Nintendo Switch 2 top vent
Image: Gavin Lane / Nintendo Life

Most of us here at Team NL, like many of you, have been unwrapping shiny new consoles today as Switch 2 arrives, finally. Nothing like the smell of new hardware in the morning, right?

Having said that, while we've been getting to grips with the new console, some of us have noticed an aroma. Not an unpleasant one, you understand, but a distinctly warm, electronic smell rising from the console's top vent - as you might expect from a high-performance video gaming device being played for the first time.

Naturally, I asked around the office. "No dodgy smell from mine," replied Ollie. "wtf are you sniffing your Switch 2s for?" asked Alana.

To be clear, it's not a bad smell - it's just hot electronics. Clean and comforting, in a way. Having the console sitting on the desk while I type notes into the laptop, it was just noticeable.

It reminds me personally of that artificial bouquet of an electronics store with hundreds of devices in demo mode. Specifically, the smell took me back to the 1990s, standing in Dixons in Wothing's Montague Street (or Comet or Currys, if you prefer heading out of town) watching CRT screens a little too closely, wishing I could take home a massive widescreen Sony Wega to replace the tiny Matsui in my bedroom.

NL's editorial director Damien McFerran says his smells like public transport, "like a bus or train"...which I suppose depends on the state of your local transit system. A pleasantly sterile space with the greasy scent of well-oiled hinges, sliding doors, and well-maintained engines is what he's talking about! Hopefully.

Nintendo Switch 2 dock
Haven't sniffed that one yet — Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life

Having done the system transfer, the new console has been working hard in the background downloading all sorts of things - I'm assuming that's the cause of the warmth and the smell, rather than running Welcome Tour, which I can't imagine is taxing the system too much. It's very likely all the downloads getting the internal fan going. It's not uncomfortably hot or pungent or anything like that. It's just...noticeable!

Have you noted an electronic aroma rising from your new Switch 2? Does it smell like a (nice clean) bus? C'mon, you know this is the sort of hot gaming content you come to Nintendo Life for - let us know below.

Is the top vent on your Switch 2 emitting a noticeable aroma?
If it is, do you like the smell?