The Nintendo Switch OLED has arrived, and just like the previous versions of the system, the battery life on these consoles while in handheld mode is painfully poor.
Nintendo officially lists that the battery life of the OLED can last anywhere between 4.5-9 hours, depending on the game. More demanding titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey could be played for 4-5 hours, whereas small indie games or using the game on standby could see the system survive for a longer time.
This battery life is a step up from the original Switch’s 2-5 hour battery life that owners dealt with back in 2017. The bump in battery life is also a slight improvement of the Switch Lite’s 3-7 hours but still feels sub-par in the grand scheme of things.
All things considered, there is still an improvement here no matter how small it might be, and considering the price of the OLED system is $50 more than the original one, you could argue that the purchase is still worth it for all the benefits of the system.
Still, if you plan to go on a long flight or trip in the future, be sure to pack an external battery pack to keep your OLED system charged for the entire trip.
