Nintendo Switch impressions: Out of the box and into our hands

We've had the Nintendo Switch here in Ars' orbiting HQ for a few days now, and while we're still working on a more thorough review ahead of launch, we're now able to share some initial impressions of the final retail system to add to our hands-on time from last month.

So far, testing out the Switch has exclusively meant playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the only one of nine confirmed launch games we have our hands on as of yet. Any significant non-gaming or online functions are tied to a "Day One" system update that likely won't be available in time for pre-launch reviews. Further thoughts on the experience of motion controlled games (like 1-2-Switch), or games that support individual Joy-Cons held horizontally (like Super Bomberman R) will also have to wait.

At a glance, Breath of the Wild doesn't look like it would be out of place on the nearly five-year-old Wii U. Perhaps that's not surprising since the game started life as a Wii U title, and a version of it is releasing concurrently on that older console. Still, played on a TV, the one Switch game we've had significant time with so far doesn't sport any of the graphical "wow factor" you might usually associate with a new console launch.

Where Breath of the Wild ends up being much more striking is in portable mode. I've primarily tested the system on the Switch's 6.2", 720p screen as I've travelled for work over the past few days. The screen's size and relatively high resolution means that elements like text, health displays, and button prompts can be both small and clearly legible. After years spent tolerating Nintendo portables with relatively low-res screens and big, pixelated graphical elements, the level of fine detail that can be held in your hands is a wonder.

My favorite way to play Breath of the Wild so far is with the Joy-Cons detached from the system, one held in each hand. You can connect the individual controllers to a centralized Grip to make them feel more like a standard dual-stick controller, but I'm not sure why you would want to. Held separately, you can lounge around comfortably with your hands and arms resting literally anywhere, rather than having to scrunch them together directly in front of you.

That said, the extremely thin and small Joy-Con controllers can be a little hard to get a solid grasp on when they're not connected to a controller Grip or the tablet system itself. The rounded corner of the controller ends up crooked in the very center of your palm, which has to offer most of the support as your fingers struggle to wrap around the tiny base. It's not uncomfortable by any means—the Joy-Cons are so light you'll practically forget they're there—but it still feels a little odd, like trying to hold a Milano cookie when you're more used to holding a thicker Twinkie.

Despite its thin profile, the Switch feels relatively hefty in the hand and comes across as much denser than the likes of the 3DS or Vita (and especially the airy, toy-like tablet on the Wii U). The tablet itself is solidly built and doesn't feel in danger of snapping apart under stress.

The one exception to that solid build quality so far is the extremely flimsy kickstand on the back of the unit. In about two days of frequent use, that thin, roughly one-inch wide piece of plastic has already broken off two times under normal use. It's easy enough to snap back into place, but it's enough to make you worry about putting any accidental weight on the system when it's propped up.

Battery life so far conforms to Nintendo's stated specs—I can get about three hours of portable Zelda play on a full battery charge, depending on the screen brightness. The included AC adapter seems to fill about 1 percent of the battery per minute (give or take) when the system is in sleep mode (that mode is very power conscious, incidentally—after eight hours in "sleep," a fully charged battery had only drained to 98 percent).

I thought the Switch's USB-C charging port would mean I could use any standard external battery pack to charge the system away from an outlet on long trips. Testing with the Jackery Titan S, though, I was only able to get a trickle charge of about 1 percent every six minutes. That charge was so weak that, during normal gameplay, the Switch actually died on me while it was still plugged in to the external battery pack.

This could just be an issue of Voltage—the packaged wall outlet is rated for 15V/2.6A, while the battery pack is only rated at 5V/3A—or it might be an issue with confusing USB-C charging standards. In any case, don't expect perfect compatibility with third-party chargers.

While we're talking about charging, let me just say that the decision to put the charging port on the bottom of the system is a horrible one. This means the system is impossible to charge when it's propped up on the kickstand (unless you have a table with a convenient hole in it). Even if you're holding the system in your hands, the charging cable sticks out awkwardly, preventing you from resting the system comfortably on your chest, legs, etc. Even if the design makes the system easier to use with the included dock, it's pretty annoying.

Other miscellaneous observations:

• The back of the Switch tablet gets noticeably warm to the touch after prolonged use or charging, but never so hot that it can't be comfortably handled. The warmth is less apparent on the attached controllers, which is where it's going to be making the most contact with your hands anyway.
• The touchscreen seems is perfectly functional when using one finger to tap on system menus. It seems likely that's all the touchscreen will ever be used for, though, since it's totally inaccessible when the system is docked to a TV.
• The analog sticks and buttons on the Joy-Con are actually slightly smaller than those on the PS4 or Xbox One controller. And the front shoulder button on each side has to be ridiculously thin to fit atop the tablet. It's still usable, but it feels weird to hit a target so much thinner than your finger.
• Sliding the Joy-Cons on and off the system is still extremely satisfying and seems well-poised to be a new nervous habit for me. When you slide the controllers into place, there's a small visual cue on the edge of the screen, and the speakers let out a cute little "click" sound effect, too.
• You can slide the Joy-Cons onto the tablet backwards if you want to play blind with the screen facing away from you. You can't slide them in upside-down, though.

We'll be putting the Switch through as much testing as we can leading up to its March 3 launch next week. For now, though, my inner seven-year-old is still marveling at how far Nintendo handhelds have come since the original black-and-white Game Boy.