Nintendo's OLED Switch is the best Switch yet, but don't rush for this upgrade

Nintendo's new OLED display-enhanced Switch is not terribly exciting, but it's still the best version of this console.

There are sensible improvements that give the "OLED Model" a major advantage over the hardware that launched back in 2017. It's nothing transformative, though. Even the people who feel compelled to always have the newest, shiniest versions of their favorite tech toys should think carefully before making this $350 device an automatic purchase.

While the standard model ($300), the Switch Lite ($200), and this new OLED model all have qualities that set them apart from one another, the high-tech innards that process game data and spit it out onto the screen are functionally identical across all three.

A game running on the OLED machine is going to have the same performance and load times as it would on either of the other consoles. If you plug it into the dock so you can play on your TV, it's also not going to be any different than the experience you'd get from a docked standard Switch.

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The improvements are here, they're just not literally game-changing. Built-in storage has been doubled, from 32GB to 64GB (functionally, it's more like 54GB). It's a welcome boost, but serious players will likely still want to expand the storage with a MicroSD card. The OLED display is obviously the highlight here. It's right there in the name! And the 7-inch screen may not sound like a big upgrade from the standard model's 6.2-inch screen, but in this case seeing is believing.

The OLED model's bezel is hardly non-existent, measuring about 0.5 millimeters on the two sides and 0.3 millimeters on the top and bottom. But there's a noticeable difference if you've spent any time with the standard model: Those bezels measure more than 1 millimeter on the sides and 0.7 millimeters on the top and bottom.

It's an easier difference to grasp when you see it, versus reading it on a spec sheet or in a review.

Left: Credit: adam rosenberg / mashable

Right: Credit: ADAM ROSENBERG / MASHABLE

Of course, it's not just the larger display that's a draw. The OLED technology added to this Switch is also an immediate upgrade over the LCD screens featured on both of the earlier consoles. Forget the technical differences; in a functional sense, the OLED model looks, simply, better, with a sharper picture and a more vibrant palette of colors.

The speakers also get a boost. I'm still not clear on the tech that's fueling the OLED model's "enhanced audio" but it's a noticeable improvement. Even in my loud, busy house where I live with two dogs and a toddler — and I do most of my handheld gaming in a cavernous, high-ceilinged living room — the audio was clear and layered.

This was most evident for me in Metroid Dread, a new game that's launching alongside the OLED Switch. The sci-fi space action game is a moody adventure through the underbelly of an alien planet. In addition to featuring a lush soundtrack and a multilayered soundscape of environmental effects and alien creatures noises, there are audio cues during combat that help players counter incoming attacks more effectively.

I'd usually resort to headphones when playing that kind of game while the family's around, but even with the TV on and the toddler screaming his little head off I had no trouble keeping up with the game. If anything, an OLED Switch pumped to its max volume is a bit too loud when, say, someone's in the room watching TV.

The audio upgrade is particularly welcome given how tabletop-friendly this new Switch is. My low-key favorite addition is the revised kickstand. On the discontinued original Switch, as well as its replacement, a 2019 update that was was basically a battery boost, the kickstand was a dinky, little strip of plastic that popped out from the back of the unit and seemed to only barely support its weight.

The kickstand on this OLED Switch is a night-and-day difference. The strip of plastic has evolved into a longer one that spans the entire length of the console. It's on a tighter and more adjustable hinge, too, meaning you can prop up the OLED model at an angle of your choosing. Where the original kickstand felt like a flimsy accessory that may or may not have been baked into the design at the last minute, the new kickstand is a natural extension of the Switch's multi-use utility.

Oh what a difference a decent kickstand makes. Credit: adam rosenberg / mashable

That leaves the dock. It is a marginal upgrade over the one that ships with the standard Switch, with the big addition being an ethernet port. It's also a new color (white, versus the original's black) and features a slightly redesigned panel for reaching the HDMI, ethernet, and power ports. But being able to connect your Switch to a wired internet — a first for this console — should make those slow and painful WiFi-only eShop downloads more bearable.

As for the TV output itself, there's no difference at all between the OLED model and the standard model. If anything, the superior OLED display shines an even brighter light on how the Switch is really at its best in handheld or tabletop mode. The OLED screen maxes out at 720p resolution, but it's so small that the rougher aspects of its sub-1080p resolution aren't evident.

Those rough edges are easy to spot once you dock, however. Metroid Dread is a beautiful game any way you slice it, but jumping from handheld mode to the TV brings a very obvious downgrade in quality. Even with something as simple as the title and logo, lines that seemed smooth on the smaller display sudden become rough and jagged. Metroid is still bolstered by its exceptional art design, but it and other games won't ever look their absolute best in docked mode.

That just leaves the battery. It shouldn't come as a surprise if you've read this far, but the battery in the OLED Switch offers roughly the same performance as the battery in the standard Switch. Nintendo rates both at "4.5 to 9 hours" of play, depending on the game, and my Metroid gaming definitely came in on the low end of that. There's more testing to be done with the battery, but it certainly feels comparable to the standard Switch.

There are literally no surprises here. If you've been paying attention to Nintendo's news drops on this OLED Switch, then you're already prepared for a positively whelming new hardware experience. Well, dear readers, I am whelmed. This is definitely the best Nintendo Switch that has ever existed, but it's hardly a must-buy.

The only no-brainer reason to upgrade here is if you're still playing on an actual launch Switch, the model that came out in March 2017. Nintendo discontinued that one and replaced it in 2019 with the battery-boosted model. That's where the upgrade question starts to get trickier.

This OLED model isn't replacing the standard Switch. If you have that older one and it's still working fine, I'd recommend skipping this upgrade unless you can get a great trade-in deal for your older console. Think about it like this: Is it really worth spending hundreds to get a new Switch that does everything your current Switch can, but with a nicer screen, kickstand, and audio system? The storage upgrade is virtually meaningless, since the usable 54GB still won't be enough to mitigate the need for most people to pick up a MicroSD card.

The upgrade question is even more complicated when we get to the Switch Lite. This handheld-only model came out in 2019. You can't dock it with a TV and the lack of a kickstand means you'd need to prop it up with something if you wanted to set up for tabletop play. The LCD screen is also smaller than either of the other two models.

The OLED Switch dock is almost identical, physically, to the original, except for the new white shell and a slightly redesigned rear plate.

Credit: ADAM ROSENBERG / MASHABLE

The only worthwhile upgrade to the dock is the addition of an ethernet port.

Credit: ADAM ROSENBERG / MASHABLE

That said, the Lite was built and sold to a very specific audience: People who like the idea of a Switch as a mobile-only gaming system. If you got a Lite, you paid specifically to have a console that can't beam its games onto a TV. The OLED model's biggest asset is its boost to the mobile experience — that display looks great — but you're paying a premium for that, as well as TV docking. It's also physically larger to hold and carry around.

I still don't think it's worth an upgrade if you already own a Lite, but that's based on my own usage and life situation. I can imagine scenarios where the OLED's upgraded screen is appealing for Lite owners, especially with the kickstand and audio upgrades bringing an inherent boost to tabletop play. If you like the idea of bringing a Switch and a few extra Joy-Con controllers to a party or family event, this is the ideal console to set up on a table so people can gather around it.

There's also the future to consider. The Switch has been a hit for Nintendo and it's probably not disappearing anytime soon. But PlayStation and Xbox are still light-years ahead in terms of high-fidelity play experiences. Nintendo may insist that nothing's on the horizon right now, but it's not hard to envision a scenario in 2023 or 2024 where the long-rumored 4K Switch finally does happen.

Like I said right up front, there's nothing terribly exciting here. This new Switch is pretty much the same as the old Switch in all the ways that really matter. If you're buying a Nintendo machine for the first time, you can't do any better than the OLED Switch. But if you're hungry for an upgrade, it probably makes sense to wait until Nintendo delivers a hardware update that literally changes the games.

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