With the release of Nintendo’s newest console getting ever closer, the company has started to release Nintendo Switch dev kits to a number of select developers, allowing them to get a good feel for the console and how they will develop or port games to go on it, while we can get some details.
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From what we can tell, there appears to be little difference between the final Nintendo Switch dev kits and the ones that had previously been distributed. One of the more notable things, however, is the battery life of the console when not plugged in.
The Switch is similar to the Wii U in that it has a separate gamepad that can be detached and taken on the go, but the battery life for that has been a topic of some discussion.
Previously, Nintendo fans on the internet have thought that the gamepad would only have a three-hour battery; enough for a long car trip or a good afternoon of gaming, but it actually seems like the Switch’s battery life will be longer than that, ranging from 5 hours minimum to eight hours at its longest.
Like many other portable gaming devices ranging from smartphones to handheld consoles like the Nintendo 3DS and its derivatives, the battery life will mainly be dependent on the settings that you have it on.
Various things like brightness, wifi usage, and actually playing games on it. So, depending on how you like to play, your Switch’s gamepad can have a lot of different lengths of battery life.
The Switch did have its first public debut the previous night on the Jimmy Fallon show, where Fallon used the Nintendo Switch’s gamepad to play a few minutes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which itself is getting closer and closer to launch as we get more gameplay out of it.
Regardless of the status of Nintendo Switch dev kits, the Switch is supposed to officially debut at an event in January before releasing sometime early next year.
