Looking to get the newly released Nintendo Switch OLED? Be sure to watch the video from Modern Vintage Gamer first to get a feel for the handheld console and a look at the good and the bad.
How good is the new screen?
The real reason to get the new Nintendo Switch OLED is 100% the new display that fills up more of the console’s body and produces much better blacks and outputs a great contrasty image.
The new OLED panel increases the screen size to 7″ reduces the bezel around the display. There isn’t much else that can be said about the new OLED panel. The only thing to do is to watch the comparison between the last gen Switch to see the difference for yourself.
It is also important to note that the IPS panels found in the Switch and Switch Lite aren’t bad, they are great panels with distinct characteristics. As the Switch OLED has only just come out, we can’t comment on ghosting just yet but since all OLED panels have this issue, we can expect some on screen static elements to burn into the panel.
Quality-of-life improvements
The Switch OLED features a new kickstand that spans most of the console’s body and allows it to be positioned at infinite positions within the range of motion. This new larger kickstand will ensure stable tabletop gameplay and it also won’t be falling off the Switch OLED anytime soon.
A more controversial adjustment is the location of the MicroSD card slot. With the OLED Switch the slot has been placed horizontally behind the new kickstand. It lays flat on the back of the console and requires the user to slide it in. This movement can be a little tricky for some due to the space and size of the MicroSD card. Luckily, you shouldn’t have to access to the MicroSD card once installed.
Disappointing internet connection
One thing that the Nintendo Switch OLED has failed to improve over the previous generations is the internet connective, specifically the download speed. The OLED Switch has introduced an Ethernet port which you would think would improve the internet speed, but it doesn’t. The issue is that downloading on all Switch models wirelessly or wired will see a maximum download speed of around 70Mbps and an upload speed of around 25Mbps.
Even with an internet connection that can handle much more than that the Switch OLED still fails to increase in speed. The reason behind the wired connection being so slow is due to the Switch Dock running on USB2, even though the Switch itself runs on USB3.
Since the Switch has one USB-C port that is used with the dock, it means that the USB2 bandwidth is split between the video signal, audio, and power for the Switch. On top of this the ethernet connection will also account for some overhead resulting in the slow download speeds. This results in games taking forever to download.
