A few hours ago, Nintendo officially unveiled the Switch 2. Expected for many months, with so many rumors and leaks, it was high time for the Japanese company to officially lift the veil on this new machine which is now scheduled for June 5, 2025 at a price of 469.99 euros for the console alone and 509.99 euros for the console in a pack with the game Mario Kart World (digital).
As rumors and leaks suggested, this Switch 2 will arrive quickly and its characteristics are divisive. While for many gamers, especially early Nintendo fans, this remains very convincing and in line with their expectations, for others, the first information on the console's technical specifications leaves them a little skeptical.
Indeed, Nintendo has remained rather vague on the issue, not revealing information about the console's CPU and GPU. And not specifying whether the 4K offered in docked mode will be Native or Upscale 4K. And not specifying whether 120FPS will be possible in portable and TV mode or only in docked TV mode.
With the information we have, what can we deduce from this? How does it compare to current machines? And where can we place / compare the Switch2? Let's take stock right away.
The Switch 2: a (still) complementary console?
When it was released in March 2017, the first Switch was already far from being at the level of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X consoles that had just been released. On the other hand, the console could, without too much blushing, compete with the PS4 and Xbox One, which were only halfway through their lifespan. With its Octa-core processor (4xARM Cortex-A57 + 4xARM Cortex-A53) @ 1020 MHz, Nintendo's hybrid console, which allowed you to play in TV mode and portable mode, proved to be quite efficient.
Over the years, and especially with the arrival of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2020, Nintendo's console has fallen behind, becoming the perfect console to own to play "on the side" when you go on a trip. Owning a PS5 and/or an Xbox Series X was the right plan for exclusive games and third-party publishers. And the Switch completed the experience with lighter games, great exclusives, or games from third-party publishers that could follow us everywhere!
Updated: May 22, 2025
A few weeks before the console's release, Nintendo officially shared the Switch 2's specs:
- Processor (SoC): Nvidia Tegra T239 based on the Ampere architecture
- CPU:
8 ARM Cortex-A78C cores
6 cores used for games
2 cores reserved for the system
Frequencies: 998 MHz in portable mode, 1101 MHz in docked mode, theoretical peak at 1.7 GHz - GPU:
1536 cores CUDA
Frequencies: 561 MHz (laptop), 1007 MHz (docked), capped at 1.4 GHz
Graphics power: 1.71 TFLOPs (laptop), 3.072 TFLOPs (docked) - RAM:
12 GB LPDDR5X
9 GB accessible for games
3 GB reserved for the OS
Bandwidth: 68 GB/s (laptop), 102 GB/s (docked)
| Console | Switch 2 PS5 Pro 14.2857%;">Xbox Series Pro | |||||
| Release date | June 5, 2025 | November 7 2024 | November 19 2020 | November 10, 2020 | November 10, 2020 | November 10, 2016 |
| Introductory price | €469.99 | €799.99 | €499.99 | €499.99 | €299.99 | €399.99 |
| CPU | Nvidia Tegra T239 – 8x ARM Cortex A78C / 998MHz (Dock) 1101MHz (mobile) | AMD Ryzen Zen 2: 8 cores at 3.5Ghz, possibility of going up to 3.85Ghz | 8x Zen 2 Cores @ 3.5GHz (variable) | 8 cores @ 3.8GHz (3.66GHz with SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU | 8 cores @ 3.6GHz (3.4GHz with SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU | AMD Jaguar (8 cores) 2.1GHz |
| GPU | 1536 CUDA cores (architecture Ampere) / 1.71 TFLOPs (laptop), 3.072 TFLOPs (docked) | 33.5 Tflops, AMD Radeon RDNA3: 60 Compute Units | 10.28 Tflops, 36CUs at 2.3GHz | 12 TFLOPS, 52 CUs at 1.825GHz Custom RDNA 2 GPU | Custom RDNA 2 GPU (TFlops unconfirmed) | AMD Radeon 911 MHz with 36 graphics cores (4.2 TFlops) |
| Storage Space | 256GB | Custom SSD 2 1TB Custom SSD 14.2857%;">1TB Custom HDD | ||||
| Resolution | 4K (TV) / 1080p (Laptop) | Up to 8K | Up to 8K | Up to 8K | Up to 2K | Up to 4K Upscaled |
| FPS | Up to 120 FPS | Up to 120 FPS | Up to 120 FPS | Up to 120 FPS | Up to 120 FPS | Up to 60 FPS |
| Backwards Compatibility | Most Switch games | All PS4 games | All PS4 games | Yes | Yes | No |
| AI Assist | N.C. | PSSR | No | No | No | No |
As expected, the Switch 2 will clearly not be in the same league as the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, Nintendo is offering a price point relatively close to those consoles, and will even offer a line-up with games that have already been available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S for a few years now, and in better quality/resolution.
So we clearly ask ourselves the question of Nintendo's strategy and target audience? We saw with the comparison of portable consoles that the Switch 2 can perfectly compete and even be a serious competitor to alternatives like the ROG Ally or the Steam Deck. On the other hand, in the home console field, the quality/power/price ratio is clearly not to the advantage of Nintendo's console.
Although we don't play a Nintendo console for its technical prowess, we are entitled to wonder if the Switch2 will be able to keep up, even with its exclusive games, or if it will quickly run out of steam, like the first Switch in recent years?
For the moment, it is not yet possible to know if this Switch 2 seems to be heading towards the same use as its big sister, as a complementary console. The machine's line-up seems to show that Nintendo has greater ambitions and that the manufacturer wants to make its Switch 2 more "next-gen".
We can thus cite the upcoming arrivals of CyberPunk 2077, Elden Ring or even, soon, Borderlands 4 which shows that this Switch2 seems to be able to fight. At least, at its launch. On the other hand, it remains quite difficult to imagine (or even impossible) to envisage GTA6 running on the Switch2.
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