Check out Nintendo’s beautiful OLED-screened Switch upgrade

£310, nintendo.co.uk

Long has the world waited for the fabled Switch Pro, but the world should have known that was not the Nintendo way. Nintendo’s console revisions are about iterative improvements: see the long history of the 3DS, the GBA Micro, even the redesigned NES, released at the end of that console’s life. None messed with the formula even slightly; they just made things better. Few drove any meaningful wedge between the haves and have nots – your old hardware was still good.

For this second revision of the main-line Switch hardware (the first of which was a quiet battery upgrade, stealthily pushed out in 2019) Nintendo sticks to those guns. It has a better, bigger screen. It introduces a few minor quality-of-life improvements. It packs in highly sexy (and very grown-up) white Joy-cons along with some additional storage. But the Nintendo Switch OLED version does not meaningfully change what the Nintendo Switch is. It just makes it that little bit better.

As much as we’d have loved 4K docked output, better frame rates, or extra beef to give the next wave of stone-cold Nintendo classics the muscle they need to shine, we’re forced to admit that this revision is exactly what the still-in-its-prime Switch needs. Everything will run exactly as it did, and if you’re already a Switch owner, as nigh on 80 million people are, there’s no need to worry about your hardware becoming obsolete. Want a better screen? Upgrade. Not bothered? You’re good.

“Haven’t already bought a Switch? This should win you over”

Josh Russell, Editor

The standard Switch’s flimsy, narrow kickstand gets an adjustable full-width upgrade, making playing anywhere more palatable. And its Joy- con connections remain the same, so you can bring your old controllers.

OLED ALERT With 7 inches of contrasty screen to play with (compared to the 6.2-inch display of the standard Switch) the Switch OLED drops a whole lot of bezel. This may or may not be a Samsung PenTile panel – we hope not, as those can get fizzy – and has Nintendo solved the OLED burn-in problem? Time will tell... NEW KID ON THE DOCK The dock gets a small upgrade in this edition, with a sleeker, slightly more rounded design. There’s a bonus around the back in the form of an Ethernet port – solidifying Nintendo’s commitment to twitchy online games.