Switch 2 - Nintendo Life
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life

It's almost been a week since the arrival of the Switch 2. Now that more outlets have spent some time with Nintendo's new hybrid system, first impressions and reviews are beginning to roll in.

If you haven't already seen our own "review-in-progress" here on Nintendo Life, based on what we've experienced so far, we think Nintendo has done a decent job balancing the surprise and delight, while delivering a system that remains familiar:

"Switch 2 is a slick bit of kit, though, which instantly makes its predecessor feel slow and look very fuzzy. It makes your old games look and play better, and it's got enough quirks and quality of its own — just — to give it some personality while not upsetting the apple cart."

So, what are other outlets saying? For starters, Eurogamer loves the form factor and size of the Switch 2:

"And it's a lovely thing in the hands - larger and, it feels, slightly sleeker than the Switch. And that beautiful glossy screen makes its older sibling look a bit pokey, just as the Switch once made me return to the Vita and say, really? It was that small? And with the border? Just as the Vita once made me go back to the PSP and say..."

Kotaku also praised the "high-end" tech feel of the system and its controllers, and loves the giant panel on the new system, even if it is an LCD:

"It’s not OLED, but it’s surprisingly crisp, clear, and vibrant for an LCD. It makes the original Switch feel washed out by comparison."

Tom's Guide after 24-hours with the Switch 2 agrees it's more of the same to some degree but a "little bit better":

"The mantra of the Switch 2 seems to be taking a thing you love and making it just that little bit better, and that approach extends beyond the console itself and into its official accessories. The freshly upgraded Switch Pro Controller is fundamentally the same great pad that you could buy for Switch 1, but with a few subtle, yet impactful, tweaks."

Stuff felt that not all the new features and innovations may appeal, but was glad to see most of the enhancements still pay off:

"Not all the new bells and whistles will appeal – GameChat and GameShare are genuine innovations while the mouse function feels too novel and unergonomic – but most of the enhancements do go towards a much better and smoother hybrid gaming experience than before."

CNET has enjoyed what the new hybrid system offers so far, while acknowleding the change in the video game landscape since the launch of the original Nintendo Switch:

"Nintendo is also in a strange place now. Where it used to compete alone with often unusual hardware, it's now competing against other products with similar goals. The Switch was so spot-on in its vision that it's spawned more handhelds now, and more are likely to come from Sony, Microsoft and others...Nintendo's whimsy and weirdness are its calling cards, and its exclusive games are its edge. The Switch 2 needs to lean hard into that"

And IGN's "in-progress" review described this "sequel system" as the following upgrade:

"An iterative upgrade to an already excellent Nintendo console that modernizes many desperately out of date aspects, improves countless design elements in small but noticeable ways, and takes a swing on a genuinely impressive new control option (mouse control) that also doesn’t quite work as smoothly as hoped."

Keep an eye out for our final review of the Nintendo Switch 2 soon. After almost a week since it launched, how are you finding Nintendo's new system so far? Did you end up getting one in the release week? Let us know in the comments.