HANDS ON with the Nintendo Switch
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,901 words · ~9 min read
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Nintendo recently released tech specs on their switch page but it hasn't been all
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that useful their CPU and GPU are currently listed as NVIDIA customized
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Tegra processor which could be a rather wide range of performance and they've
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also told some Publications that its clock speed is halfed when you take it
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out of the dock although they told me today that nothing changes when it's
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undocked so not really sure what's going on there tunnel bear is the simple VPN
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app that makes it easy to browse privately and enjoy a more open internet
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try tunnel bear for free at the link below the screen is a 720p 6.2 in
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capacitive panel although I don't know if it's just like a really good TN panel
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or if it's some IPS technology going on on top of the console amongst the power
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button volume buttons and an audio jack for connecting headphones microphones
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and headsets there's a game card slot on the back side there's a kickstand so you
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can prop the console up a Micro SD card slot that is compatible with micro SD
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micro SDHC and Micro SDXC memory cards
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and while it has been quoted multiple times that it only supports up to 256
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gig cards recent statements from Nintendo state that up to 2 terab cards
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will work just fine once they're available and then at the very bottom
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there is a USB type-c connector this can be used to connect devices such as an AC
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adapter a battery bank or a Nintendo switch dock with the joycon controllers
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attached to the rails located on the side of the console it will weigh just
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398 G internally there is 32 GB of
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internal storage and a portion of that is reserved for the system so you don't
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have a ton of room to play with and it's fairly expected that you will get an SD
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card to the point where the game case that they're selling that I've seen so
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far has two SD card slots in it it has a
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4,310 mAh battery and it is not user
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replaceable at all if the battery does need to be replaced Nintendo will offer
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a paid replacement through Nintendo customer supp Port Said battery will
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take 3 hours to charge and will last roughly 3 hours in Zelda breath of the
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wild but is quoted to last over 6 hours
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if software and usage conditions are optimal the switch can be used in
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handheld mode similar to something like a Game Boy tabletop mode if you're away
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from home and playing with friends or simply don't want to hold on to it and
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last but not least TV mode where you would connect the console to the dock
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the docket cell features two USB ports on the side which can be used to charge
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various wireless controllers or support something like an Ethernet over USB
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adapter and of course in the base of the unit there's a USB type-c connector to
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connect the console moving to the back which I actually kind of got in a lot of
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trouble for trying to open at the event there's an AC adapter an HDMI port and a
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single USB port which is currently set to 2.0 but has 3.0 support planned for
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the future now this is purely speculation but considering the dock is
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essentially a nicely stylized USB type-c hub plus a place to hold your switch I
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can see third party options coming around that are just essentially breakout cables essentially you could
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have a really value option of just a USB type-c cable to your console that breaks
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out to AC wall power and HDMI out it's
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doesn't have as many features and you'd have to lay the console down but it
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would work and it would be nice and cheap compared to the $90 price tag of
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the Nintendo switch doc the joycon controllers will come in a standard gray
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color or neon blue and neon red they have approximately 20 hours of battery
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life and can charge to full in 3.5 hours
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to charge them you need to rail them onto the side of the switch console
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itself if it's docked they'll just charge up right away and if it's
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undocked they won't charge unless they are specifically at very low battery
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they have HD Rumble for precise vibrations and weigh roughly 50 g each
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with the right side controller having NFC for amiibo support and an IR motion
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camera just in case you want to play like rock paper scissors or something
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also the battery is again not user replaceable and will have to be a paid
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service from Nintendo incl included in the Box are also some joyon straps which
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must be railed into each controller and feature enhanced shoulder buttons there
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is also the option for the joycon grip the one included with the system has no
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specific features other than pass through for the power indicator LEDs on
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the joy-cons it literally just holds them and adds some handles if you want
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to be able to charge them through the grip accessory you need to buy an
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additional grip accessory that supports charging now there has been some
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confusion over how exactly the joy-con controllers connect to the switch itself
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with a lot of the speculation being around Bluetooth this may or may not be
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related but I was pulled up on stage to play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe against some
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other dude I was fairly confident as I've played my fair share of Mario Cart
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8 on the Wii U and I placed myself on the left hand side farthest from the
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switch console may I add I would try to drift to the right around a corner and
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would thus be thrown directly into a wall on the left
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it was frustrating and there was other problems like that now I thought that it
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was just because of this training wheels feature that will help bring you down
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the track I thought that maybe my Pro Mario Kart 8 Deluxe moves were actually
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screwing with the training wheels and resulting in some weird actions and I
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thought I was just above that but no apparently it was just some Wireless
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interference in the actual showroom because of the amount of wireless
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devices and switch consoles that were there they moved me from the other side
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of the stage closer to the switch console and bam everything worked just
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fine I was able to climb from 12th Place dead last to 9th in just a few seconds
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but the damage was done the other guy came in third I lost my pride damaged
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but they got me another race a chance to redeem myself they put me on stage
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against a little girl I'll let you watch
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how that came out my man Luke came up here all right you're going to come over
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here for lack of words you just got humiliated in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe right
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so you're going to have to make some choices Luke this is Lyla she's very
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good at this G by the way but the other situation is if Lyla beats you you're
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going to be humiliated again and then you got to carry that into tomorrow so a
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bigger bag yeah see that that both rocks just got bigger they're Boulders okay so
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good luck I mean I I wish you the best I really do so folks For Your
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Entertainment Maybe for Luke's humiliation I don't know this is Mario
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Kart 8 Deluxe gentlemen can we go and get that on the screen good luck sir I
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guess that's the best I can tell you I tried to stop before the Finish Line I
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didn't want to be a massive jerk and beat a little girl at Mario Kart in
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front of her mom on stage I turned into the wall and I let off the accelerator
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but it dragged me over the freaking Finish Line at first I thought this was
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momentum and I was rather surprised felt
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horrible how could I have done this then I realized it was that damn training
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wheels feature that I mentioned earlier in an attempt to help me it made me
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continue down the course and over the Finish Line in the single most
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horrifying accidental Victory I have ever achieved ideally I wanted to spend
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the majority of the race in first but then let her win that would have been
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the non horrible thing to do instead I
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came in first this was observed by a large percentage of the people at the
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event and very few understood that it was the training wheels that made me win
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I will forever be known as that guy who got crushed then proceeded to join
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another match against a little girl and beat her at Mario Kart 8 on stage in
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front of her mom I'm never going to outlive this and if you're watching lla
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you're awesome good race and if I see you at another event I'm sure you'll
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beat me then this isn't the most powerful piece of technology ever and
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that's a bit of an understatement unfortunately I was unable to play
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breath of the wild but it apparently runs at 30fps but the games that I did
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play like Mario Kart for example did feel very smooth and looked great even
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despite the 720p resolution in handheld mode because of stuff like their art
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style Nintendo consoles aren't something that you buy for their blazing fast
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performance you buy a PC for that the ability to take this everywhere you go
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char ing it off battery Banks if you need to and then coming home and putting
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it on a dock for the same quality but maybe even upgraded to 1080P and playing
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on the couch is a pretty great experience and yeah I agree it should
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have included something in the box like switch sports or something similar to
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Wii Sports and it would have been really cool if they could have included one two
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switch because that game looks hilariously awesome to play with friends
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like who would have thought of milking a cow on the Nintendo switch I I don't
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know but it would be fun and I expect that game to go underappreciated because
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of its premium price tag it's out of stock everywhere as far as I can tell
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and reselling pre-orders for nearly twice the price on eBay seems to be
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popular right now so maybe wait a bit before deciding if you're going to buy
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one or not but once they're available again I definitely will although I admit
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I'm a bit of a Nintendo Fanboy a
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high-powered computer and a modern Nintendo console have always been a
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fantastic pair in my opinion and I'm excited for what the future of the
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switch has to offer