Topic: Is the Nintendo Switch suppose to get hotter after having it for a while?

Recently I've been playing ACNH and I feel like my switch is getting hotter than it was back when I got it on March 20th when it came out. About a year ago I had to get a new switch because my old one had a faulty thermal sensor where the ventilation fans got way louder than they needed to be, so ever since then I've been having anxiety around cooling fans and I really hope my new switch isn't going down that road. Am I just overthinking this, or is it because of dust or something? I have an AC unit cooling my room down while it's 90°+ outside, just so you know that it's not abnormally hot in my room. Thanks!

mine is not to hot . i bought it 7 months ago and have not pluged it out since i bought it.

Consoles get worse and worse every hour you play it. Like most people you’ve probably been playing AC:NH fairly often, so that’s probably the reason. It also does that in hot weather... which may or may not have been obvious. I’m the point is nothings wrong, just some simple hardware.

I'm always nervous playing my consoles in the summer for extended periods. Surely the inside of your house wouldn't get hot enough for your game console to overheat even without an air conditioner but They always feel hotter than usual when it's warm in the house. After about an hour of play i start thinking i should let it rest for fear of frying my hard drive. Maybe I'm being paranoid. I mean the fan should be enough to prevent that.

@Psytrixx8353 I think the switch may get hotter at times after you've owned it for several months+. And I think it seems to runs hotter docked, since it's using more power for TV output. I don't know if online connection/play is a factor.

In the future, at some point, with some games, you'll eventually hear the seemingly abnormally fast & louder fan mode kick in when you boot up some games like splatoon 2, which seems to be normal. The sound/feel makes some people think something is wrong with the Switch. I've experienced it, and I see why it catches people's attention. I've theorized that possibly could be on purpose to flush out dust to prolong switch life.

Anything that is a dedicate gaming unit will get hot but since we have no idea of what TEMP hot your referring to that is all but guessing game here. Maybe a thermal imaging device would be a more accurate measuring device in this instance to get accurate Temps. But also with anything that has a fan/heatsink you should vacuum out dust bunnies to keep it clean as well.

Yes, make sure you... Vacuum it in dusty air... To keep it clean.

Depending on the game's resource management, the Switch can tend to get pretty warm in the dock. It does have a fan, but it's not nearly as large as conventional consoles.

When played docked my Switch gets noticeably warm, but not excessively so. Played handheld, it generates some heat but less than when docked, and, again, not excessive. It depends on the game I'm playing since some games stress the hardware more than others.

I'm pretty sure the Switch has a fail safe that will shut the system down and let it cool if it ever becomes dangerously warm (this is a standard feature in modern electronics), but I've never had this happen to me.

@Mountain_Man It does. My Switch, unfortunately, has started doing it very frequently. With some games I can barely play twenty minutes docked before I get the dreaded "the console is overheating and needs to cool down" message.

@Psytrixx8353 Depending how long you've had the Switch, your thermal paste may be dried up and/or your fan needs cleaning. My launch day Switch started overheating a little while back. I opened it up and found that the thermal paste had almost completely disappeared. Put on some new paste and did a little cleaning, which helped a little.

Unfortunately I didn't go as far as replacing the fan. The fan is another layer or two into the innards of the Switch, and I was afraid to dismantle it that much. Some people have told me that I should probably do that as my next step.

It definitely heats up more when docked, because a lot of games are using higher graphic settings and speeds when docked. I have several games that I can play for hours in handheld and the Switch only gets warm, but in the dock they make it overheat and shut down after 20-30 minutes.

I use my Switch in all its different "modes" (handheld, tabletop, docked) and it only gets really noticeably warm when docked, due to it having to output more power to display on the TV. It doesn't bother me or make me nervous--the internals of the Switch are designed to handle the heat and get it out of the casing as fast as possible.

What DOES make me a little nervous is putting it in my case right after playing for a few hours docked. There are hollow areas in the case near where all the hot spots are, I'm assuming so that it can be stored safely without overheating, but I still get nervous. If I have time I usually let it stay on the dock in sleep mode for a few minutes after I"m done playing so I can put it away cool.

@JasmineDragon That's somewhat concerning that your launch day switch is overheating. I mean, wouldn't Nintendo make it so that the thermal paste can last until their next console comes out?
EDIT: Also, I've considered taking my switch to the Geek Squad service at Best Buy to have them take a look at it if the cooling fan starts to bother me or if it starts overheating. I like getting my devices fixed from Geek Squad because I feel it's cheaper/faster than sending it to Nintendo, and I'm not buying a new switch, because I would lose all my save data.