Switch OLED: Common Questions
Straight answers to the questions we are asked most about the Switch OLED, based on two weeks of testing.
Last revised
The questions we are asked most often about the Switch OLED, answered from our own testing rather than the specification sheet.
Is it worth buying?
It scored 4 out of 5 at £309. It is a straightforward recommendation if you are families, and anyone who wants Nintendo games, and a poor one otherwise.
What is the catch?
The 2015 silicon shows badly in any third-party port. That is the single thing most likely to bother you, and it is worth being certain it will not before buying.
How long will it stay usable?
Assume the support window rather than the hardware determines this. Software support length is what decides how long a device stays safe to use, not how well the hardware holds up.
How does it compare with the alternatives?
The strongest alternative we have measured is the Steam Deck OLED at £479, which scored 5 out of 5 against this one's 4. The cheapest we would still recommend is the Xbox Series S at £249. Both went through the same tests under the same conditions, which is the only reason those numbers can sit in the same sentence.
Should I buy it now or wait?
It launched in 2021, which puts it 5 years into its life. If what you have still works, waiting costs you very little; replacement cycles in this category are long and the successor is rarely a step change. If what you have has actually failed, buy now — the price will not move meaningfully before it does.
Is it good for everyday use?
Yes, with one qualification. For families, and anyone who wants Nintendo games it is a straightforward yes. The qualification is that the 2015 silicon shows badly in any third-party port, which is a background irritation for most people and a dealbreaker for a few — and only you can say which you are.
Full specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Display | 7in OLED, 60Hz, 400 nits |
| Chip | Nvidia Tegra X1+ |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB + microSD |
| Weight | 420g |
| Battery | 4310mAh |
| Play time | 5h 30m in demanding titles |
What we liked
- The lightest console here by a clear margin
- An exclusive library nothing else can offer
- The dock makes TV play genuinely effortless
What we did not
- The 2015 silicon shows badly in any third-party port
- 720p handheld and 1080p docked
- Joy-Con drift remains unresolved
Behind this page
This reference page is written from the same testing notes as the reviews it supports, and it is revised whenever the hardware or the software underneath it changes. Where a figure appears here it has been measured rather than quoted from a specification sheet.
If something on this page no longer matches what you are seeing, it is out of date rather than disputed — tell us and it gets checked again.
Related reading
The reviews this page supports go into the measurements behind these figures, and the knowledge base collects every reference page we keep.
Elsewhere in common questions: TP-Link Deco XE75: Common Questions, ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13: Common Questions and UniFi Express: Common Questions.