Nintendo quietly announces a new Switch with improved battery life

Still pondering the purchase of a Nintendo Switch? Well, you have options. Last week Nintendo announced the dockless, handheld-only Switch Lite, and today it has unveiled an upgraded version of the standard console. While it looks exactly the same as the original, the new model – or the HAC-001(-01), if you prefer to use catchy full names – has improved battery life thanks to a more power-efficient processor, now giving you anything between 4.5 and nine hours of juice. Specifically, you should expect to get 5.5 hours when playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The launch Switch was rated at 2.5 to 6.5 hours of battery, so this is a pretty significant upgrade, even if we must continue to use wired headphones for Nintendo gaming in 2019. Grrr. It goes on sale in September.

Matt Tate Contributor

About

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.

Areas of expertise

Video games, VR, smartwatches, headphones, smart speakers, bizarre Kickstarter campaigns