Wouldn't a more efficient SOC result in better than an 8% increase in best case (in fact , all) scenarios though? If the system is 25% more efficient, wouldn't it be 25% better battery life across the board? Unless there figures in the announcement are pretty darned wrong. 
Guess we'll have to see from actual hardware tests.
Guess we'll have to see from actual hardware tests.
Wouldn't a more efficient SOC result in better than an 8% increase in best case (in fact , all) scenarios though? If the system is 25% more efficient, wouldn't it be 25% better battery life across the board? Unless there figures in the announcement are pretty darned wrong.
Guess we'll have to see from actual hardware tests.
That includes the screen power, no?
Yes, you'd think so. Overall even, the longer you use it, the more the savings should contribute. So the +30 minutes specified time is a head scratcher. What consumes 30 minutes of battery power no matter what? We should be seeing a relative improvement in battery life of x%, and not a flat additional bunch of minutes, implying very much that there's little changed under the hood. But of course Nintendo's own Zelda doesn't follow the listed battery life.
Missing features no longer built into the controllers (similar to how Sony PS4 Controllers have the energy draining light that is/was always on). Except now Nintendo removed the IR functionality and HD Rumble. Was the IR always on and draining battery even with the joycons docked on the Original Switch?
Maybe the chip gains are only more noticeable under full load (e.g. Zelda) w/ little wireless activity. Static/leakage power (low load) may not be that much better despite a hypothetical node jump too (max battery times listed). For the lowest battery life listed, maybe that's full brightness & wifi doing things?
Best to wait for proper tests anyhow.
Best to wait for proper tests anyhow.
The ir camera only turns on when it's turned on via software, at least judging from the battery drains of both joycons that are similar
I would assume the battery is smaller. Not because the math supports it, but because it's Nintendo.Wouldn't a more efficient SOC result in better than an 8% increase in best case (in fact , all) scenarios though? If the system is 25% more efficient, wouldn't it be 25% better battery life across the board? Unless there figures in the announcement are pretty darned wrong.
Guess we'll have to see from actual hardware tests.
"the battery itself is 3570 mAh compared to the 4310mAh of the Original."
I’m inclined to use the Zelda run time as the better battery drain indicator.
Edit: Helping out with the math a bit, 3570/4310=0.83
3/4=0.75
0.75x0.83=0.62
Which seems a lot for small efficiency gains from screen and possibly lower power networking to add up to. But that calculation hinges on the Breath of the Wild data point which has very few significant digits indeed.
If we just look at the battery capacities, that difference could conceivably be explained with lower backlight drain, and lower losses at other point.
Conclusion: We can’t say for sure if they have shifted to for instance 16nm FFC until someone takes a closer look.
I’m inclined to use the Zelda run time as the better battery drain indicator.
Edit: Helping out with the math a bit, 3570/4310=0.83
3/4=0.75
0.75x0.83=0.62
Which seems a lot for small efficiency gains from screen and possibly lower power networking to add up to. But that calculation hinges on the Breath of the Wild data point which has very few significant digits indeed.
If we just look at the battery capacities, that difference could conceivably be explained with lower backlight drain, and lower losses at other point.
Conclusion: We can’t say for sure if they have shifted to for instance 16nm FFC until someone takes a closer look.
Last edited:
D
Deleted member 13524
Guest
There we go:
Nintendo is awfully predictable in these things.
Given all the evidence we've seen so far about a new chip ID being shown in the OS revisions with different voltage levels, together with the very apparent lower power consumption, I think it's unlikely that the SWLite isn't using a new chip.
Does anyone know if this console has active cooling?
Yeah. Given smaller battery and longer life, it's a new revision. Those new initial 'battery life' figures are just...random, it seems.
Still don't quite get the popularity of the switch , despite owning one for Zelda and Mario.. The Switch Lite seems to take all the key featuers of it : detachable joycons, tabletop play , docked/undocked and has basically become their latest edition of the 2DS. Still , it doesn't seem to be doing them any harm so be interesting to see how it plays out.
Yeah, it's the latest in the GameBoy line, which has never had any real competition save PSP. If you want Nintendo's games and mobile gaming with actual buttons, you need a GameBoy in whatever incarnation its at. For everyone who had a DS or 3DS, who doesn't want a Switch with the inflated price due to TV gaming, this is ideal. I reckon it was a plan from the beginning too. A hybrid console/handheld was a risk, whereas Nintendo could be pretty confident another handheld would be successful.
WiiU? GameCube? N64? All low selling hardware with plenty of Nintendo games. The big sellers since PS1? Wii and Switch, both underpowered with popular USP. Not saying the games aren’t popular but Nintendo clearly need more than just games.
I actually think it’s too big. Give me a more PSP sized Switch and I’d get it.
The point of the bigger screen was to share it with people, which you can’t do now the joy cons are non detachable.
D
Deleted member 11852
Guest
I can see this appealing to parents for their kids, or folks who almost never use their Switch on the TV. Indeed, not being able to plug it into the TV is a selling point, there are no arguments about plugging it into the TV. Not that kids seem to care any more, they all seem happy to watch TV on tiny phone screens even when a larger screen is just there!. Weirdos.
And this may just get devs to focus their attention on better UI for handheld most, a fair few games just have UI elements that are too damn small on the current Switch's display.
And this may just get devs to focus their attention on better UI for handheld most, a fair few games just have UI elements that are too damn small on the current Switch's display.
Maybe due to the nature of the content being watched are more "personal"?
Like those ASMR videos, or let's play where it's like you are playing together with big brother or friend or something (they talk to you, you chat to them, they respond). Etc
cheapchips
Veteran
In parallel to the home consoles you have the GBA, DS & 3DS. The latter two in particular were software driven after the initial gimmick (not using gimmick as a derogatory term btw).
The thing about Nintendo software is that when they have a hit, they really have a hit. It's not always the games you'd think. New Super Mario Bros sold 60m units over two platforms.
But those are handhelds where there was no other option bar Sony’s attempts to breach Nintendo’s stranglehold.
I’m not saying Nintendo games don’t sell/aren’t popular- they are incredibly popular and sell incredibly well, the issue with Nintendo hardware (lately) is the software sales for 3rd parties.
All-in-all with Switch you have all Nintendo’s eggs in one basket, this is the first handheld since 3DS and the failed WiiU so it was probably obvious it would sell well as it’s the only way to play the latest Nintendo games,
So we agree on the idea that the games sell the consoles, it’s just with Switch there was no alternative...would have been interesting if there had been a 3DS 2 and a normal home console...but we’ll never know.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
There is one interesting side note for that however. In a lot of informal polls that I've seen (mostly streamers polling their audiences), the split is roughly...
- ~1/3 of users mostly use it as a mobile gaming platform.
- ~1/3 of users mostly use it docked with their TV.
- ~1/3 of users use both equally.
While we can't say anything definitive about that as that may not translate to how one chooses to buy their gaming console, it would seem to imply that if there were a dedicated home console and a dedicated handheld. The current userbase would see ~66% of them buying the handheld while ~66 of them would buy the home console. IE - Nintendo would have sold more consoles if they had a dedicated handheld and home console.
Of course, that ignores a lot of factors. Would a cheaper handheld only have sold to more than 66% of the current userbase? Would a more powerful home system sell to more than 66% of the current userbase?
And the most important one, how many of those ~33% of users that use it equally as a mobile gaming platform and a home console would have gotten one or both? I can only speak for myself and some of my friends that I asked, but some of us wouldn't have bought any Nintendo console in that case. We aren't traditional Nintendo game players though. We bought the NSW purely due to it's ability to play games at home or on the go.
This is mirrored in part by some streamers that had never played a single Nintendo game until the NSW came out. IMO, the NSW attracted a lot of customers that aren't traditional Nintendo gamers purely based on it's versatility and the fact that Indie developers are having great success on the platform which leads to more Indie developers porting their games to the platform.
In that case, a handheld might have sold to less than 50% of the current user base and a home console might have sold to less than 50% of the current user base.
So it's also possible that if the NSW didn't exist and they just had the traditional handheld and home consoles that they could have sold less combined units than the NSW has sold.
But then things get more complex as a mobile only NSW might have leeched more consumers from the 3DS user base. But then that might also lead to lower overall sales. A mobile only NSW isn't an exact upgrade over a 3DS with it's dual screens. Some prominent game IPs (like the Etrian Odyssey series) haven't made the transition to NSW purely due to the lack of dual screens on the NSW, for example. The second screen is an integral part of the gameplay for that series.
Basically, yeah, it's complex because there is no situation in the history of console gaming that one could pull from to try to infer how sales would have gone for dedicated consoles versus a hybrid console.
Regards,
SB
Last edited: