In the lead-up to the Switch 2 launch, one of the biggest talking points from Nintendo was the new GameChat feature and accompanying camera. Heck, the company even reunited with actor and SNES legend Paul Rudd for a new commercial showcasing the technology: “Now you’re playing together,” as if the previous four decades of multiplayer functionality on Nintendo consoles meant absolutely nothing.
With the confirmation that pretty much any USB-C camera will work with the Switch 2, just how does the official camera actually hold up, though?
Well, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, overall. It’s a pretty slick piece of hardware that blends in really well with both the Switch 2 itself and whatever TV setup you happen to be rocking at home (oh, and you can also plug it into a laptop and use it as a webcam, if you like). But despite its 1080p resolution, the actual image quality can look a little muddy, particularly if you have to zoom in. Considering its £49.99 / $54.99 price tag, this is definitely a tad disappointing.
Looking at the camera itself, it’s a surprisingly dinky little thing. I don’t know why I thought it was much bigger prior to launch, but getting my hands on it for the first time revealed that it sits at just 17cm in height. That’s pretty small! In practice, it’s probably just a tad shorter than the length of my hand from the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger. So definitely nice and inconspicuous.
The base and stand feel as though they’re made from metal, pretty solid and slightly cool to the touch. Meanwhile, the base is cushioned to prevent any scratches on the device or whatever surface you happen to place it on. The camera at the top is housed in a circular casing which feels slightly hollow — brittle, even, like one drop on a hard surface could crack it — but the light weight makes it easy to adjust the viewing angle.
As standard, the camera comes with a USB-C cable which you can use to plug it into the top of console via its secondary USB-C slot, while the other end slots into the camera around its backside. About three-quarters of the way down the camera’s stand is a small clip to tidy the cable away slightly. Finally, a thin dial is situated around the lens: turning this anti-clockwise shields the lens with a small, built-in white cover, definitely handy for when you’re not using the camera but can't be bothered to unplug it.
All in all, it’s a pretty well-made piece of kit; solid, sleek, functional, and inconspicuous enough to simply blend into the background. Where things get a little messy is when you actually start using it.
Thankfully, setup is an absolute breeze. Once you’ve got it plugged into the Switch 2 (and you can use it in docked or handheld mode), you simply create or join a GameChat session, navigate to the quick settings on-screen, and select the camera icon to turn it on. By default, it’ll show your surroundings, but you can activate a filter to remove this.
The main issue is resolution. I imagine that most, like myself, will have the camera set up next to a TV while docked. In an average family environment, chances are you’re going to be sitting a couple of meters away on a comfy couch. This means that the default image is quite far away, and so you’ll appear pretty small on-screen. Great for showing groups of people during gameplay, sure, (and the camera can pick out four faces), but not if you're on your own.
Now, the good news is you can zoom in via settings to the point where your head takes up most of the image space, but in doing so, the image gets extremely fuzzy.
Of course, the other option is to place the camera a bit nearer, if you’re able. In a lot of living room settings, this might not be entirely feasible, but if you’re playing in a small office environment on a desk or something, then you can probably get pretty close and alleviate those resolution issues.
In addition to the zoom functionality, you can also apply the aforementioned background filter to the image (a system-wide thing and not limited to the official camera). It’s nothing too extravagant, but the two options effectively remove your immediate surroundings. One keeps the overall composition intact, but makes it so that only you display in the image. This is reasonably well done, but be prepared to see a bit of jank around your head and body.
The other display option crops the image down to just your head within a small circle, again applying the same filter to remove anything in the background. The jank from the previous filter still crops up here, and it can be a little irritating in isolation, but when you’re knee-deep in a Knockout Rally on Mario Kart World, chances are you won’t notice it.
What's odd, however, is that Mario Kart World specifically recommends this filter, and I can't quite nail down why. I imagine it's to really hone in on the 'fun, whimsical' nature of the game, but the default setting with no filters applied looks undeniably cleaner.
The only other thing worth noting is that there’s no way to mount the camera on the Switch 2 itself when playing in handheld mode. This is an advantage currently enjoyed by Hori's Piranha Plant Camera, which you can plug into the USB-C slot at the top and carry about with you; I imagine that would definitely come in handy for those quick handheld sessions on the go.
That said, Nintendo's camera does boast a higher resolution, so which you ultimately opt for will depend on what you value more: slightly higher image quality or more flexibility.
Conclusion
Given the elegant, sleek design of the official Switch 2 camera, we would have expected the same kind of 'wow' factor to be present in the actual image quality on display. Alas, despite the 1080p resolution, any scenario in which you need to zoom in at all makes the image incredibly fuzzy.
That said, in practice, the novelty of seeing your friends' faces after you've chucked a Blue Shell at them in Mario Kart World is a genuine blast and, in that context, concerns about image quality generally fade away. We've no doubt that third parties will come out with more accomplished, feature-rich cameras in the future, but for now, Nintendo's official offering is a solid, albeit nonessential option.