Nintendo Switch 2 Update Offers Emulation Feature

One of the big reasons it is nice to be able to emulate Nintendo Switch games is the ability to increase the resolution and framerate.

Nintendo seems to be taking a page out of the emulation playbook with new 22.0.0 update. They are now offering a new mode in the settings called ‘Handheld Mode Boost’. This new mode allows a player to play an undocked Nintendo Switch 2 as if it were docked in handheld mode.

What it does

Handheld Boost Mode is similar to the “Docked Mode” you will find in popular emulators. This allows the Switch 2 to act like it’s docked when playing as a handheld opening visual and performance improvements.

The biggest advantage of this new mode will be when playing Switch 1 games on a Switch 2. Even without the game getting updated for the new model you should see a couple of improvements, if it works as well as it does on an Android device. 

The first improvement will be games playing in 1080p instead of 720p. This definitely makes the games look better in other solutions as the games are designed for the 1080p image quality when playing them on a TV.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has a bigger display giving Switch 1 a Vaseline look. With this update in resolution it will help mute that blurring making the images more acceptable.

The other big improvement that is addressed here though not as clearly, is an FPS boost. Unfortunately not all Switch games are designed to run beyond 30FPS, but if they are designed to run at a higher frame rate or have a variable frame rate you should see an improvement here.

Thoughts

This is all good news for Switch 2 users. Normally I skim past the updates because it seems it’s always “improvements” unknown in the change log, but in this casse it’s pretty substantial. Even though I’m convinced they borrowed this feature from one of the hundreds of Switch Emulators they have acquired with DRM takedowns. 

The biggest downfall of using the dock mode feature from experience is that it will be hard on battery life. It takes more power to push these features and run the handheld outside of the dock where it is constantly connected to power and charging. 

The Switch 2 already doesn’t have the best battery life for a first party handheld but you have the option to turn this feature off any time you aren’t near an outlet. 

The other big downfall here comes from the handheld thinking it’s docked when playing Switch 1 games, the screen won’t have touch. This is because when docked the display is normally disabled.

I don’t think the lack of touch screen isn’t a terrible thing as I don’t often use the touch features when gaming. The Nintendo Switch 2 is also designed to be used with controls when docked anyways.

I am all about options and a better experience, so I think this is a win.

If you want to check this out for yourself and haven’t gotten around to picking up a Switch 2 yet… check out the link at the button below. Don’t worry I just picked up the Switch 2 myself right before this update dropped so now seems like a good time. 

What do you think about the new ‘Handheld Mode Boost’? If you have a Switch 2 is this a feature you are going to be turning on?

GameOn

CellPhish

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