Nintendo Switch 2 preview: "more of the same, but better"

Nintendo has a tough task on its hands. The Nintendo Switch 2 picks up where the third-best-selling console of all time has left off. The original Switch took the world by storm, introducing a brand new hybrid way of play that helped it swallow up casual, hardcore, and even some competitive markets. This is the kind of innovative hardware that Nintendo is known for, and it’s damn hard to replicate.

The handheld will officially launch on June 5, but I’ve been hands-on with it several times now, at public ‘Experience’ events and in private sessions. My full review will follow once I’ve had a chance to live with Nintendo’s successor, but right now, I’m impressed - even if expectations set by Nintendo’s innovative history may need to be tempered.

At its core, this is an easily recognizable experience, the same docking system, same control scheme, same feel. That’s not to discount the very-real upgrades in performance or the surprisingly adept mouse sensor controls, but if you were hoping for another Switch-level, game-changing innovation from Nintendo you’re going to be let down.

But you knew that already.

We’ve now seen and heard enough about the Nintendo Switch 2 to almost forget the deadly silence Ninty held over the console for years on end. We know it’s not a whole new console, it’s a second-generation Nintendo Switch. I’m here to tell you how it actually runs in-hand, and whether cameras and mouse sensors are neat gimmicks for mini-games or actual functionality improvements. In short, things are looking good - but Nintendo has to stick the landing.

Design

Despite sticking with the same 0.55-inch thickness, the Switch successor looks and feels a lot more svelte than its predecessor. I couldn’t work out why that was until I spent a decent amount of time with it in my hands, but now it’s obvious. The whole thing has been stretched vertically.

The display and Joy-Con are much taller this time around, rather than sitting squat in your palms and digging in in the process. The new form factor isn’t without its drawbacks, I noticed that the plus and minus buttons are harder to quickly reach during gameplay and using the Joy-Con sideways requires more of a stretch to the thumbstick if you’re stuck with the dreaded right controller. I struggled to stay nimble with this larger horizontal shape in multiplayer scenarios, so it will be interesting to see how younger players fare.

That’s paired with a new soft-touch matte finish that makes for a far more comfortable experience than the sometimes-sticky feeling of the shiny plastic Joy-Con of yore. This coating is applied across the Joy-Con themselves as well as the tablet. It’s sleek, sophisticated, and much more grown-up than the original device.

This is Nintendo, though, and the brand has dropped a dash of color here and there. Hints of the original’s iconic red and blue aesthetic are present around the thumbsticks and in the internal connection between the Joy-Con and tablet. In keeping with the more mature ethos of the handhelds as a whole, these are more muted than shiny and bold.

The rear hinge has been extended out across, almost, the full length of the tablet but I was surprised to see how skinny it is in real life. The Nintendo Switch OLED improved the stability of this hinge with its own wider implementation, but still remained durable with a whole plate of plastic to work with. Here, we’ve got a slimline strip that’s a little tricky to unlock from the handheld and sits on a particularly thin base. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the stability of the hinge when I get to my full review, but it could be a point of concern for those with younger players.

Overall, I’m a fan of the new Nintendo Switch 2 design. It looks like everything a second-generation handheld should, refined but still nodding back to its iconic mainstays, and feels like a major upgrade. Yes, it weighs a little more than the original, but that’s good weight, it’s the same thickness but it’s far more streamlined in the hand. It’s the difference between an ill-fitting and a well-tailored suit, cinched in all the right places to look much better without changing the core form factor.

Display

I was concerned when I first heard that the new device wouldn’t launch with an OLED display as standard. Then I set eyes on it in person. The truth is, this is a surprisingly impressive LED panel. Finally, we’ve got a full 1080p panel in handheld mode, with a 279 ppi pixel density that tops the 236 ppi of the original model and 209 ppi of the Switch OLED. While its blacks aren’t going to be as deep as those of the latter model, its HDR support and increased sharpness still make for an incredibly vibrant, detailed experience.

The vividness of Mario Kart World’s shone bright in testing, and I was impressed by how clean finer details like the pockets and stitching around Mario’s overalls appeared even in FHD. The 120Hz refresh rate stretched across the larger 7.9-inch display is the cherry on top.

Of course, Mario Kart World is the best way to truly put this screen’s speed to the test. Actual gameplay is much smoother - but that’s a combination of the upgraded internals as well as the screen. Where that refresh rate comes into play is the smaller moments, the lack of motion blur around fast corners, the effortless glide of a Bullet Bill ride. Does it fundamentally change gameplay? No, and it likely won’t outside of the hardcore FPS crowd, but it’s a tangible improvement to the experience as a whole.

It remains to be seen what kind of impact this full-whack 120Hz mode will have on battery life, alongside the increased brightness and HDR. These are real battery killers in other devices, so I’ll be getting the stopwatch out when full testing commences this week.

Joy-Con

There are three major changes to the Joy-Con for this generation, outside of that larger design; magnetic attachment, the addition of a mouse sensor, and enhanced rumble.

The first makes for a much improved connection system compared to the rails used in the original models. Attaching the Joy-Con is as simple as slotting the colored panels on the side of each controller into the inserts on the tablet itself and snapping them into place. Detaching is a simple push of a trigger underneath, while pulling the controllers away from the main body. It's a sturdy connection as well, you can feel it when pushing that release button without pulling hard enough on the controllers themselves - they’re desperate to snap safely back into place.

I do have one concern, and it arose when I looked at the side of the tablet where these controllers actually align. There’s a fairly large connector protruding from within this cubby and, while it’s generally covered by the overhanging lip of the sides themselves, it still looks vulnerable to small fingers poking and prodding. I’ll certainly be keeping a closer eye on longer-term durability during further testing.

The next big addition is the mouse sensor. This is the Switch 2’s big reveal, the added feature that makes the next-generation handheld a true Ninty successor - that is, it does something new and cool that could either define the console as a whole or fade into obscurity. The role the mouse sensor will play in the Nintendo Switch 2’s success will be determined by its support. If enough games use it for central mechanics, it’s certainly got the grunt to be an immeasurable asset. If it’s relegated to toggle-able mini-games and the odd shovelware escapade, it’s an expensive mistake.

As it stands right now, I’m impressed. I test the best gaming mice from all corners of the market every day and, while the skinny Joy-Con side means it’s not going to compete with true competitive rodents, I did have a better time than I thought I would.

I tested it in a reaction-focused minigame housed within Welcome Tour: avoid the spiky balls falling down the screen by gliding your spaceship around with the mouse. Tracking is nippy, acceleration felt well-balanced, and response is consistent. The slimmer form factor of a Joy-Con under your hand doesn’t feel nearly as comfortable as a full mouse during longer play sessions, and the skinnier R button has a particularly short stop that’s a little vulnerable to accidental presses, but the actual sensor part? That’s good to go.

My only question is how much it will get used. I rarely, if ever, play in tabletop mode and when I’m docked I usually don’t have a table in front of me. Yes, these sensors track impressively even on trouser legs, but time will have to tell how willing players will actually be to stick with these controls outside of a desk-based setup. I can easily see myself coming up to a section in a game where mouse controls are required, wondering whether it’s actually worth swapping to a completely different control scheme.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the best case I’ve seen for it yet. Actually replicating a PC FPS experience on a console is tough, but this is the closest we’ve come. Time will only tell if more titles build around these controls in the same way, but if they do this could be a standout feature.

The refinement of the HD Rumble system was actually one of the first things I noticed about the Nintendo Switch 2 when I first held it. Swapping back and forth between the original controllers and the new generation, it’s obvious that some serious work has gone into fine-tuning these motors. There’s more nuance to these vibrations that feels less bold and more precise. While the original bursts to life with a big loud judder, there’s an air of subtlety here.

I’ll be honest and say I haven’t noticed a massive difference in the thumbsticks and face buttons. The sticks are slightly higher and wider, making for a slightly more precise feel overall, and it feels like the buttons themselves might be a little more forgiving on the thumbs than the previous generation - though I’ll need more side-by-side testing to confirm.

GameChat

I’m yet to fully explore everything GameChat has to offer, but I did get a look at the couch co-op opportunities afforded by the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera. Mario Kart World is the game under the microscope here, but it’s obvious even from one title that Nintendo is going for a more social experience. That’s an element of console gaming of which the brand seemed almost defiant in its neglect over the previous generation, barely supporting its own chat app and lagging behind competitors in its online matchmaking overall.

It seems the new console is going all in on video, and it’s got some neat tricks up its sleeve. Four-player couch Mario Kart sessions were enhanced with a live feed of each player’s face hovering just above their character in the race, with all four faces captured at once. The hardest part is making sure you find the time mid-race to laugh at everyone’s very-serious-concentration. Tracking is available if you’re the only player in front of the camera, but it’s still impressive to see the smaller implementations of Ninty’s new toy.

I’ll be testing online GameChat in its full glory more extensively once I’m in the review process, and will report back, but so far, camera quality looks like it does the job without blowing a budget, and the process looks to be fairly streamlined.

Home Screen / UI

Nintendo has kept quiet about its UI and home screen, even while the Switch 2 was out on the showfloor at various Experience events. Put simply, there’s nothing particularly new going on here.

This is an instantly recognizable home screen with just a few buttons added along the bottom of the device. Smaller tweaks are noticeable - game covers feature rounded corners now, with a blue and purple outline highlighting each one, as opposed to the teal color we saw in the previous UI. The home screen also now features dedicated buttons for GameChat and Game Sharing, though the latter is also packaged in with the Switch and Switch OLED thanks to a recent update. It’s also nice to see that the Joy-Con mouse function can be used on the home screen, giving me hope for eShop integration as well.

Quick menus are still here, and if you pick up the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller you’ll be glad to know you can remap those back buttons on the fly. This is an easy process, far quicker than it is on any other gamepad I’ve tried. Simply pull up the quick menu with a hold of the Home button, select the button you want to map and hit the control you want to set it to.

There are no new themes, that I’ve seen so far anyway. We’re still stuck with the standard black / white backdrop.

Games

Onto the good stuff, the games. At launch the Nintendo Switch 2 has 24 confirmed titles heading its way, though only two are new first-party Nintendo titles built directly for the Switch 2 system; Mario Kart World and Welcome Tour. There’s only one third party exclusive on the docket, Fast Fusion, alongside a host of remasters, ports, and re-releases for everything from the Zeldas to Cyberpunk 2077 and Hitman.

On launch day, then, there’s not going to be much new to experience - especially if you don’t like racing games. However, there are a few games in this roster that give us an indication of where Nintendo wants its system to be positioned. Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t have a hope in hell of running on the original handheld, and a few generations ago CD Projekt Red would have had similar chances of publishing it on a Nintendo console.

Nintendo hasn’t been opposed to less-than-family-friendly games being on its systems for some time now, but it’s taken the Switch 2’s performance upgrades for enthusiasts to truly take note. I’ve had a Switch OLED since it launched, but I’ve also had a PS5 and a gaming laptop. Besides Stardew Valley, Oxenfree, and Dragon Quest titles, I haven’t played anything on the Switch that I can’t play on another platform; it’s more expensive and it doesn’t run as well.

I’m in a lucky position. Most players will pick a device and stick with it - this time around, it looks like Nintendo wants to be that platform for enthusiasts as well as families. It’s undeniably impressive that giants like Cyberpunk 2077 and Hitman can keep their cool on a device as slimline and portable as the Nintendo Switch 2, especially running in 4K when docked.

If Nintendo can keep up with upcoming blockbuster releases, the Switch 2 could well be in with a shot at becoming a primary driver for a lot more players.

This is just one sub-section of the library, though. The system is mostly backwards compatible, with a few original Switch games being left off the roster (likely due to Joy-Con limitations). Then there’s the remaster carousel, a ride we’ve all been on for a good few years now. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are the biggest Switch 2 games to receive their upgrade patches ready for day one, but it’s likely we’ll see more re-releases in the future as well.

Dock

Nintendo kept its dock in a little plastic cage for most of its Experience events, but I was able to get up close and personal with the fan-filled hub before launch. I’ll be better able to report on temperatures and volume once I get the device into my own setup, but from my initial inspection, it doesn’t seem like the extra cooling is adding too much noise to the experience. I never noticed the fans whirring up during my time playing Mario Kart World or Welcome Tour, though I was in a room louder than most living rooms.

The dock does, however, allow us to finally output the Nintendo Switch 2 at 4K 60Hz, and features a more rounded design than even the OLED model offered. The hard, squat corners of the original are long gone now, and while the Switch 2 dock keeps the softer edges of the OLED release, it also extends into a rounded hump at the back as well. This is to house those new fans and adds a considerable amount of heft to the final footprint.

It’s not large enough to lose its spot next to most TV setups, but this is a much more substantial piece of kit overall.

Performance

The Nintendo Switch started showing its age long before it was eventually put out to pasture, so it’s the internal performance upgrades that will make or break the Switch 2. With a mysterious new chip and an unknown RAM amount, Ninty has maintained its silence around the actual innards of its new handheld. I’ve played Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond, and Drag X Drive and one thing is obvious; we’re miles away from where the Switch dropped us off.

Perhaps the biggest showcase for these performance upgrades is Mario Kart World. It’s not the game’s increased 24-racer capabilities, its expansive open free roam mode, or the smooth glide of the action on-screen that impressed me the most, though. The biggest indicator that we’re now playing with a whole load more power came from the water.

There are a number of tracks that have you sloshing through canals and rivers, and a whole ocean can be explored in free roam mode. The way these waves picked up and carried light while maintaining their smooth motion and fluid textures was a real eye-opener during my time with the Switch 2. Yes, splash effects are sparse still, and ray-traced effects aren’t going to rival those of high-end PCs, but even the rain looks better, and that’s pretty telling.

There’s no framerate information built into the Nintendo Switch 2, but watching it run next to a Nintendo Switch OLED reveals a palpable difference in smoothness and detail - supporters hold actually-waving flags in the distance, each corner and turn feels incredibly responsive, and fast-moving onscreen elements (even down to the fire erupting from your exhaust with a boost) are all much clearer.

The benefits are easily spotted in Metroid Prime 4 Beyond, where mouse controls will quickly reveal inconsistencies in any framerate counter. I only played a small amount of this title during preview events, but onscreen action looks far slicker and feels far tighter than, say, Doom on the original handheld. We’re not running an RTX 5090 here, I did notice a drop in that responsive high-fps feel around busier events - but it’s nowhere near the jaggedy levels of the previous generation console, I’d still more than happily sail on past without a second thought.

These first impressions come from a selection of Nintendo-picked games, I’ll be back to provide a much larger picture once I’ve put the Switch 2 through its paces a little more in my review. At the moment, though, I’m excited about where this handheld is headed. If the last generation has taught us anything, it’s that Nintendo knows how to optimize and if this is where we’re starting off the Switch 2’s future is looking bright.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has a lot to prove. That $449.99 / £395.99 launch rate has come under fire, not as much as its game prices, but enough to shine a spotlight on exactly what the system does differently to its predecessor. It would be easy to look at the similar form factor and decry the Switch 2 for playing too close to its established rulebook and yes, this is an evolution rather than a whole new device. It’s a desperately needed evolution, and one that Nintendo has taken its time about delivering, but it's an iteration nonetheless.

It’s no bad thing.

The Nintendo Switch may have captured lightning in a bottle, but the Switch 2 is cranking up the generators and putting that electricity to work. The potency of new features like GameChat and the mouse sensors depends entirely on games to support them. For now, the hardware’s all there - Nintendo just needs to make sure there’s enough software to give these elements some runway.

I’m yet to fully get stuck into the handheld, and there are some design elements that present early concerns, but from where I’m sitting two days before launch we could be in for an excellent eight years.

Check out all the Nintendo Switch 2 games now confirmed for the system, as well as our full Nintendo Switch 2 vs Nintendo Switch head to head.