Rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 are now more widespread than ever, with one of the most controversial being that the device might only have a 720p screen.
Will we ever see the fabled Nintendo Switch 2 or Nintendo Switch Pro? The high volume of rumors circulating lately definitely makes it easier to believe it’s happening. Yet while we still can’t say for sure, a juicy tidbit regarding the Nintendo Switch 2’s potential screen resolution gives us a lot to ponder. According to the latest speculation, the Nintendo Switch 2 could sport a 7-inch 720p OLED display. This would be a notable upgrade over the original Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite, which use 6.2-inch and 5.5-inch LCD screens respectively. While talk also suggests the Nintendo Switch 2 will be capable of outputting 4K resolution when in docked mode, let’s discuss the most contentious issue: that 720p OLED screen. Here’s why it’s actually a good thing. It’s important to keep in mind that a large part of the Switch’s appeal is portable play. Yes, we’d all love to see a bigger screen, but if Nintendo were to add a larger display, the Nintendo Switch 2 would need to push more pixels to keep things looking sharp and also become considerably bulkier in the process. If you’re worried that two centimeters of extra screen space will make games look uglier or ‘pixelated’ on Nintendo Switch 2, you’d be mistaken. In fact, a 720p display on a 7-inch screen becomes ‘retina’ quality (a term devised by Apple where the human eye is unable to distinguish between pixels at a certain distance) when it’s held 16 inches away. A 7-inch screen seems like a good compromise, then, as it means that 720p will still look suitably crisp and Nintendo can keep the console to a reasonable size. Maintaining a consistently sharp image at a higher resolution than 720p would be far more resource-intensive, if Nintendo did decide to equip the Switch 2 with a 1080p or 4K display. For starters, the system would need to be a lot more powerful to output that many pixels, which could ultimately result in a pricey console. This might also lead to a bulkier device overall, and one that produces more heat – hardly ideal for a portable gaming system.
