And three! A little over four years after its launch, the Nintendo Switch hybrid console now has three models with the release of the “OLED Model” on October 8. This is a lot compared to the previous home console that was the Wii, but “normal” if we look at the laptop side, with for example the 3DS and its five derivatives. Moreover, this new Switch is clearly intended for portable and mobile use.
If you play at the dock, on your TV, it does not necessarily deserve the investment of 80 euros additional compared to the original Switch (349.99 euros against 269.99 euros), despite the double of internal memory (32 GB at 64 GB), the addition of an Ethernet port to the revamped docking station… and that’s it. The machine itself remains more or less the same.
Brighter colors and deeper blacks
The plus, as its official name suggests, is its new OLED screen, larger with 7 inches against 6.2 inches for the classic model, without the console taking up more space – just a few millimeters and grams. OLED technology is not new, the PS Vita was already on board 10 years ago and the majority of smartphones today have it. But it is clear that the games, at random The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, are revealed in a new light, more beautiful, with more vivid colors and deeper blacks.
Already 90 million Nintendo Switch sold
In a new light and even in the sun, because the brightness of the OLED allows you to play without too many reflections and with a wider viewing angle. Moreover, Nintendo has revised the crutch on the back of the console, until then rather fragile and now more solid to put it on a support and play with several people without squeezing too much in front of the screen. In the same spirit, direct sound offers more power and clarity. This could make the OLED Switch a better portable console than the original Switch.
But isn’t the real portable Switch rather the Switch Lite, less bulky and less expensive? We must therefore see the OLED model as a transition, an update, before a Switch 4K or Pro, as many have dreamed of. Or a console next gen ? Better not to count on it for now, the Switch is selling better than ever, with already 90 million copies sold. Impressive numbers in such a short time and close to the 100 million of the Wii or the PlayStation.
“Metroid Dread”, the showcase game for the OLED Switch?
As for the famous “Joy-Con Drift”, the Switch controllers malfunction, the OLED Switch does not seem to provide a miracle solution, the controllers not having known an update or Nintendo not having communicated on it. You will have to wait several dozen hours of play if the manufacturing problem occurs, and you can spend them on the game Metroid Dread, which was released on the same day as the OLED Model and marks the return of bounty hunter Samus Aran. For its first adventure on Switch, the franchise offers what it does best: a 2D platform game with side scrolling and ultra-dynamic rendering. Especially on Switch OLED?