Nintendo Switch has received a new hardware revision for its regular model that has a longer battery life, but this is not the only upgrade for it.
Nintendo confirmed the better battery life for their new Nintendo Switch hardware revision. They also had a new SoC for this hardware revision which led fans to believe that there might be more upgrades included in the console itself. Starting from August 1st, this new hardware revision is available to sale from various retailers.
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The best way to determine if the Nintendo Switch that you are buying is a new model instead of the old one is to look at the packaging. The new console comes in a slightly different packing than the old one and it is easy to spot. Here’s the packing for the new hardware revision.
According to a comparison video shared by YouTuber Kevin Kenson, there are some hidden improvements that Nintendo hasn’t bother to advertise for this new model.
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First is the peak brightness which has been improved to the ideal level for playing outside. It was recorded at 291 nits with the original model and 318 nits with the new one. Similar, the screen temperature levels have been adjusted making it more pleasing for the eyes. The old one had a temp reading of ~7000 Kelvin compared to the ~6750 Kelvin reading of the new model. This gives it more accurate colors when playing games in portable mode.
Another test was done by running the console to determine the thermal heat and it is cooler in both docked and portable mode. Remember that this test was done with a brand new console so age doesn’t factor in here. Lastly, the JoyCon appear to have been assembled differently than the ones that ship with the original Switch console, but this might apply to a different manufacturing process and not necessarily restricted to the hardware revision.
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Nintendo has faced a lot of controversies when it comes to the drifting issues with the JoyCon controllers and had to share an official statement and offer free repairs for those who were affected by it. This happened after the threat of a class-action lawsuit which was under investigation by a law firm.
