card under the kickstand.

Microphone

Switch 2 has a built-in microphone which will be used for GameChat, the in-game chat feature allowing players to speak to other players when playing together online. The microphone has built in noise cancellation, echo cancellation and auto gain controls so you don’t have to fiddle with the settings too much to get good quality audio.

Battery

Switch 2’s battery is intended to last from 2 to 6.5 hours, depending on the games you play. That’s less than the original Switch, which lasted 2.6 to 6.5 hours, and much less than the later OLED model that lasted 4.5 to 9 hours. It’s takes about 3 hours to charge. Nintendo has also added a setting to let the battery charge slow at 90% battery, similar to phones, to help preserve the battery life.

Wi-Fi

Switch 2 supports Wi-Fi 6, which should help download games faster if you have a good internet connection. This is also going to improve GameChat when sharing games. The dock has a built in ethernet port for hard-wiring the online connectivity.

Dock

The dock for the Switch 2 is bigger to work with the increased size of the new console. The dock is 4.5in tall and 7.9in wide, plus 2 in thick. On the back of the dock there are 2 USB ports, HDMI port and an Ethernet port. It’s also going to output 4K at 60 frames per second to the TV.

Accessibility

Switch 2 offers new accessibility features like text-sizing and text-to-speech. You can also enable speech-to-text and text-to-speech for GameChat. Similar to the original Switch you can also remap controller buttons, change display colours, zoom into the screen and change the audio modes from stero to mono.

Let me know what you think in the comments.