With the new Switch Lite finally revealed after months of suspicions, gamers are now wondering what’s in store for the base version of the Nintendo console. After all, the Switch Lite offers better battery life, although while sacrificing a bunch of other features. All this means that console fans want more out of the base Switch as a result.
Now, Nintendo has confirmed that a new revision on the original portable console is in fact on the way.
[任天堂HP]バッテリー持続時間が長くなったNintendo Switchの新モデルに関するお知らせを掲載しました。 https://t.co/ONuBgOIrd2
— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) July 17, 2019
The big improvement with the new console is a better battery life. The current model has a battery life of approximately 2.5-to-6.5 hours on a single charge, the new one will boast from 4.5-to-9 hours. For comparison, the Switch Lite has a maximum battery life of around 7 hours. And obviously, more intense games will shorten this length of time. For example, Nintendo says that Zelda: Breath of the Wild will get around 5.5 hours on a full charge.
The improved battery life is likely being achieved by revising internal hardware a bit. This is a pretty common thing with console makers, whether it’s introducing a more efficient processor setup, or new battery package, there are any number of ways Nintendo could improve upon the Switch to deliver this new and improved battery life.
Nintendo’s Japanese arm confirmed as much, and that the console will begin selling the consoles in late August. Retailers should start seeing these shipments arrive in September, although this will obviously vary in some areas. This puts the new Switch version right alongside the Switch Lite, so that’s nice for those looking to either upgrade or buy one for the first time.
And if you would like to compare the various models, of which there will now be three in total, you can see a comparison of the all three of the machines on the Nintendo Japan website.
