The Daily Populous Tuesday July 7th, 2026 evening edition
Authored by gameobserver.com and submitted by Darth_Vaper883

Nintendo has officially confirmed that a revised version of the Nintendo Switch 2 with a user-replaceable battery will launch in Europe this Fall. The change is being made to meet new European Union battery rules that take effect in mid-February 2027.

The company shared the announcement in an official Nintendo Support update, confirming that the new hardware has been redesigned so the battery can be replaced more easily. Nintendo says these changes are only for the hardware, meaning gaming performance will stay exactly the same. Nintendo is also updating several other products, including the Joy-Con 2 controllers, the original Switch Joy-Con, the Switch 2 Pro Controller, and the Nintendo 64 and GameCube controllers. The updated products will be released gradually, starting this summer and continuing into early 2027.

The biggest change is the revised Nintendo Switch 2 itself, which will launch in Europe this autumn alongside the planned price increase to $499.99. The new model will include a removable 5,172 mAh battery instead of the current 5,220 mAh unit, resulting in around 1% less battery life. The Joy-Con 2 controllers included with the console will also feature removable batteries. The console will also be slightly heavier. The standalone system will weigh 411 grams instead of 401 grams, while the total weight with the Joy-Con 2 controllers attached will increase from 534 grams to 548 grams.

The updated Joy-Con 2 controllers will launch this winter. They will keep the same battery life, although each controller will weigh about 2 grams more, with the left Joy-Con weighing 68 grams and the right 69 grams. Meanwhile, the revised Joy-Con controllers for the original Nintendo Switch will only add a removable battery, with no other changes. The biggest trade-off comes with the Switch 2 Pro Controller, which will also launch this winter. It will feature a removable battery but offer around 16% less battery life, dropping to 897 mAh from the current 1,070 mAh, while weighing 7 grams less.

Nintendo also confirmed that updated Nintendo 64 and GameCube controllers for Switch 2 will launch in early 2027. The Nintendo 64 controller will keep the same battery life while weighing 1 gram more. The GameCube controller will have around 5% less battery life and will weigh 5 grams more. As more information becomes available, we’ll make sure to let you know here at GameObserver.

pyro_pugilist on July 7th, 2026 at 12:37 UTC »

Thank you EU! For making things better for people.

d4_H_ on July 7th, 2026 at 12:00 UTC »

Usual EU W

GFY-Censorship on July 7th, 2026 at 11:13 UTC »

Good. Finally some common sense. Less planned obsolescence please