Topic: Is it OK to leave a brand new Switch in box for three months or so?

Hi everyone,

I just purchased a brand new Switch due to an excellent deal, but I am not planning to open it and start using it until the end of July or so. As a result, once it arrives, the Switch will remain in its box for another three months or so.

Is it OK to leave the Switch (and its Joy Cons) in its box for that long without charging it? I am afraid the battery of the system (and the Joy Cons) will get damaged if I leave it in the box without charging it for another three months. Thanks for your input!

Just out of curiosity, why aren't you going to use it straight away? School or college or something in the way?

@shadow-wolf It could have been manufactured months ago.

@Peace-Boy I'm applying to medical school and finishing up the last semester of my college so there's a lot on my plate at the moment. July would be the earliest time things would free up for me. Plus I have my good ol' Wii U that I want to play and fully finish all my backlog for before starting to use the Switch.

@gcunit That's a good point. But from your experience, does it really impact battery life? I remember getting the Wii U about a month before I opened it but at least that was a home console (although the gamepad had a battery), nothing seemed to have happened to it or the gamepad but I'm worried leaving the Switch in the box for so long would hurt its battery and thus the ability to play it portable.

@shadow-wolf So what's your alternative? I'd be willing to bet that a brand new battery that sits unused for 3 months will be in a better state than a battery that's had 3 months of fairly intense use.

Either way, millions of Switchs are now over a year old and I'm not seeing many battery complaints crop up, so you can be reasonably confident the battery is decent and not prone to sensitivity over how it's used.

Hey, even if something does happen, just tell Nintendo and they'll fix it within warranty.

@shadow-wolf

Don't worry.
Your Switch will be okay.
But make sure you charge your Switch + Joy Cons attached on once you activate your Switch for the first time.

"Is it OK to leave a brand new Switch in box for three months or so?"

morally? no. that's not okay. good luck with your study though

@gcunit My main worry is that if the battery were to completely empty (hit 0%) and stay like that for a month or two, it would damage the battery's long-term health (both in number of hours you can get per charge and the overall lifespan of the battery). While you make a good point, the Switches that have been used constantly over the last year are usually charged back up as soon as or before they hit 0%. They are not left at 0% for a month or longer.

@Peace-Boy That's a good point! Thanks for the suggestion!

@Anti-Matter Yeah that makes sense. As it is part handheld, I'm worried about the system battery, but it seems to hopefully not be too big of a problem.

@6ch6ris6 Haha. It's going to be an interesting three months.

@shadow-wolf So long as you keep it in a clean area and don't let it get really hot or really cold, you have nothing to worry about. In the box it is designed to sit on the store shelf for months if needed.

One thing to keep in mind though, you are shortening the warranty with three months if you do this.

Why not open it for charging it a bit before leaving it be (+ turning it off) then?

Not like you have to use it immediately after all.

It's better eaten fresh.

But then you won't be able to use the box to make a robot suit.

@Heavyarms55 Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll make sure to keep it in a place with non extreme temperatures. You make a good point about how it's in the store as well @Therad I recognize that but I won't have time for the Switch until July , so unfortunately I'll have to lose those months. I found a really good deal for the Switch ($75 off for brand new neon) so I decided to buy it.
@darkfenrir I could do that, but I'd prefer not to open the Switch until I'm ready to play it. It'd be too tempting haha. But if I have to I'll do so.

As others have mentioned, leaving it in an environment with reasonable temps shouldn't affect the battery at all. It's normally extreme temps that affect rechargeable batteries (I still cringe when I see someone leave an electronic device in their car).

As for how long you're storing it, that shouldn't be a problem either. Few electronic devices come with fully charged batteries and often suggest charging the console/phone/tablet/etc. before its first use. Unless you were storing the Switch for years, I wouldn't think there would be any reason for concern.

Finally, there's the issue of a shortened warranty, as someone else mentioned. In terms of Nintendo's standard warranty, you're only waiting about three months; that would still leave you plenty of time to find any potential defects that the system might have come with. Most if not all retailer return policies (if you didn't buy some sort of extended warranty) lapse by that point though.

Like you, I've been holding off on getting a Switch until my own Wii U backlog is borderline nonexistent (getting there lol), but I probably would have jumped on a deal that good too.

As anything they are porting to the Switch so the longer you wait the more money you will pay to go Switching (pun)...

@Tyranexx Thanks for the suggestions! And in case you're wondering, that deal was the 15% off anything site wide on eBay. That coupled with no tax and a $290 price brought it down to $245 for me. You should check https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitchDeals/ , they usually quickly have alerts to deals like these. Ebay does deals like this (site wide everything 15% off, etc.) fairly frequently so keep an eye out for those as well.

@SwitchForce: I'm shooting for the holidays of this year before I get one (at least). XD I have a couple of substantial purchases that need to go towards my house before I dream of spending that much money on another electronic device. I do plan on buying a few things over time for it instead of all at once, but I'm gonna take it easy on the game stockpile this time; I only plan to buy three or so titles in advance, and I already have BotW.

@shadow-wolf: Good to know! If I find a deal that I feel is worth it enough, I may jump on a new Switch a bit early. I find the neon Switch the most attractive, but I won't complain if the dark red Joy-con pair shows up on a Switch again.