Nintendo Switch 2 battery life has left fans absolutely floored

Nintendo has just revealed the specs for the Nintendo Switch 2, including its estimated battery life… and it’s somehow even worse than the base model Nintendo Switch.

Thanks to a report from Eurogamer's Victoria Kennedy, we now know exactly how long you’re going to be able to use your Nintendo Switch 2 for while it’s not docked (and exactly how that lines up with previous OG Nintendo Switch models).

Following the Nintendo Direct presentation on Wednesday, Nintendo uploaded the full specifications for the Nintendo Switch 2 on their Japanese website.

Said spec sheet states that the battery life for the console is “Approx. 2 - 6.5 hours”, although they do note that this figure is just an “estimate” and that battery life will vary based on “the games you play and usage conditions.”

As Kennedy’s article revealed, this is actually worse than the base model Nintendo Switch. Nintendo’s own support page states that the battery life for the first Nintendo Switch models is “approximately 2.5 to 6.5 hours”.

Over in a thread on the r/Games subreddit detailing the news, commenters weren’t too thrilled to hear about the comparison.

“This was my biggest fear when I heard that it would have a 1080p panel,” commented user Pheonix1025.

“I still think that the Steam Deck’s 800p screen is the sweet spot for that size of device, but oh well. I’m glad I’m mostly a docked Switch user so I don’t have to deal with this too much.”

“That's the big killer right there for me…” replied user AyraWinla.

“Battery life is my #1 concern when it comes to handheld, and the original Switch had a short enough battery life to cause me frustrations, especially as the years went by.”

Personally, this is enough reason for me not to grab a Nintendo Switch 2 at launch.

Although two hours minimum could be worse, I just know that in a year or two, Nintendo are going to release a resized version of the Nintendo Switch 2.

The revised “XK” model of the Nintendo Switch was announced in July 2019, just over two years after the first “XA” models dropped. For comparison, the new XK models had two more hours of improved minimum battery life over the base models.

Plus, if I wait two years, maybe Mario Kart World will only cost £70 by that point…