Switch 2 won’t kill your hands like Switch 1, but it ain’t perfect

If you were handed a Nintendo Switch 2, you might not initially realize it. Sure, it might feel a little bigger in the hand, but otherwise the experience of holding Nintendo’s long-awaited follow-up feels familiar, with all the pluses and minuses that go along with that.

Delving a bit deeper, though, the improvements do become apparent. You just have to hunt for them.

When in handheld mode, the Switch 2 is about an inch wider and a half-inch taller than the original Switch. This increased size allows the Joy-Con 2 controllers to hug the new 7.9-inch screen, which is also noticeably bigger than the original Switch’s. While playing Mario Kart World, I really appreciated the increased screen real estate, allowing me to soak up the image of a cow on a motorcycle doing backflips over Donkey Kong. But I was surprised to find that the increased size really helped with the ergonomics of the device as well.

It’s no secret that the original Nintendo Switch was a one-way ticket to Hand Cramptown. I can’t say that the Switch 2 will alleviate all of the issues people had when playing games in handheld mode, but I have some hope. Because the Joy-Con 2 controllers are a bit longer, I was able to fully grip the controller without my pinkie and ring fingers dangling uselessly under the console. More fingers on the device itself means more support and therefore less wrist and hand strain when playing for long periods of time. 

Unfortunately this is entirely subjective, as someone with smaller hands might not have the same experience. In fact, Polygon’s Chelsea Stark felt that the comfort levels were pretty comparable between the original Switch and the Switch 2, but did note that she really felt the weight difference (the Switch 2 is about 34% heavier, at 1.18 pounds with both Joy-Con’s attached).

I found the increased size of the new Joy-Cons to be beneficial in other ways. If you’ve ever played a multiplayer game using a single Joy-Con tilted on its side, you understand misery. On the Switch 2, that experience is measurably improved on a few fronts: For one, the added size makes it so the buttons and analog stick aren’t right on top of each other, and your hands aren’t quite so smashed together as they were when holding the teeny tiny original Joy-Con. The tiny, rectangular trigger buttons in this solo Joy-Con mode are also elevated and far easier to press, so drifting in Mario Kart will be that much more viable in this setting. Is it as good as holding your own dedicated controller? It is not. It still feels weird and off-set, a consequence of having to work for both handheld and solo Joy-Con play, but it’ll work in a pinch.

Size improvements have also been made to the analog sticks and face buttons, which are both slightly larger than they were before. When using Joy-Con 2s in the new grip controller, it didn’t feel like I was totally hamstrung not having a full Pro Controller like I would have been with the original Switch’s grip. I still don’t think I’d want to play a 60-hour Zelda adventure using just the grip (mostly because swapping between the right analog stick and face buttons still feels unnatural because of the way they’re stacked), but it might allow me to eke out some more play time before having to call it quits.

There are also more subtle differences that make using the Switch 2 far more enjoyable than the original. Connecting a Joy-Con 2 to the screen using the new magnet attachment feels incredible, as it clicks securely into place without the slight wiggle you might have felt with the original Switch’s rail system. There’s also a significantly stronger rumble hiding within the Switch, capable of boosting the feedback with a lot more fervor than before.

But, with these improvements, it’s hard not to feel like there’s a pretty significant downgrade in comfort and playability when sticking with the stock Joy-Con 2 over, say, the new Switch 2 Pro Controller. If you play a lot of games, it does feel like the Pro Controller will be a mandatory purchase. Thanks to the new kickstand and the larger screen size, tabletop play does become a much more viable option than before.

After eight years, I was hoping more would have been done to make the ergonomics of Switch 2 a dramatic improvement. The goal of allowing the Joy-Con 2s to function in a variety of circumstances (attached, in one hand, sideways as a mini controller, and even as a mouse), probably has a significant impact on making something comfortable to hold for long periods of time. Which is to say: Third-party accessory manufacturers will once again swoop in with all sorts of zany grip solutions to make the Switch 2 a cushier experience. It’s just a shame that Nintendo wasn’t able to solve all of these problems on its own.