Nintendo Gives The Original Switch A Longer Battery Life, New Joy-Con Colors Announced

A week after Nintendo’s big reveal of the Nintendo Switch Lite, the company now has revealed another model, which is in line with all of the earlier reports leading up to today.

This new Nintendo Switch model is a refresh on the original, but will features significantly longer battery life. The official announcement puts its release date in Japan sometime in late August, according to a tweet from the official Nintendo Twitter page. It also shows off new box art to help separate it from the original Nintendo Switch. Check out the tweet below.

This new model is, for all intents and purposes, still just the same old Switch in terms of other capabilities and feature sets, except for that longer battery life. Taking a gander at the comparison pages for Switch models and we see just how much longer are we talking about, and it’s kind of hefty.

This new Nintendo Switch carries a model number of HAC-001(-01), in comparison to the original, which bears model number HAC-001. The new Nintendo Switch’s battery life sits at 4.5 hours to 9 hours, depending on the game you play, compared to the original which goes for 2.5 to 6.5 hours. That’s two and half hours more of playing time in total. The page also noted some real-life tests for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The original Switch can last for approximately 3 hours playing that title, this new one can do approximately 5.5 hours, which is almost double the original.

This new Switch’s battery also lasts longer than what the Switch Lite will be offering, with the latter getting anywhere from 3 to 7 hours of battery life.

This longer battery life comes from the efficiency of the new Tegra chip inside, the same one that will be used in the Lite. It’s a notable difference when you think about it, since this new Switch doesn’t have any new hardware additions except for its chip, including keeping its 4310 mAH battery intact.

Pricing for this new Nintendo Switch model will remain the same, at $299. I would, however, expect the remaining original Switch models to be priced lower after this one comes out.

In addition to this new Nintendo Switch model, Nintendo of America also announced some new Joy-Cons to go along with it. Two new pairs were announced: a Blue and Neon Yellow pair, and a Neon Purple and Neon Orange pair. Check them out below.

These new Joy-Cons will be on sale come October 4, more than a month after the launch of the new Nintendo Switch.