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I am not blown away by the OLED Switch nearly as much as I had expected!!

Billbofet

Member
I was shopping with my kids today and happened upon the last OLED Switch at Meijer. I have had the Switch since launch and decided why not upgrade.
I brought it home and watched a few youtube vids on it first to see how the setup process would be to transfer all my stuff, and I watched some unboxing vids as well.
In all the vids watched, they are gobsmacked by the screen. Just floored by the quality over the original's LCD. Boy, did I think I was in for a treat!!

When I finally turned it on and was going to transfer all my shit from OG to OLED, I just wasn't all that impressed. Granted, it defaults to auto-brightness, so once I got through setup, I turned that off and put the brightness up to around 85-90%.

It is for sure an improvement. The colors are saturated and there is an almost 3d quality to the image - 2D games seem to benefit most so far. I guess anyone with an OLED phone knows this look.

All that said, it's just not nearly enough for me to bother selling my OG unit, buying new peripherals, redownloading all 300 GB's of games I have.

I'm going to think it over for a day or so, but I am pretty sure I'm taking it back. I play almost exclusively handheld, so I was very excited for this, but if I had to quantify the upgrade, I would say it's a 20-25% improvement over the OG unit.
I am also considering getting my son a Switch for Xmas, so I could just give him my unit and call it a day. Who knows, I might change my mind - just expected my jaw to be on the floor based on what I was seeing on youtube.
 

TLZ

Banned
Andy Day Face Palm GIF by CBeebies HQ


You should know that a lot of people exaggerate.
 

Billbofet

Member
I think the ethernet port on the dock is nice, it's overall a sleeker-looking unit, the kickstand is finally competent, but it feels like what it should have been at launch.

I had an OLED Vita back when they came out in 2013 or 2014 and that thing felt like it was from the future. Like alien technology. Still impressive.
 

REDRZA MWS

Member
No shit, it’s the same fucking chipset with an OLED screen. It’s a minimum upgrade, and for this who use the dock to game on tv there’s no ducking difference. Nintendo are 2 generations behind at least in hardware.
 
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Little Mac

Member
Wouldn't it have made more sense to upgrade the Lite's screen since it's always in portable mode and can't be docked. Didn't Nintendo say in the past that half of Switch owners play docked exclusively (I could be wrong)?
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
It's still incredibly low resolution for that size, so that's probably part of why it's not very impressive given that we've been accustomed to much higher-res OLED screens on phones for years now.
 

small_law

Member
If I took the switch out of the dock more than I do, which isn't at all, I would definitely upgrade. But if you're going to play with the thing docked all the time, there's really no reason to upgrade. Maybe you could justify it if the Ethernet connectivity is better with the new dock on the OLED model, but I haven't seen anybody mentioned better speeds.
 
I enjoyed the Vita at the time but I think it only truly shined as an oled on certain games with intense color or use of black. This video for example was one of the best looking things on Vita in terms of color. Solid bright pink neon sky. Then deep black and blue towards the end. Not every game will be a giant difference.



From what I've played of Metroid though it is 100% an oled showpiece game.
 
I wouldn’t have expected to be blown away. I did the opposite and picked up an old model the moment they announced the OLED model wasn’t going to be higher specced and they dropped in price.
 
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Indyblue

Member
I mean it’s much like upgrading to an oled tv. If you need a new one, then get an oled if you can afford it. It’s probably not going to like blow you away but it is better.
 

Billbofet

Member
It's just a better screen and you expected more?!
I play almost exclusively in portable mode. To me, this screen alone was seemingly worth the upgrade.
My point is that based on what I was reading and seeing online, I expected a much bigger wow factor. That's all.
I know this is dated hardware. I know it's incremental feature upgrades for the most part. I was not expecting to suddenly be playing 4k/60fps games.

I'm just saying the screen is just very nice. That's all. It's absolutely worth the $50 premium over the OG unit.
 

Billbofet

Member
Wait; are you telling me YouTuber unbox bros are full of shit?

I feel like I was just told my whole life is a lie.
No shit. I realize that as well, but over time I have come to trust certain channels for stuff like this.

Next thing you're gonna tell me is to stay off Twitter or something crazy like that........
 
No shit. I realize that as well, but over time I have come to trust certain channels for stuff like this.

Next thing you're gonna tell me is to stay off Twitter or something crazy like that........
Its basically the 3ds xl. Slightly bigger and nicer screen. More memory. Just a premium switch.
 

Kuranghi

Member
I was with you until you said you said:

"I guess anyone with an OLED phone knows this look."

I think thats the way they human brain works, once you get used to something then its not new or surprising anymore, I doubt fighter pilots are repeating over and over in their heads "this is so coooooooool" every time they fly. They get used to it and its not as exciting anymore.
 

Mossybrew

Member
LOL imagine being FLOORED and GOBSMACKED by a very moderate upgrade in quality to a portable screen. What world do some people live in.
 

Tschumi

Member
I'll let you in on a secret..

I bought a Vita 1000 after having a 2000 for most of the time and i also didn't really notice much difference.

Bought the 1k for the oled and better build quality/weight, stayed for the build quality/weight.
 

coffinbirth

Member
Upgrading to the OLED version is an improvement, a bigger picture, better image quality is worth the upgrade, if you´re playing exclusively in portable mode. Those who play in docked-mode, will not profit from upgrading.

VITA Oled > VITA Sansung LCD Panel
I agree with the first part, but I disagree with your last bit there. The OLED model has twice the internal memory, a built in ethernet port and has "fixed" Joycon. If you're upgrading from a Tegra exploitable or patched model, aka pre-Mariko revision, it's also going to run much cooler. The OLED model might run even cooler than Mariko, but I'm not sure. These are all wins in my book.
 

Miyazaki’s Slave

Gold Member
Bought it to have it...so you know....I would have it.

I am the opposite of a scalper....I do buy multiples of all the "stuff" when I find it then when my friends with kids or family members are all "I have this xmas list....just going to pop down to Best Buy and pick up Metroid Dread, the Oled Switch, and that halo console thing my kid wants. Its December 5th and I will already have my shopping done!" I can hook them up with the shit they should have bought months ago.
 

NikuNashi

Member
No shit, it’s the same fucking chipset with an OLED screen. It’s a minimum upgrade, and for this who use the dock to game on tv there’s no ducking difference. Nintendo are 2 generations behind at least in hardware.
But 2 generations ahead in market share and sales. They ain't gonna change their path, the shareholders love it.
 

BlackTron

Member
I haven't even seen an OLED in person yet and this was pretty much my take on it.

I think it's a tame upgrade for an old hardware that you can already make look better by connecting it to a TV when it's available. Playing it portable is a big compromise between the smaller screen and crap joycons/ergonomics. The OLED is still crappy compared to your TV and the joycons still suck. It's an extra fifty bucks for a very moderate upgrade that solves a problem that you can already solve by docking it.

Yes, I know for some you always play it portable and this is a bigger deal, personally I would not like the Switch at all as a dedicated portable because it kind of sucks for that in my opinion. It's more a console that I have the option to take with me to fill in little gaps of gameplay (which I still think is really cool). Lately I have been trying to use it like a game boy to play Castlevania but it's so bad using joycons I ended up using it tabletop with a pro controller. In some ways it makes me nostalgic for a simple clamshell GBA SP lol.

The idea of using this thing as a dedicated handheld to play a real ass Metroid is terrifying. I'll mostly play it with a controller and will be fine tolerating the lesser screen and ergonomics between docked sessions. The OLED is just a slightly less crappy portable experience.

I wish the Lite had TV out because in my opinion it would be the best switch! It could work the same way it currently does on TV and not be a giant unergonomic handheld on the go. When they make an OLED lite with TV out wake me up. I'm not interested in a marginally less bad portable device that's only $50 shy of $400!
 

jigglet

Banned
It's a screen. How exciting could it have been.

I don't expect to be blown away by a screen for another 10-100 years when they finally figure out how to do true 3D without a headset (as in, indistinguishable from a real 3D object, not the shit we had to suffer through 15 years ago).
 
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REDRZA MWS

Member
But 2 generations ahead in market share and sales. They ain't gonna change their path, the shareholders love it.
And their sales effect you, I, or any other gamers exactly how? What a ridiculous take on this. Their hardware is shit, I don’t cRe how much money they make. They may sell consoles to 10 ur olds but both Sony and MS are raking in software and services, but again, wtf cares about that? Inwamt to play my game on modern hardware on my 4K OLED. They can keep theonduckong handheld and dock.
 

NikuNashi

Member
And their sales effect you, I, or any other gamers exactly how? What a ridiculous take on this. Their hardware is shit, I don’t cRe how much money they make. They may sell consoles to 10 ur olds but both Sony and MS are raking in software and services, but again, wtf cares about that? Inwamt to play my game on modern hardware on my 4K OLED. They can keep theonduckong handheld and dock.
It's not a take, it's facts, nothing to do with my or your or anyone's opinions. The last time Nintendo cared about tech was the GC, which failed. Since then it's all about minimum cost and maximum profit.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I just tried it out now, between the superior contrast and color, plus screen size difference, this is a pretty nice upgrade. Also the unit just feels a bit more premium feeling and looking. Still hate the joycons, but I have replacement joysticks to fix that.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
I'm loving my model

The OG Switch looks dank and feels cheap in comparison.

It looks way better, the screen is way better, bigger, brighter more vivid, the sound is better, the kickstand actually works, it feels much sturdier and more stable with the new joyycon track pad.

switch-vs-switch-oled-comparison.jpg
 
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Ryu Kaiba

Member
If you go into anything with very high expectations you're likeliness of being let down also goes very high.

It's why LTTP threads are usually shitting on highly praised games.

If you want to enjoy something avoid it as much as possible to get your own first impression.
 

Rikkori

Member
It would've needed HDR to really make that much of an impression. Tbh the real reason it looks so good is just due to how shit the OG looked in the first place. There's been way better LCD panels available even before but Nintendo ofc cheaped out.
 

zokie

Member
this is my personal view as i play 90% of the time on dock mode , 10% handheld if i need to multitask or can't sleep at night

so OLED model is not a 'must get' investment for me as i still own the 2017 launch model and not changing it

i will wait for the switch successor in 2024/5 or so and i hope Switch games are backward compatible in some way
 
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