The new Nintendo Switch review: the updated Tegra X1 tested in depth

First unearthed in Switch's firmware 5.0 way back in March 2018, Nintendo's console hybrid is evolving thanks to a new, smaller, cooler Tegra X1. Its efficiency advantages form the basis for the upcoming handheld Switch Lite, but the Nvidia SoC upgrade also takes centre stage in a revised version of the existing model, which recently arrived on shop shelves in Hong Kong. Eager to see how the new silicon performs, we imported a unit and got to work.

On a superficial level at least, not a lot separates this Switch update from the original model. The exterior packaging is much the same, aside from a new Joy-Con led theme on one side of the box. Inside of the packaging, nothing has changed - Joy-Cons and tablet sit on a top layer, with peripherals (dock, HDMI cable, power supply etc) arranged in their respective compartments beneath, exactly as they always have done. A quick check confirms that the despite the new processor's reduced power requirements, the AC charger is the same as the old one and it goes without saying that all of the existing Switch peripherals we had to hand worked just fine on the new machine.

This is indeed something of a 'silent update' for Switch then, a replacement model that arrives with little fanfare - to the point where Nintendo chief Doug Bowser doesn't seem to consider it as a new hardware launch at all. On the one hand, this ensures that all of Nintendo's marketing focus can rest on the Switch Lite, but what it does mean is that the opportunity to even mildly improve issues with the original release have not been taken. The wobbly kickstand still doesn't feel substantial enough to rely on, while the dock is unchanged too despite its rather 'agricultural' build quality, not to mention the many complaints about it over the years.

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