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Good news and slightly annoying news: your old Joy-Cons do work with the Switch 2, but they won't attach to it. The new console switched to magnets for controller attachment, so your old Joy-Cons can only connect wirelessly.
Pair your Joy-Cons through Bluetooth like any wireless controller, and they work great. Motion controls, HD Rumble, all the usual features. No problem there.
The annoying part? You can't charge them by snapping them onto the Switch 2. You'll need your old Switch, a charging grip, or a separate charging dock to juice them up.
Here's a twist: for certain games, you have to use original Joy-Cons. The new Joy-Con 2 controllers are bigger and removed the IR sensor, which breaks compatibility with a handful of titles:
So don't get rid of your old Joy-Cons if you play any of these games. They're the only option.
The Pro Controller and all those retro wireless controllers from Nintendo (NES, SNES, N64 ones) pair with Switch 2 just fine. Same with most third-party controllers. Everything connects wirelessly.
Your Joy-Con investment isn't wasted. They work wirelessly, you just can't snap them on or charge them through the Switch 2. And for certain games, they're actually required.
Let's be honest: battery life on the Switch 2 is not amazing. Nintendo says 2 to 6.5 hours, and in real-world use, that's pretty accurate. What you get depends a lot on what you're playing.
Fire up Mario Kart World with the brightness cranked up? You're looking at around 2 hours before needing a charge. That's not great for a long flight or road trip.
But here's the thing: not every game hammers the battery equally. Playing the vanilla version of Breath of the Wild on Switch 2? You'll get over 3.5 hours. GameCube classics are even easier on the battery. Playing Wind Waker for three solid hours still left 40% battery remaining.
The short answer: demanding new games drain it fast, older or simpler games let you play much longer.
You'd think a bigger battery would mean longer playtime, right? The Switch 2 has a 5,220 mAh battery compared to the OLED's 4,310 mAh. But the Switch 2's more powerful hardware just drinks more juice.
The OLED could last 4.5 to 9 hours. The Switch 2 maxes out around 6.5 hours with light games, and hits closer to 2 hours with heavy ones. That's the trade-off for better graphics and faster performance.
A few tricks that actually help:
Charging takes about 3 hours from empty when the Switch 2 is asleep. Both USB-C ports support charging, so you can power up from the top or bottom.
Good news if you're worried about your game collection: yes, the Nintendo Switch 2 plays almost all your old Switch games. You won't have to rebuy everything or say goodbye to your favorite titles.
Pop your old cartridges right into the Switch 2. It has a slot that accepts original Switch game cards. Already gone digital? Just sign in with your Nintendo Account and your whole library shows up ready to play.
Nintendo says about 98.7% of Switch 1 games work on the new console. That's the vast majority of the entire library. The company uses a clever translation layer that makes old games think they're running on the original hardware.
There's really only one game that flat-out won't work: Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit. Why? The Switch 2's bigger screen won't physically fit into the cardboard VR goggles. Fair enough.
Around 188 other games have some kind of issue. Maybe they crash at startup or have weird glitches. Games like Fortnite, Doom Eternal, and NBA 2K25 are on this list. But Nintendo and developers keep releasing patches, so this number keeps shrinking.
You can check compatibility for any specific game on Nintendo's official compatibility website.
Here's something cool: a lot of your old games actually run better on Switch 2. Faster loading, smoother frame rates, just an overall better experience thanks to the more powerful hardware.
Some games even got free upgrades. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet now look stunning at 4K/60fps on Switch 2, at no extra cost. For big titles like Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo released paid enhanced versions with serious graphical improvements.
Don't stress about backward compatibility. Your game collection moves with you to the Switch 2. Most of your games will work on day one, and many will actually look and play better than before.
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