Switch 2’s new “Handheld Mode Boost” can run authentic Switch video games at 1080p

Even with Handheld Mode Boost enabled, the Switch 2 nonetheless takes screenshots of Switch 1 video games at 720p in handheld mode, making it tough to seize screenshots that display the setting in motion. But within the two unpatched Switch video games we examined (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Dragon Quest XI S), it labored as anticipated: each 2D and 3D parts had been sharper, and issues like draw distance and texture high quality regarded like they do in TV mode fairly than handheld mode.

Nintendo factors out a number of potential downsides to Handheld Mode Boost. Most clearly, operating video games at larger settings can enhance the console’s energy utilization, which reduces battery life. And as a result of the video games “think” they’re operating on a TV, you received’t be capable of use the touchscreen, and hooked up Joy-Cons will register to the console as a single Pro Controller fairly than a pair of Joy-Cons. Games that show totally different gameplay directions when docked might also be affected.

Handheld Mode Boost doesn’t have an effect on the efficiency of Switch 2 video games, which already run on the built-in display’s native 1080p decision in handheld mode. It additionally presumably received’t have an effect on Switch software program that has been patched for the Switch 2, whether or not by way of a free developer replace or a paid Nintendo Switch 2 Edition improve.