Nintendo Switch update has almost double the battery life for the same price

Nintendo has announced a new version of its Switch.

The revised home-cum-handheld console has almost twice the battery life of the previous version. The battery boost likely comes from an updated chipset – the same silicon found in the newly-unveiled Nintendo Switch Lite.

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While the current generation Nintendo Switch gets between 2.5 and 6.5 hours, the new version will get an estimated 4.5 to 9 hours gameplay in portable mode. 

According to Kotaku, the real-world battery life gains result in being able to play processor-intensive titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from an estimated 3 hours to an impressive 5.5 hours.

Other than that, the tweaked Nintendo Switch will be identical to the current model.

Nintendo will start rolling-out the console to store shelves from next month for the same price as the existing Nintendo Switch – around £279.99 for the console.

It's important to note this isn't the long-rumoured second-generation Switch 2, with a larger 1080p touchscreen and thinner bezels. Nintendo is expected to launch that console next year.

Meanwhile, the portable-only Nintendo Switch Lite will launch September 20, 2019 for £199.99 with no games. It also has a slightly smaller screen than the standard switch-able Switch – 5.5-inches versus the 6.2-inch touchscreen on the original.