The Switch 2’s Battery Life Is Worse Than The Original

Battery life for gaming handhelds is always a challenge but the tradeoffs for the Switch 2 appear to be particularly brutal. Nintendo has confirmed that the next-gen device will run for anywhere from 2-6.5 hours on a single charge depending on what you’re playing. It ain’t great. In fact, it’s somehow even worse than that of the original Switch.

While not discussed during today’s Nintendo Direct, a separate spec sheet for the Switch 2 shared on Nintendo’s website confirmed that the gaming handheld hybrid console uses an internal lithium ion battery with a capacity of 5220 mAh. In theory, that nets out to a battery life estimate of “Approx. 2 – 6.5 hours,” probably more if you’re playing a smaller indie game and less if you’re running something like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom with its upgraded Switch 2 performance and higher framerate. 

That’s rough, especially when you compare it to existing Switch models which are over double the battery life of the Switch 2. As per Nintendo’s support page:

For Nintendo Switch consoles with a serial number that starts with “XA”, the battery life is approximately 2.5 to 6.5 hours

For Nintendo Switch Lite, the battery life is approximately 3 to 7 hours

For Nintendo Switch – OLED Model with a serial number that starts with “XT”, the battery life is approximately 4.5 to 9 hours

For Nintendo Switch consoles with a serial number that starts with “XK”, the battery life is approximately 4.5 to 9 hours.

Even the base Switch model, which early adopters will remember had pretty crummy battery life until a hardware revision later on improved things, had an alleged floor of 2.5 hours (some of those early Breath of The Wild sessions definitely felt like they went less than that). The Switch 2 battery life fares better in a matchup with Valve’s Steam Deck, however. The LCD model only offers 2 – 8 hours, and the OLED model maxes out at 3-12 hours.

Still, it’s disappointing to see the Switch successor backslide in such an important part of the hardware user experience. I’m guessing later iterations of the Switch 2 will improve the battery life, but it sucks having to go back to where we were eight years ago for a device that otherwise appears to deliver a lot of the upgrades fans have long wanted from a next-gen Switch.