In 2021 we thought we were going to get a fully redesigned Switch or Switch Pro console. But that wasn’t to be; instead, we got a bigger display in the form of the 7in OLED display with a 720p resolution.
For the Nintendo Switch 2, we naturally thought that the better OLED tech would make it across. However, it turns out we were wrong, and I think that’s a huge mistake on Nintendo’s part.
The problem is that most of us are very used to OLED displays now on our phones, TVs and high-end laptops and while Mini LED is now a big segment of the large-screen market, OLED is the new mainstream for mobile displays (it already had over 50% of the market in 2024). LCD is yesterday’s news.
So, although it’s great that the Switch 2 has a larger 7.9in display, it boasts worse screen tech than the Switch OLED, even if the resolution has been upped to Full HD with a better – and also now normal – refresh rate of 120Hz with HDR support (NB it’s capable of 4K Ultra HD when docked). Those features are very welcome, but it’s not enough if the screen tech isn’t right.
And it will mean that the Switch 2 is already on the back foot compared to other top-notch handhelds such as the Steam Deck OLED.
It’s a big shame since we were expecting Switch 2 to advance what’s already gone before with Switch rather than timidly paddling backwards. I think Nintendo is mistaken that people won’t care about this, since every possible comparison between the models will point out the disadvantage in screen technology.
In our Switch OLED review from 2021 we laid out the advantages of OLED: “As anyone who has owned a top-end smartphone in the last four or five years will know, the richer, more vibrant colours, deeper blacks and far higher contrast made possible by OLED really do make staring at your glowing rectangle of choice that bit more enjoyable, and it’s no different on the Switch OLED.
“It’s not surprising that Nintendo opted to launch the Switch OLED alongside Metroid Dread, in which the inky blacks of the darker areas you explore look gorgeous alongside bright orange lava and the neon lights of the game’s creepy alien space bases. We fired up Switch classics like Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and there’s no doubt that on an OLED display their already vivid worlds pop even more.”
Those words still ring true nearly four years on. Put simply, the Switch OLED’s display was and is excellent and there’s no way the Switch 2’s LCD can match it. For me, there’s no way around the feeling that this is very much a backwards step.
