Nintendo Officially Reveals Updated Switch Hardware with Vastly Improved Battery Life

One of the big pluses to the Nintendo Switch Lite was that it had a longer battery life, even though it was only marginally so. Now, Nintendo is making that a bit of a moot point. Over on the official website for the Nintendo Switch comparing the Switch to the Switch Lite, there is a new model number with greatly improved battery life. Instead of 2.5-6 hours of life, the new model of the Switch will have 4.5-9 hours! For comparison, the Switch Lite is set to have 3-7 hours. The battery is the only change that I can find (although an FCC listing (via The Verge) suggests a new CPU and storage system is the root of the change), so don’t expect this to be the rumored Switch Pro.

This makes me really question how hard it would’ve been to put an even better battery in the Switch Lite. Of course, cost is sure to play a big part in that, but that extra 1.5-2 hours of life is pretty big for handheld gamers. This furthers the idea that the Switch Lite is primarily being designed to be a family’s second, third, etc. Switch and not the main device. What do you think of this updated battery life? Will you be trying to trade in your Switch for a newer one with improved battery life? There’s no word on when these will be available, but you’ll want to make sure the serial number starts with XKW.