Key highlights:
- The Nintendo Switch 2 has a poor battery life.
- Especially when on sleep mode, the battery continues to drain steadily.
- Although people can power down the device to bypass this issue, not being able to use a feature to the fullest is annoying, according to owners.
The Nintendo Switch 2 released to a lot of hype and excitement, especially because it came out after eight long years. There’s a lot that this hardware has to offer, and it comes with a few hardware upgrades which makes many popular games run even better.
Despite the benefits of the console, owners are annoyed because the console may have just run into its first major problem, a quickly draining battery! For a handheld console, battery life is an important aspect, otherwise you’ll have to continuously keep it plugged into a system, which degrades the portable part of the experience. It does have more issues though, but none are as troublesome as quickly draining battery.
Nintendo Switch 2’s Poor Battery Drains Out Even When On Sleep Mode
According to multiple owners on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, the Switch 2 has really poor battery life, especially when on sleep mode. As the name suggests, when in sleep mode, the device is basically powered on but it doesn’t have any background processes running. It boots up the device much quicker, letting you hop into games at the point where you left off. The “power off” experience on the Switch 2 isn’t that great either, because it won’t let you start off from where you ended your previous journey in a game.
The battery life of the console is on the lower side in general, the effects of which are evident while playing a game. Consumption may be a bit different, depending on the graphics settings that you decide to use. However, owners have reported that the console runs out of battery even when kept in sleep mode.
Switch 2 battery drain in sleep is atrocious
byu/cybernouris inNintendoSwitch
The Switch OLED on the other hand, has very negligible battery drain on sleep mode, and its battery life during playtime is high too. This does have something to do with the hardware used in the device, but the drain during sleep mode is most likely a software issue, and can be fixed via a software update itself.
Many owners shared their own experiences with the device coming to a consensus on the fact that the battery life is poor, especially when on sleep mode. There were others however, who claim that their system works like a charm.
Also read: Escape from Tarkov is Finally Releasing On Steam
Is There a Fix To Limit Battery Drain on the Switch 2?
At this point, there’s no way to reduce the battery drain on the Switch 2 when on sleep mode. If you’re looking to save on charge, then the best way to go about it is to power down your device everytime you’re done playing. However, that’s just a workaround, and it dampens the overall experience. With enough people complaining about it, hopefully Nintendo Support will take the matter into cognizance and will launch a hotfix to patch the issue.
That said, it’s normal to experience such issues, especially since this is the first iteration of the device. As the days go by, more people are bound to pick up the console, which could lead to more problems being uncovered. Rest assured Nintendo will fix all those issues, but it is going to take a considerable amount of time to get to such a stage where the console is absolutely problem free.
However, the Nintendo Switch 2 is a premium device and the company charged a bomb for it. With that in mind, it’s only natural for everyone to expect that it’ll run without much hiccups. This issue makes the experience disappointing to say the least. The games meant for the device are priced a bit higher than usual too, which adds to the list of woes to everyone who’s bought the device. On the flip side, it’s been only two months since the console has come off the line, so hopefully, the issues will be sorted out in due time.
Also read: Despite Meeting Kickstarter Goal, Hollow Knight Silksong to Skip Popular Console
