Sitting down in Nintendo’s places of work in Redwood Metropolis, California, yesterday, I already knew all the predominant particulars on the brand new Change OLED mannequin. It has a bigger 7-inch OLED display, an improved kickstand, elevated inner storage, and really minor design tweaks. It’s not the “Change Professional” that many have been hoping for. It’s only a Change with a much bigger, nicer display.
I knew all that entering into, however after taking part in a half-hour’s value of Mario Kart and Breath of the Wild, I imagine the phrase “simply” within the earlier sentence is unfair. The Change OLED mannequin has a much bigger, nicer display, and that’s greater than sufficient to justify its existence — and maybe its $350 value.
The display appears brighter and extra vibrant to me than the unique Change. The elevated distinction is certainly noticeable on Rainbow Highway, the place the neon lights popped out of the display extra brightly in comparison with the darker background. I’ve additionally been utilizing a Change Lite for the previous yr or so, and its display appears positively dim and muddy by comparability.
One concern I had was that growing the display dimension whereas staying on the similar 720p decision would make pixels stick out and a few issues would look jagged. Pixels have been extra seen once I stopped the motion and regarded for them. I may see some subpar antialiasing on skinny textual content on the house display and on the blades of grass surrounding Hyperlink on the Nice Plateau. However as soon as I used to be really taking part in, all I noticed is that the display was greater and every part regarded brighter.
To get actually nerdy: I don’t have a definitive reply as to whether the OLED display makes use of a Pentile or RGB structure on the sub-pixel stage, however it appears like RGB to me. At 7 inches diagonal, my sense is that Pentile could be apparent even to individuals who aren’t usually aggravated by it (like me). Images weren’t allowed on the briefing, so I can’t present you a close-up picture of the display.
However getting nerdy concerning the new Change OLED mannequin is overthinking it. The purpose of this midlife replace isn’t to seriously change or improve the Change. It’s to make a model that feels just a bit extra premium and is a bit more fulfilling in handheld mode.
I additionally don’t have anything however reward for the brand new kickstand, which is lastly good. The unique Change’s kickstand was so dangerous I by no means tried to make use of it. This one goes throughout your complete size of the machine and could be adjusted to any angle down to almost flat. It’s secure, too, providing simply sufficient resistance to carry the console up however not sufficient to make altering its place a ache. I may simply evenly press on the highest of the Change whereas in tabletop mode to regulate the angle and do away with the glare from an overhead mild.
The final noticeable change is the audio system, that are a bit louder and have just a bit extra readability than the Change Lite I’ve been utilizing. I nonetheless want headphones (and no, there’s no shock assist for Bluetooth headphones), however these audio system are most likely ok to maintain me from reaching for them each time I flip the Change on like I do now.
There are lots of different much less vital design tweaks. The fan vents on the underside level downward as an alternative of backward (to accommodate the brand new kickstand). The bezel across the bigger display is shiny black now as an alternative of matte. The place of the microSD card slot is somewhat completely different.
The dock has an ethernet port on it. I didn’t get an opportunity to play in docked mode, however the output hasn’t modified from the present Change’s 1080p, and the processor is similar. When you play docked as a rule, not one of the {hardware} upgrades on the OLED mannequin apply.
General, I feel Nintendo has very barely improved the general match and end of the {hardware}. It nonetheless feels somewhat toy-like, however it’s a nicer toy with a nicer end. Whether or not that can prolong to Pleasure-Con controllers which might be much less prone to endure from drift stays to be seen, however I don’t assume Nintendo has completed something notably completely different — they’re fully appropriate with current controllers, too.
So the Nintendo Change OLED mannequin justifies its existence, however does it justify an improve? For most individuals, the accountable reply isn’t any. The enhancements right here are usually not going to unlock new recreation experiences or capabilities, they only make the present experiences somewhat nicer.
I don’t assume I’m going to be accountable, although. I knew entering into that it was “simply” a Change with a much bigger, brighter display. I do know after taking part in it that handheld mode seems like a lot much less of a compromise than it does in the present day.
