Switch 2 screen vs Switch OLED

[yankii]

So I was playing on my Switch OLED and couldn't help but notice that the screen looks much better than the Switch 2 when in motion, for example, when scrolling text. The Switch 2 looks fine when docked to a 60Hz TV but not in handheld mode. It's kinda blurry whereas the Switch OLED looks like any other 60Hz screen I've used. Is this just how 120Hz VRR is, or is something else the matter?

It looks worse than my Lite too.

 

[subcon959]

Thread 'Switch 2 Screen Slower Than OG Switch'

Jun 24, 2025

There has been a lot of talk lately about the quality of the Switch 2 screen, with some people saying it's terrible while others think it looks better than the Switch OLED. Well, while looks can be subjective, the performance is more easily measured and it's bad news...



TL;DW - The Switch 2 panel is 50% slower than the original Switch LCD and around 5x slower than an average IPS computer monitor.

• subcon959
• Replies: 29
• Forum: Nintendo Switch 2

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TL;DR the Switch 2 screen is poor.

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Only haters without a Switch2 claim that the Switch2 screen is awful.

 

[Kai_98]

Hearing rumors that the Switch 2's LCD was gonna be better than the Switch OLED's screen was laughable. The Switch 2's screen isn't terrible, but it has some room for improvement.

With that said, I'd like to argue that a hacked Switch OLED is capable of more than a Switch 2 (at least for right now). Hear me out! A perfect example of this would be the game "Witch Spring R". The Switch 1 version is locked to 30 FPS by default, but with FPS locker patches and a little overclocking, you can easily hit a locked 60 FPS. The Switch 2 is unable to do this though since it doesn't have access to FPS locker patches, and no paid 60 fps update patches exist yet. So for now, the Switch OLED is unironically able to provide better performance for a ton of Switch 1 games. The Switch OLED is even able to rival the Switch 2's performance in games like BOTW and TOTK with the right settings (just gotta watch your power consumption a little).

I understand that the Switch 2 has better hardware and is capable of more, but when games are locked at 30 FPS max, that potential goes completely unused.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hearing rumors that the Switch 2's LCD was gonna be better than the Switch OLED's screen was laughable. The Switch 2's screen isn't terrible, but it has some room for improvement.

With that said, I'd like to argue that a hacked Switch OLED is capable of more than a Switch 2 (at least for right now). Hear me out! A perfect example of this would be the game "Witch Spring R". The Switch 1 version is locked to 30 FPS by default, but with FPS locker patches and a little overclocking, you can easily hit a locked 60 FPS. The Switch 2 is unable to do this though since it doesn't have access to FPS locker patches, and no paid 60 fps update patches exist yet. So for now, the Switch OLED is unironically able to provide better performance for a ton of Switch 1 games. The Switch OLED is even able to rival the Switch 2's performance in games like BOTW and TOTK with the right settings (just gotta watch your power consumption a little).

I understand that the Switch 2 has better hardware and is capable of more, but when games are locked at 30 FPS max, that potential goes completely unused.

I'd love to see a Switch OLED matching the load times of a Switch 2 in BotW/TotK.
Edit: Or the graphics quality, for that matter.

One thing you are right about is the 30 FPS lock. Some games benefit very little from running on the Switch 2. Others benefit immensely. It's a bit hit and miss but there are way more games that benefit from running on the Switch 2 than you seem to imply.

 

[urherenow]

I'd love to see a Switch OLED matching the load times of a Switch 2 in BotW/TotK.

Not even a fair comparison. We’re talking about the screen here. You can’t compare load times of a system that uses cards that average 90-100MB/s with a system that uses cards that average 900MB/s.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Not even a fair comparison. We’re talking about the screen here. You can’t compare load times of a system that uses cards that average 90-100MB/s with a system that uses cards that average 900MB/s.

I played the game from the Switch 1 cart and using the (relatively small) Switch 2 Edition update. The majority of the game content is still being loaded from the Switch 1 cart.

The person I was replying to was not talking about the screen. I'd argue that load times are an important consideration when talking about performance.

 

[xenneco]

I'd love to see a Switch OLED matching the load times of a Switch 2 in BotW/TotK.
Edit: Or the graphics quality, for that matter.

One thing you are right about is the 30 FPS lock. Some games benefit very little from running on the Switch 2. Others benefit immensely. It's a bit hit and miss but there are way more games that benefit from running on the Switch 2 than you seem to imply.

I have a Switch 1 OLED and a Switch 2 with BOTW Switch 2 Edition. Personally, the Switch 2 version was a disappointment. On the Switch 1 OLED with overclocking at 60 fps, with contrast enhancement patches and background fog removal, it's visually a far better option than the Switch 2 version. I was very disappointed; when you see them side by side, there's no comparison; the Switch OLED wins by a landslide. Yes, loading times are shorter, but you don't play a game based on loading times. In my case, it was a waste of money.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I have a Switch 1 OLED and a Switch 2 with BOTW Switch 2 Edition. Personally, the Switch 2 version was a disappointment. On the Switch 1 OLED with overclocking at 60 fps, with contrast enhancement patches and background fog removal, it's visually a far better option than the Switch 2 version. I was very disappointed; when you see them side by side, there's no comparison; the Switch OLED wins by a landslide. Yes, loading times are shorter, but you don't play a game based on loading times. In my case, it was a waste of money.

Did you play that on a TV or handheld only? Switch 2 Edition looks amazing on the big screen. I've not really played it in handheld personally. The game is best suited for TV play, the UI is very small.

 

[Tortitamal]

SW2 screen feels quite inferior to the oled one, also the response time of the ns2 is very noticiable, it feels slow, like playing on a cheap monitor vs playing on a gamer monitor when docked.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Only haters without a Switch2 claim that the Switch2 screen is awful.

It's not awful, but seeing it in person it's not as good as the Switch 1 OLED. The OLED has more vibrant colors and is more detailed.

That said, the Switch 2 screen is a massive upgrade compared to the Switch 1 V1/V2 models.

 

[Xzi]

It's bearable in 3D games, but it is absolutely awful in 2D side scrolling games. My Switch 2 has only left its dock a couple times as a result. The screen is better in color vibrancy and resolution than the V1 LCD Switch, obviously, but it's actually worse in response time. And WAAAY worse than the OLED Switch/Deck.

 

[YYDeckard]

For the 99% of new owners / parents / kids they wont even notice - feels like MacForums to me when the android kiddies bleat on there (god knows why they are on a Mac forum) about 60hz refresh rate and how's it the end of the world compared to their 90 or 120 - when I have lent my iPhone 15 pro max to someone to use over the years NO-ONE has ever said "Geez this scrolling is amazing" but they have always said " this phone is too big !" (LOL) - I agree N could have done better but for the majority of its client base who dont have a baseline comparison it hits the brief.

 

[urherenow]

I played the game from the Switch 1 cart and using the (relatively small) Switch 2 Edition update. The majority of the game content is still being loaded from the Switch 1 cart.

The read speed is exactly the same in this case, as it's limited by the the cart's 90MB/s speed. But the Switch 2 can actually process the data faster. The carts with just a small update, are updated SPECIFICALLY to take advantage of the faster processing speed. You could have chosen to run it without the update, and the loading times would be identical.