Nintendo's New Switch 2 With Removable Battery Is EU-Only

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Credit: Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

1. Nintendo is launching a new version of the Switch 2 with an easily removable battery, but probably not in the U.S.
2. EU regulations require companies like Nintendo to make their batteries easily replaceable by users.
3. While Nintendo could ship this new design worldwide, it’s likely that it will remain EU-only, in strict compliance with the regulation.

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The Switch 2 has been out for just about one year now. In that time, we’ve had some new first-party titles, like Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World; upgrades for older Switch games to take advantage of the more powerful hardware; and even a price hike, rather than a cut. Now, as we pass the console’s first birthday, Nintendo has confirmed it’s already working on a new version of the Switch 2. This won’t be an OLED variant, mind you, nor will it come with an even faster processor. Instead, the new Switch 2 will bring a useful change to the console’s battery—just not for those of us outside of Europe.

Nintendo Is Making the Switch 2’s Battery Removable

In a statement on its website, Nintendo confirmed that a future version of the Switch 2 will come with a removable battery—an easily removable one, at that. The Switch 2 (and the Switch 1, for that matter) currently encloses the battery within the entire casing of the console, like many other current devices. If you wanted to access the battery, you’d have to take apart the whole handheld, which is far more complicated than it should be. As per iFixit’s repair guide, you have to apply heat, remove the covers on each Joy-Con attachment, use picks to pry things open, and remove multiple components just to find the battery. That ignores even having to loosen the adhesive on the battery, remove it, and replace it with a new one, before having to reverse all of the above steps to reassemble your console. What a mess.

An easily removable battery would be a great quality-of-life update here. While unnecessary for the early days of Switch 2 ownership, eventually, the original battery will hold a noticeably smaller charge than it used to. Being able to simply pop out the battery, possibly via its own compartment, and replace it with a new one will go a long way to expanding the console’s lifespan.

Nintendo Will Likely Only Offer Removable Switch 2 Batteries in Europe

The bad news is, this new console probably won’t arrive for those of us in the U.S.—or outside Europe, for that matter. As it turns out, Nintendo isn’t making these changes for the good of its users. Instead, the company is following EU regulations. In that original statement, Nintendo confirms that “batteries integrated into certain appliances and sold in the EU must be easily replaceable by end-users at any time during the lifetime of the product. Nintendo is implementing measures to comply with these requirements by preparing versions of products to meet the Regulation.”

While it’s possible Nintendo could roll out these new Switch 2s globally, it may make more sense to keep it localized. Since the EU is the only region that requires these changes, it may save the company money to continue selling the current design, and only roll out a limited batch of updated consoles to Europe. It wouldn’t be the first to offer EU-specific features and devices to the region. iPhones in the EU, for example, can access alternative app stores, use dedicated third-party browsers, and access third-party NFC payment systems. They even have a dedicated SIM tray, while U.S. iPhones are all-in on eSIM.

That said, never say never. Nintendo could decide to streamline production and simply make these EU changes apply to all new Switch 2 units going forward.