The Verge staff on the Switch 2: what we love and what we don’t

The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally, officially out, and Verge staffers have spent a bunch of time playing with it. The new console has a lot of improvements, like a bigger screen and an extra USB-C port. There’s a bunch of games to play, too, including a new Mario Kart and nice updates to older games.

Here’s our impressions of our first few days with the Switch 2. Our full review is coming soon.

I wish the Switch 2 had an OLED screen, particularly considering the price, but this 7.9-inch, 1080p 120Hz panel absolutely makes my original 6.2-inch Switch seem like a bargain basement tablet by comparison. It’s so much more real estate, it’s crisper and clearer, navigating the UI feels smoother thanks to the high refresh rate, and I no longer feel like my field of vision is getting squeezed by loads of ugly bezel.

But the Switch OLED already solved a few of those issues. And while reasonably bright, the Switch 2’s screen can’t compare to the Steam Deck OLED’s amazingly bright and colorful HDR panel. —Sean Hollister, senior editor

The Switch 2’s slim launch lineup is supplemented by updates to some of the original Switch’s most popular games — some free, some paid. In a lot of cases, the vision and ambition of these games stretched or even exceeded the capabilities of the original Switch hardware, and their performance on the Switch 2 is a drastic improvement.

I’m glad some great games are finally able to escape the shackles of the original Switch and really shine, but it also highlights just how overdue the Switch 2’s improvements really are. —Kallie Plagge, senior copy editor

Speaking as a man with a bona fide Joy-Con collecting problem — I racked up six pairs for the Switch because I like all the colors and am bad at managing my money — it was bittersweet news that the Switch 2 only comes in black with tiny red and blue accents. It saved me from spending even more at launch, but that’s only delaying the inevitable.

Does it mean future Joy-Con designs will be similarly understated, with pops of color below the control sticks? Will we have to live with the knowledge that future colored controllers won’t match the hidden accents on the console itself? Most importantly, will I be able to curb my collection compulsion this time around? —Dominic Preston, news editor

I would like to apologize to a bunch of game developers, because I’ve spent the last several years cursing them for interminable loading times, unnecessarily complicated menus that take a second to register every button press, and a lot of overall slowness. All of which turned out to be the Switch’s fault.

I have been shocked at how much zippier the Switch 2 feels in almost every way. Games load faster, menus render more quickly, old games play like new again. The overall speed of the device is, in my time with it so far, a bigger upgrade than just about anything else about the Switch 2. —David Pierce, editor at large

To my surprise, my favorite change for the Switch 2 so far is the extra USB-C port on the top of the console. Maybe that’s just because of the way I work: my desk is usually an overflowing pile of various gadgets and cables, so I like having the extra port on top for charging or plugging in a webcam for some Mario Kart (which I’m definitely only testing for work, pinky promise). —Jay Peters, news editor

The original Switch wasn’t comfortable to hold for an extended time, and I thought the Switch 2’s larger size could remedy that. But to me, the Switch 2 might actually be worse.

The slightly bigger Joy-Con 2 controllers give you a little more to wrap your fingers around in handheld mode, but they’re not contoured like larger third-party gamepads or chunkier PC handhelds. The hard edge along the bottom of the Joy-Con 2 controllers digs into my palms when I’m leaning back on the couch. I felt noticeable discomfort after playing Mario Kart World in this position for less than an hour. By the end of my two-hour session, it was unbearable.

Maybe my soft hands just aren’t burly enough. (After all, I’m on the record complaining about uncomfortable cameras.) But I think the move from the original Switch Joy-Cons’ rounded borders to the Switch 2’s hard edge is a small downgrade I’ll have to work around. —Antonio G. Di Benedetto, reviewer

There was so much hype ahead of the Switch 2’s launch (even before its announcement) that it’s impossible for a device to live up to it all. And yet, after a weekend with the Switch 2, it’s great, though I’m surprised that all of my personal feelings of mystique surrounding it are gone. What it can or can’t do is no longer a mystery, even if figuring out which webcams will work remains one.

I agree with my colleague Andrew Webster who said in his in-progress testing that it’s “a pleasant upgrade, as opposed to a next-gen shift.” However, I’m disappointed that the mystique didn’t stick around a little longer, like it did with the Steam Deck. Turns out, when a handheld doubles as a Linux PC, the possibilities feel limitless.

The same can’t be said for the Switch 2. It’s a better Switch, but conceptually, it’s the same formula. I’m still getting used to that. —Cameron Faulkner, commerce editor

Update, June 10th: Added David’s entry.