If you’ve been lucky enough to score a Nintendo Switch 2 from a local retail store amid the severe shortage caused by high demand and low supply, then you’d be doing yourself a favor to keep it in pristine condition. After all, it would be a challenge to get a replacement due to the current climate should you happen to break yours by accident.
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In today’s piece, we’ll share a series of tips that can help you extend the length of your Nintendo Switch 2 game console so that you can spend more time playing with it and less time troubleshooting or repairing it.
Extending your Nintendo Switch 2’s lifespan
Use protective gear
One of the most important things you can do is invest in protective gear. I recommend at least a tempered glass screen protector and carrying case to keep your Nintendo Switch 2 from getting all dinged up as you use it in the wild. My favorite one to use is the Zagg Glass XTR4, which uses the same graphene tech as the iPhone counterpart.
Remember not to remove the factory film from your Nintendo Switch 2 display, as most screen protectors are designed to sit right on top of it.
In terms of cases, there are different grades of protection available at different price points, and while a standard nylon carrying case is good enough for many people, some users like to bring the whole system with them, and for these folks we’d highly recommend a Pelican case-style travel box so that you can take your system with you and set it up anywhere, like at a friend’s house without losing or damaging anything in transit.
Be mindful of the battery
The Nintendo Switch 2, like so many other modern electronics available today, uses a Lithium-Ion battery to power it when you’re on the go. Lithium-Ion batteries are very capable power solutions but degrade quickly if not cared for.
While gaming sessions can certainly drain your Nintendo Switch 2’s internal battery quickly, we strongly recommend that you avoid draining it to 0% charge or letting it sit too long with a dead battery.
Likewise, if you’re playing the Nintendo Switch in docked mode on your television, it’s recommended that you don’t keep it at 100% battery charge all the time. In fact, the Nintendo Switch 2 even comes with a smart charging setting that prevents charging to 100%, and it works much like the one on the iPhone and other devices.
You can foster a healthy Lithium-Ion battery by keeping your Nintendo Switch 2’s battery charge between 30-80% during most of its lifespan, especially when shelved. This helps prevent both overcharging and excessive drainage, helping you avoid unwanted battery degradation.
If you notice battery behavior that doesn’t seem quite right, such as sudden fluctuations from a sub-40% charge to 0-10% charge with minimal or no use, then this may indicate a calibration issue rather than a battery issue. You may be able to fix this by fully discharging your battery and then charging it back up to full.
Promote ideal operating temperatures
Every electronic device has operating temperature limits, and if you can avoid hitting the upper or lower limits and operate somewhere in the middle, then you’ll prolong your device’s operating life.
While it can be tempting to take your Nintendo Switch 2 around places with you, this increases the likelihood of dust and debris making its way into the console’s fans and cooling system, which may impact its effectiveness. This can hinder cooling and cause the Nintendo Switch 2 to run warm.
If you will be taking your Nintendo Switch 2 around places with you, then it’s advisable that you avoid using it in dusty environments, such as at the beach where sand particles may become airborne, near construction zones where dust may become airborne, or near bonfires where smoke and ash residue can build up.
You may become aware of dust and debris buildup when your Nintendo Switch 2 begins running warmer to the touch than it used to. This could mean that the fan is clogged up or that the internal heat pipe fins are clogged up. These can be cleaned out with compressed air from a can.
Lastly, avoid storing your Nintendo Switch 2 in excessively cold or hot environments. Do not let it sit in direct sunlight when it’s a hot Summer day or leave it in your car when you know the temperature will dip into the below-freezing range in the Winter. If you are moving from one extreme to the other, give the Nintendo Switch 2 some time to acclimate so that it doesn’t develop condensation that could damage electronic components.
Use trusted accessories only
When using accessories to augment the gaming experience of your Nintendo Switch 2, we highly recommend using those from brands you trust as opposed to no-name dime-a-dozen accessories that are frequently found on third-party marketplaces or your local dollar store.
This means using USB-C cables, power adapters, and controllers that are either directly from Nintendo or sold by a reputable third-party accessory maker like Apple, Anker, Mophie, Nomad, and the likes. Using no-name accessories runs a higher risk of overcharging your device, causing battery damage, or other electrical gremlins.
When it comes to non-electronic accessories like Joy-Con ergonomics-enhancing devices such as steering wheels, grips, and these types of add-ons, you’re generally fine regardless of what brand you go with. That’s because these are generally aesthetic or ergonomic in nature and don’t share an electronic connection with your device in any way.
Avoid third-party modifications to your device that may void your warranty, including using third-party ‘high capacity’ internal battery replacements, game cartridge data extractors, and cheap third-party chargers.
Keep the software updated
Nintendo regularly pushes software updates for its Nintendo Switch 2 system, just like they did with the original Nintendo Switch.
These updates contain not only user-friendly improvements, such as user interface changes that benefit accessibility and new features that improve usage, but sometimes even critical bug fixes and security patches that can protect your system from premature issues, like battery failure or hacking vulnerability.
While you can update the software of your Nintendo Switch 2 directly, it’s important to note that the Nintendo Switch 2’s Joy-Con 2 controllers, Pro Controller 2, and even the Dock can receive software updates of their own.
Likewise, your games can receive software updates. These are typically for DLC add-ons, but sometimes these updates can optimize the games to take better advantage of the Nintendo Switch 2’s better hardware, thus improving performance and perhaps even battery life.
Wrapping up
There are many best practices that you can follow as a Nintendo Switch 2 owner to prolong the life of your console, and we’ve suggested just a few of those. Common sense maintenance and preventing over-usage are some of the best ways to go about this.
Do you have a Nintendo Switch 2, and are you following some of the recommendations that we mentioned, or do you have more to add? Let us know in the comments section down below.