New Nintendo Switch ‘doesn’t improve loading times’, tests suggest
But the updated model reportedly downloads games faster
Early comparisons of loading times on the new Nintendo Switch model and the launch hardware would appear to show there’s a “negligible difference” in performance, however download times could be faster.
YouTube channel GameXplain compared the time it took to load Super Mario Odyssey version 1.3 running from the internal memory of both systems.
From boot, it took about 20 seconds to get to the main menu on both consoles – the new system was actually just under a second slower.
In a second test, traveling from the Cascade Kingdom to New Donk City took about 12 seconds on both systems.
“So far, any difference appears to be entirely negligible,” says the video commentary, “with a small gap possibly being chalked up to the same random fluctuations we’ve noticed in load times even on the same Switch.”
Testing Breath of the Wild version 1.6 by warping from the Great Plateau to Kakariko Village took about 18.5 seconds on both Switch models.
“As far as we can tell from the handful of tests that we’ve performed, loading times seem to be unaffected between the new and original Switches to any meaningful degree.”
GameXplain also compared download speeds. It downloaded Super Mario Maker 2 three times on each Switch system, before averaging out the times “to try and mitigate random fluctuations due to internet traffic”.
The new Switch came out on top in all three tests. On average, the download took 16 minutes and 40 seconds (1,000 seconds) on the old Switch, compared to 15 minutes and 16 seconds (916 seconds) on the new Switch – nearly 10% faster.
The video points out that Super Mario Maker 2 is a relatively small download, weighing in at about 3GB. Users could therefore potentially save even more time when downloading larger games such as Breath of the Wild (14.4 GB).
However, it’s worth noting that the small time difference and number of times the test was held puts the results within margin of error.
Featuring significantly improved battery life and a different version of Nvidia’s Tegra chip, the new Switch model will launch in “mid-August” in North America and Japan, and early September in the UK, although Hong Kong and Australian stores have already started selling it.
Nintendo’s official estimate for the new Nintendo Switch’s battery life is between 4.5 and 9 hours, compared to the original model’s 2.5 to 6.5 hours and 3 to 7 hours offered by the upcoming Switch Lite.
An early user test shows the new Switch lasting for five hours and 36 minutes whilst playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in portable mode.
Another test has Fire Emblem: Three Houses running for two hours in portable mode, with 60% battery life remaining, suggests a runtime of five hours.
A new video has shown the internal hardware changes Nintendo has made to its revised Switch model.
