All night long: New Nintendo Switch revision adds significant battery life

The new standard model of the Nintendo Switch will feature a much longer battery life, but no other differences from the launch model.

The Nintendo Switch is a massive success but it’s not without some significant flaws holding the console back, possibly even making some people a little wary of purchasing it.

One of the biggest issues with the console is that while you can play it both on your TV and on the go, the battery life just doesn’t last that long. You might get five to seven hours playing a little indie game, but major titles that take more juice might only last three. That’s not even enough for a day trip in a car.

This isn’t necessarily news. While the Nintendo Game Boy and its initial successors would seem to last forever on a pack of batteries or one charge, portable systems have basically been trading graphical power for battery life for a few generations now.

The PlayStation Vita and the Nintendo 3DS both sport around three to five hours of battery life before needing a charge. It’s just how things have been for a while now, which does make it harder to compete with phones and tablets that can last all day.

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Well, in addition to a cheaper Nintendo Switch Lite model that was just recently announced, the original Switch model is getting a significant upgrade as well. This is likely the “pro” model that had been rumored for month. While it doesn’t feature any improved graphical capabilities, it does feature a significantly longer battery life that’s a minimum of four-and-a-half hours and up to nine hours depending on what you are playing.

This model will look identical to the original Nintendo Switch model, but the packaging will differentiate the two until the original Switch model is phased out.

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I hope there will be some sort of upgrade path for anybody who recently bought a Nintendo Switch, as they would probably feel a little cheated finding out that a new model with significantly longer battery life coming out later in the year. Anyone who bought one at or near launch (which, hey, that’s me), well that’s what you pay for with early adoption. The new Nintendo Switch model will be out next month with no specific date, so it will probably just start showing up on store shelves with little to no notice.

Is the longer battery life enough to convince you to get a Nintendo Switch if you haven’t yet? If you already have a Switch will you get the new model? Would you get this for the longer battery life over the cheaper Switch Lite? Sound off in the comments below!

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