The Nintendo Switch.
This is the most recent, full fledged gaming console from Nintendo.
And this all grey unit is the one lucky enough to end up on my desk... with me.
Its time to see what this thing is made of.
Lets see if this system will be able to last the next 5 or 6 years until the next Nintendo
system comes along and takes its place.
Lets get Started!
[Intro]
Now, normally I test cell phones, BUT this device is meant to be portable, which means
its fair game for my durability tests.
I think its better that I test the durability of a device on purpose, so you wont have to
find out on accident.
Ill tell you what to avoid and watch out for.
I always start my durability tests with a scratch test on the screen.
I use a set of Mohs Hardness picks that tell me what the screen is made of.
If its plastic, it will scratch at a level 3.
If its glass, like most cell phones it will scratch at a 5 or a 6.
But if its sapphire, like we see on some watches, it will scratch at a level 8 or 9.
And if Nintendo made their screen out of diamonds... it will scratch at a level 10.
Unfortunately for us though this Switch isn't made out of diamonds...
Its plastic, and it scratches at a level 3.
Most smart phones have a glass screen because cell phones design to constantly be constantly
rubbing around in your pocket all the time.
I assume Nintendo decided to use a plastic screen because
A) Its cheaper.
B)
its not in your pocket all the time,
and C) this is a family console, played mostly by kinds.
(And kids at Heart) and a plastic screen definitely wont ever get cracked if it accidentally gets
dropped, and glass would.
So its a valid, cost effective, trade off, and in this case, I'm OK with the plastic.
BUT as you can see from my key marks, it WILL get scratched up if you just toss it in your
backpack or purse.
So a screen protector or a case is definitely a good idea.
Ill link some good protectors in the video description.
On either side of the device we have what Nintendo is calling the 'Joy-Con Controller'.
And we can tell by the sound of my razor blade that these are made out of plastic.
The joy con, Joystick has a super thick rubber coating around the top.
With how thick and strong it is I can tell It'll take years of playing for it to actually
wear out with normal use.
Even with me deliberately trying to pull off the sliced portion, it was staying attached
pretty well.
So far so good.
Here is something I thought was really cool.
The top buttons are made of plastic as well BUT if you look close you can see that the
letters on these buttons are not printed, or screened into place.
They are literally injected all the way through the button.
So for you die hard gamers that have had the letters rub off your keyboard, or joysticks
with time... that will literally never happen on this Nintendo switch because the letters
ARE the button.
Thumbs up for that.
Along the top of the switch near the.. headphone jack we still have a solid plastic exterior
layer.
And even along the back of the device, there is no ear splitting sound of metal on metal
when I carve into the switch body.
If you are one of the few who can recognize this symbol... leave a comment and tell me
where its from.
It has to do with the force.
And im not talking Star Wars.
There are a pair of symmetrical vents on the bottom of the device, which are probably for
the stereo speakers, or heat dissipation.
We'll find out for sure when I do my full tear-down.
The holes are covered by a thin vinyl layer which is actually surprisingly easy to tear,
so if you ever need to clean these out, be careful.
The kickstand is also made from plastic.
Its attachment to the Nintendo switch is pretty weak sauce.
My first time opening it up and it popped right off...
The good news though is that it pops right back into place very easy over and over again.
I did this several times to make sure it was still solid, and it didn't get any weaker
with each removal.
So its probably designed this way.. but that also makes it easy to loose as well.
And, well, It covers the SD card slot so try and keep track of it.
It is important.
I know a few of you have already thought 'Well Ill just cover up all that plastic with a
skin'.
Well...
Dbrand, a company that makes protective skins, said that the particular plastic that is being
used on the switch is not compatible with skins; The plastic gets physically destroyed
by the skin, Which is pretty odd.
You should probably avoid putting a skin on it for now, and use a case or sheath instead.
Now normally I'm able to tell what kind of display a device has by applying a little
bit of heat.
An IPS display turns off, Amoled burns white.
BUT the plastic layer over this 720p Nintendo Switch display is super thick, and never let
the heat reach the actual display.
The exterior plastic did reach its melting point after about 15 seconds though.
Link was not too happy with me.
BUT everything still functions 100 percent so far.
Even if the screen were to break, it should still be able to output to a TV like any normal
console would with this docking station.
The dock allows the switch to play on your TV at 1080p which is a bit higher resolution
than the built in screen.
That screen is 720.
You just Just slide it in, and the USB C allows it to dock immediately.
There is one large flaw with this dock though, and thats the large plastic runners inside
the docking station that press right up against the screen.
So every time you dock your console, the dock will rub against the side of your display.
Plastic on plastic can still cause damage, or scrapes to the screen.
There have already been reports of scratched screens.
Luckily its not on the visible part of the display, just that thick black bezel between
the display and the side controllers, so its not a big deal if it does get scratched a
little here and there.
But Once again, a thin screen protector would solve this issue 100%.
I would say a screen protector is pretty mandatory on this console.
Remember Ill link some in the video description.
As you know the switch is pretty modular, you can play with the little joystick niblits
attached the the screen like you've seen me doing, you can pull them off and play with
them detached, The third way you can use them is to attach them to this little grip that
turns both nibliets into one larger hand held controller.
The new symbol I just drew is a little more difficult...so let me know in the comments
if you know where This one is from.
Muggles probably wont understand.
After joining the joy con controllers into the joycon grip.
I can give it an initial stress test.
A basic flex in all directions reveals that its pretty darn sturdy for being a bunch of
plastic parts stuck together with thin little rails.
I don't see any immediate failure points on this controller unless you are intentionally
trying to break it.
Everything is still totally functional..... so far...
One interesting thing about the controllers is the little LED light built in on the inside.
When you slide the controller into the grip, it transfers the light upward shining out
of the grip itself.
This is done with tiny little mirrors inside of the controller handle.
You can see what I mean when I shine the LED flash from my phone into the mirrors, it still
transfers the light straight up out of the grip.
Interesting stuff.
We saw the same feature in the GoPro 5 when I tore that down.
Now the rail on the joy con controller is made out of plastic.
Which at first I thought would be a bad design.
But it turns out, this plastic joy con rail isn't the failure point.
The connecting rail on the console itself is made of metal.
Which is rather refreshing when dealing with a console entirely made of plastic.
I do love how securely these controllers click into place.
Now its time to find the failure point.
Trying to bend the body of the console was futile.
There was no breakage no matter which way I was bending from.
The center body and screen are very strong.
Even the side joy con controllers are pretty strong by themselves.
It would be very difficult to break these off on accident.
But with enough deliberate force I was able to snap off one side.
The interesting part though was at the failure part wasn't the plastic rail, OR the metal
rail.
Ill show you what broke in a second.
The important thing though is that the console is still works completely.
Which is good.
Obviously.
The part that broke were the 4 screw holes holding the metal rail into the switch body.
The rail itself is fine, the screws are fine, but the inferior metal holding the screws
to the body of the Switch ripped right out.
Definitely not what I was expecting to happen.
I'm pretty sure that wire at the bottom of this rail is what charges the joy cons.
So this side rail is definitely important.
Luckily mine is still mostly connected.
And that wire didnt rip.
For the most part, I would classify this portable console as durable.
Even though I was able to deliberately break mine, you shouldn't have any issues with yours
unless you are dropping it off your house, or... someone extremely heavy sits on it...
but as long as you get a screen protector for that screen, the rest of the console should
survive just fine.
I can say that the Nintendo Switch is definitely a successful successor to the Wii U.
My twitter followers knew this video was coming before anyone else.
So make sure you follow me on Twitter, and Instagram to stay up to date on my projects.
Thanks for watching!
Ill see you around.