Amazes me they don't just sell it like that everywhere because it sounds a lot like a product improvement...
> The revised products will be available on a rolling basis in territories where Nintendo of Europe conducts business, either directly or through a distributor, namely: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
I would prefer the current versions without anything replaceable. I have the Switch bought on day 1 and a Pro Controller which is 9 years old. Yes, the Switch was mostly used docked, but the battery is last thing failing there, it rather has issues with the fan, the screen scratches etc. The controller works perfectly and I charge it once a month. The replaceable battery would only make it less solid.
The biggest Switch issue by far is joystick drift on joycons. I've replaced 3 on my Switch 2 already and we have the same issue on the new Switch 2 in the office.
My day 1 Switch battery was definitely significantly degraded when I did a DIY battery swap a couple of years back.
Battery longevity varies based on usage patterns and likely other factors (temperature?), but it's normal to notice a significant reduction in capacity within 4-5 years.
And the amount of adhesive holding the old battery in made replacing it an unnecessarily hard and actually dangerous (risk of battery fire due to physical damage) process.
>Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and Nintendo Switch – OLED Model will all continue to be manufactured in 2026, and should be widely available in Europe all year.
>From mid-February 2027, almost ten years after Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, Nintendo will no longer sell to retailers hardware in the Nintendo Switch family of systems – specifically Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite and Nintendo Switch – OLED Model. Sales of Nintendo Switch hardware on Nintendo Store will also end in mid-February 2027.
Understandable, but maybe that shouldn't be buried in the FAQ...
Interesting, in the fineprint they actually confirm that they set the "Switch 1" End-Of-Life by Feb.2027 and stop selling it.
This means they will lose the revenue of that product-line (currently ~15% of their total hardware unit sales according to their fiscal report [0]), which may help accelerate the need for a "lite" version of the Switch2 to recover this market-segment...
...or not, because console sales is generally dropping and there's actually no competition to Nintendo in the handheld console segment...
Bleak times ahead for the gaming industry, and for the gamers...
"There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries."
So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.
Quoting just one of the smallest one feels a bit... charged. There's small tradeoffs among all of them when you account for weight.
For everyone else here's the full list:
Switch 2
Battery capacity: 5172mAh, approximately 1% smaller than current version (5220mAh)
Weight: Approximately 411g, around 10g heavier than current version
With Joy-Con 2 controllers attached: Approximately 548g, around 14g heavier than current version (approximately 534g).
JoyCon 2:
Battery capacity: No change.
Weight: each 2g heavier
Switch 2 Pro Controller:
Battery capacity: 897mAh, approximately 16% smaller than current version (1070mAh).
Weight: Approximately 228g, around 7g lighter than current version (approximately 235g).
N64 Controller:
Battery capacity: No change.
Weight: Approximately 234g, around 1g heavier than current version (approximately 233g)
GameCube controller:
Battery capacity: 525mAh, approximately 5% larger than current version (500mAh).
Weight: 215g, around 5g heavier than current version (210g).
Sorry I should have specified that is the pro controller, typical use case is a docked switch and the controller is used while on a couch or some such.
Literally the worst case scenario for dramatic reduction in battery life.
The console one seems the only relevant one. I'm a casual gamer, but the joycon running out of battery doesn't feel that annoying to me. That 16% has a much smaller impact on the JoyCon than on the main device.
The ones with "non replaceable" batteries still has a longer battery life after a battery swap, it just requires a screwdriver and a couple of brain cells.
No, it requires adhesive-removing chemicals, IPA as a bare minimum, dental floss, plastic prying tools, and some idea of battery safety (so you don't turn it into a fireball by trying to extract it aggressively with a screwdriver).
Genuinely struggled to extract a Switch 1 battery from it's adhesive, and I'm usually perfectly comfortable disassembling+reassembling that sort of thing.
The use of adhesives, in excessive quantity/strength, on fragile/dangerous batteries is the problem, not the screwdriver or brain cells.
> So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.
At the very least, the design will be more complicated to accommodate replaceable batteries. That costs money. There's a lot more to "limiting" than functionality.
But there is at least some argument that smartphones nowadays have some pretty crazy waterproofness that I'm not sure is physically possible with a replaceable battery?
In more concrete terms, there are modern (2025) smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy XCover7 Pro w/ replaceable batteries which have IP67 (1 meter of water for 30 minutes) or higher certification. The back panel popping off too easily (and dumping the battery with it) is one of the common cons with the device though, so while you can get everything it is an extra layer of difficulty to try to design around correctly.
I expect smartphones to look more like the Pro Controller tradeoffs than the joy cons. The issue with replaceable batteries is you need the extra space for the battery structure so unless phones grow they'll have lower capacities. There's also IP ratings, phones have pretty good IP ratings these days often surviving drops in puddles etc where none of these products have any official IP rating to preserve when adding doors etc for replacement batteries.
Didn't care? Consumers don't care about this. Like most EU laws, this is a solution in search of a problem. Nintendo, like every other tech company, did the research and found that people simply don't care about this stuff. Now we have more complicated devices and have to buy our own batteries for what, exactly? There is just very little benefit here.
Say it uses more plastic, other parts, and energy to manufacture. That all contributes to waste and co2 emissions. So Nintendo probably only cares about the cost. But considering how free people do rotor actually replace the battery is it goes to work out better or worse for the environment.
I almost bought a Switch 2 but then remembered this was going into effect. Decided to push it off and keep using my still quite functional Switch 1 until I can get one.
Why would anyone not want a user replaceable battery ?
I also specifically ordered an electric toothbrush from UK Amazon awhile back that was (on the surface) identical to the American version. The UK and EU version however had a sort of (not super easy but still not that hard) user replaceable battery. Because they had to redesign with a user replaceable battery it uses a fairly standard sized lithium rechargeable (I forget the exact size - smaller than an 18650 but somewhat common).
The side effect of this was the battery inside is also much higher quality and much higher capacity than the US version. The diameter of the device is slightly larger (to accommodate the larger battery) which also fits my hands better. Even if I never replace the battery the device itself lasts insanely long between charges which is a huge plus. The cost was the same (excluding a small extra charge for shipping).
The push for replaceable batteries is coming just as battery life is increasing.[1] We're already seeing that with electric cars.
When solid-state batteries finally come out in volume, they should outlast the devices they go into. The big players are saying that solid state batteries in phone size should start shipping in 2027. Cars are further off.
What constitutes a replaceable battery in this regulation? I don’t want hatches on things. Especially not phones. It’s fine to have some screws between me and a battery, if that makes it have 1% more capacity, 1% more rigid or be 1% more water proof.
> A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it. Commercially available tools are considered to be tools available on the market to all end-users without the need for them to provide evidence of any proprietary rights and that can be used with no restriction, except health and safety-related restrictions.
Working with multiple SKU’s and hardware revisions is standard practice. Just like the Switch and OLED Switch.
PlayStation always had a whole series of SKU’s, from 1 to 5. People sometimes search for a specific one, due to certain chips being used.
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps5/SKU_Models
Similarly the WII is also known to ship several hardware revisions, with different properties such as video output quality.
The same goes for many electronic products, from TV’s to iPhones. Sometimes the features are noticeably different per revision or region. Still it is called the same product.
61 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 55.6 ms ] threadWe shouldn't be throwing away laptops, smartphones, or consoles - or soon, entire EVs, just because the battery has degraded.
> The revised products will be available on a rolling basis in territories where Nintendo of Europe conducts business, either directly or through a distributor, namely: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
The biggest Switch issue by far is joystick drift on joycons. I've replaced 3 on my Switch 2 already and we have the same issue on the new Switch 2 in the office.
https://www.euroconsumers.org/game-over-for-faulty-nintendo-...
Battery longevity varies based on usage patterns and likely other factors (temperature?), but it's normal to notice a significant reduction in capacity within 4-5 years.
And the amount of adhesive holding the old battery in made replacing it an unnecessarily hard and actually dangerous (risk of battery fire due to physical damage) process.
>From mid-February 2027, almost ten years after Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, Nintendo will no longer sell to retailers hardware in the Nintendo Switch family of systems – specifically Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite and Nintendo Switch – OLED Model. Sales of Nintendo Switch hardware on Nintendo Store will also end in mid-February 2027.
Understandable, but maybe that shouldn't be buried in the FAQ...
This means they will lose the revenue of that product-line (currently ~15% of their total hardware unit sales according to their fiscal report [0]), which may help accelerate the need for a "lite" version of the Switch2 to recover this market-segment...
...or not, because console sales is generally dropping and there's actually no competition to Nintendo in the handheld console segment...
Bleak times ahead for the gaming industry, and for the gamers...
[0] https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2026/260203_2e.pdf
So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.
>Battery capacity: 5172mAh, approximately 1% smaller than current version (5220mAh)
For everyone else here's the full list:
Switch 2 Battery capacity: 5172mAh, approximately 1% smaller than current version (5220mAh) Weight: Approximately 411g, around 10g heavier than current version With Joy-Con 2 controllers attached: Approximately 548g, around 14g heavier than current version (approximately 534g).
JoyCon 2: Battery capacity: No change. Weight: each 2g heavier
Switch 2 Pro Controller: Battery capacity: 897mAh, approximately 16% smaller than current version (1070mAh). Weight: Approximately 228g, around 7g lighter than current version (approximately 235g).
N64 Controller: Battery capacity: No change. Weight: Approximately 234g, around 1g heavier than current version (approximately 233g)
GameCube controller: Battery capacity: 525mAh, approximately 5% larger than current version (500mAh). Weight: 215g, around 5g heavier than current version (210g).
Because who cares if the controller lasts 27 or 30 days? (Or so, don't quite me on exact numbers).
~6 hours is quite a drop.
Put the controllers on the device when you're not using it (which seems like the obvious place to keep them), and they'll never run out.
Literally the worst case scenario for dramatic reduction in battery life.
Genuinely struggled to extract a Switch 1 battery from it's adhesive, and I'm usually perfectly comfortable disassembling+reassembling that sort of thing.
The use of adhesives, in excessive quantity/strength, on fragile/dangerous batteries is the problem, not the screwdriver or brain cells.
At the very least, the design will be more complicated to accommodate replaceable batteries. That costs money. There's a lot more to "limiting" than functionality.
Thanks to this regulation, they will the next time around.
But there is at least some argument that smartphones nowadays have some pretty crazy waterproofness that I'm not sure is physically possible with a replaceable battery?
Of course there are extra costs. The parts and the extra assembly isn't free and it does add up.
* 2 products: -1%, -16%
* 1 product: +5%
more of a mixed bad if you ask me
Say it uses more plastic, other parts, and energy to manufacture. That all contributes to waste and co2 emissions. So Nintendo probably only cares about the cost. But considering how free people do rotor actually replace the battery is it goes to work out better or worse for the environment.
https://infinite-battery.com :)
"Brussels Effect" is the new "California Emissions."
Why would anyone not want a user replaceable battery ?
I also specifically ordered an electric toothbrush from UK Amazon awhile back that was (on the surface) identical to the American version. The UK and EU version however had a sort of (not super easy but still not that hard) user replaceable battery. Because they had to redesign with a user replaceable battery it uses a fairly standard sized lithium rechargeable (I forget the exact size - smaller than an 18650 but somewhat common).
The side effect of this was the battery inside is also much higher quality and much higher capacity than the US version. The diameter of the device is slightly larger (to accommodate the larger battery) which also fits my hands better. Even if I never replace the battery the device itself lasts insanely long between charges which is a huge plus. The cost was the same (excluding a small extra charge for shipping).
[1] https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2026/05/20/...
Basically changeable with normal tools and safely without risk of destroying the battery or product.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1542/oj/eng
> A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it. Commercially available tools are considered to be tools available on the market to all end-users without the need for them to provide evidence of any proprietary rights and that can be used with no restriction, except health and safety-related restrictions.
PlayStation always had a whole series of SKU’s, from 1 to 5. People sometimes search for a specific one, due to certain chips being used. https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps5/SKU_Models
Similarly the WII is also known to ship several hardware revisions, with different properties such as video output quality.
https://bitbuilt.net/forums/threads/revision-identification-...
The same goes for many electronic products, from TV’s to iPhones. Sometimes the features are noticeably different per revision or region. Still it is called the same product.
Edit: added phone/tv example.