Is Nintendo Switch OLED worth it?

This week a new Nintendo Switch model was announced, but it felt like it wasn’t the one that most hardcore gamers were waiting for. With all the stories that were going around about what parts Nintendo was sourcing and what the features of the new system were likely going to be, it seems like many anticipated something that never was.

Increased resolution, at least when docked, improved joy-cons without drift worries, increased horsepower to help a system from 2017 built with already dated parts compete in todays landscape were just a few of the hopes that many had.

All of these improved features that many were hoping for only make sense for Nintendo from a games perspective. For the most part, right now and likely for the rest of 2021, there is nothing on the release docket from Nintendo that would massively benefit from a greatly improved Switch. Metroid Prime 4, Breath of the Wild 2 and whatever other flagship titles Nintendo has planed aren’t due to be released until 2022 at the earliest.

It’s not to say that there aren’t games available right now that would benefit from improvements, for example in our review for Mario Golf: Super Rush there were some areas that felt hindered by the limited processing power and Hyrule Warriors had some of the worst frame rate drops the Nintendo Switch has seen so far. These are recent titles, so it’s obvious that after four years on the market, the Nintendo Switch could use a technology improvement but it’s not a necessity at the moment.

Nuts and Bolts and Switches

The Nintendo Switch OLED has as you would expect an OLED screen that is 7 inches up from the 6.2 from the original Switch, it has an improved kickstand that looks to be across most of the back of the system instead a little, breakable flap, the dock now contains a lan port and it now comes built with 64GB of internal storage, up from 32GB. It also now comes in white, which looks very clean and Apple reminiscent instead of the typical Nintendo Neons.

These are all improvements from the original, although mostly not the requested ones many were hoping for, there are still a step in the right direction. The question remains, is the Nintendo Switch OLED worth it? I think there are two answers to this question.

If you already own the Nintendo Switch, this doesn’t seem to warrant enough reason to purchase. Especially when you factor in the MSRP of $349.99 US/$449.99 CAD which puts it extremely close the cost of a new PS5 or an Xbox Series and is even higher than the cost of an Xbox Series X, which does have some competitive specs compared to the higher end system and does get you access to Xbox Game Pass. There are many quality of life upgrades compared to original but not enough that it makes sense to purchase a new one

The other answer is that if you are in the market and considering jumping into the Nintendo Switch ecosystem, then the Switch OLED seems like the most logical purchase if you are deciding between the original and the OLED. There is enough reason to spend the extra fifty dollars to get the Switch OLED.

It’s no coincidence that Metroid Dread is launching the same day as the Nintendo Switch OLED, as there isn’t much else releasing this fall as a flagship title to display new hardware. Metroid Dread being a 2D side scrolling adventure is clearly going to benefit from a bigger, sharper screen in handheld mode, where the upcoming hardware has focused on. Nintendo likely has data to back up this new model as it focuses on the handheld gamer.

Personally, I was expecting to be ready to purchase the Nintendo Switch Pro when it got announced but fortunately, this isn’t the Pro upgrade I was expecting, which is good news that I won’t feel compelled to purchase a new system this holiday. My Switch use is primarily in docked which means that the only reasons for someone like me to purchase this system would be for the white dock aesthetic. I still fully expect most of the reporting of 4K output and improved processing to be available in the next iteration which wouldn’t be surprising to see launch alongside something like Breath of the Wild 2 or Metroid Prime 4.

However, both of these games seem like holiday 2022 at best and possibly 2023 and that would fall in line with Nintendo’s upgrade cycle of around every two years. The original Switch launched in March 2017, Switch Lite in September 2019, Switch OLED in October of 2021, which would seem like the obvious next iteration to happen in 2023. Personally, not having to purchase another Switch this holiday is just fine for me.