Nintendo's latest Switch 2 system update can reduce battery life by 25%

Nintendo announced it was rolling out a new system update to both the original Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this week, and now that users have downloaded the update and begun testing, something has been noticed - a significant reduction in battery life.

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The reduction in battery life is directly tied to the new Handheld Mode Boost feature, which enables original Nintendo Switch games to be run in TV mode on the Nintendo Switch 2. The idea behind this feature is to increase the graphical fidelity of original Switch games on the Switch 2 in handheld mode, since original Switch games are limited to 720p due to the original Nintendo Switch's display resolution, while the Switch 2 has a 1080p display.

Handheld Mode Boost boosts the resolution of original Switch games to 1080p on the Switch 2, improving graphical fidelity across all titles. However, it has been discovered that enabling this mode reduces the battery life of the Nintendo Switch 2 by about 25%, with one user estimating they were only able to get 3 hours and 43 minutes while playing DOOM (2019), which is down from 5 hours and 5 minutes without the new mode enabled.

This isn't totally surprising at all, especially considering that 1080p resolution is more than double the resolution than 720p, meaning the system is working much more strenuously to produce the image. In fact, Nintendo warned users about this in the update.

• If this option is enabled, Nintendo Switch software being played in handheld or tabletop mode will run with similar performance to the same software being played in TV mode. This may result in improved visuals, but may also increase the console's power consumption during gameplay.
• The precise results of this option will vary based on the software being played. Note that performance will not be boosted for Nintendo Switch 2 software. This option forces the console to behave as if it's running in TV mode while images are being output to the screen. This may affect instructions and other functionality in some software.
• While software performance is being boosted by this option, the console's touchscreen functionality will be disabled. Additionally, if the Joy-Con 2 controllers are attached to the console, they will be treated as a Pro Controller. You'll need to detach the Joy-Con 2 controllers from the console before you can connect any other controllers.

- Wrote Nintendo

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