New Nintendo Switch revision revealed, boasts better battery life

What you need to know

  • Nintendo has just announced a newly revised model of the Nintendo Switch.
  • This new model has a vastly improved battery life that can last around 50% longer.
  • This longer-lasting Nintendo Switch model should be available starting around mid-August.

Nintendo has just revealed a new, revised model for the Nintendo Switch. (Please note that the original page is in Japanese.) This new model has one very significant improvement: a much, much better battery life. While the regular Nintendo Switch will last anywhere from 2.5 to 6.5 hours (depending on the game being played) this new model will last anywhere from 4.5 to 9 hours, according to Nintendo.

Here's the battery life of every Nintendo Switch version now:

  • Original Nintendo Switch = 2.5 - 6.5 hours
  • Nintendo Switch Lite = 3 - 7 hours
  • Revised Nintendo Switch = 4.5 - 9 hours

For example, Nintendo states that you can play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for about 3 hours on the regular Nintendo Switch, 4 hours on the Nintendo Switch Lite and 5.5 hours on the new model for the Nintendo Switch. That would mean playing for almost twice as long!

If you're not sure which Switch is which, here's how you can tell them apart: the model number for the original Nintendo Switch is HAC-001, and the serial number will start in XAW. While the newly revised Switch is also model number HAC-001, the serial number will instead begin in XKW.

While there's no exact release date for this new model, a listing on Nintendo's official page indicates that the new model will be available sometime around mid-August. This new Nintendo Switch model will be available with both Red and Blue Joy-Cons and just regular Gray Joy-Cons. It will retail for the same price of $299.99 USD.

Samuel Tolbert
Contributor

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance gaming writer who started working for iMore and its sister sites Windows Central and Android Central in July 2019. He handles news, previews, reviews, and exclusive original reporting, and has also been featured on TechRadar. With a background studying engineering before he shifted his focus to gaming journalism, he's skilled at identifying technical advantages and disadvantages provided by different hardware. If he’s not writing something, he’s off playing video games, spending time with his pets, exercising, or reading. He's also fond of trying to draw things with his iPad.