New regular Switch model with upgraded battery life announced! Same price, launches end of August (Old model: 2.5-6.5 hours, New model: 4.5-9.0 hours)

[russbus64]

Considering upgrading at Gamestop. Of course they told me I could transfer in store over the phone, and that the internet speed at the store is slow.

Thing I wonder is, how slow can it be? If all my games, pictures, and screenshots are on the microSD card, and I delete all local saves that are backed up online (the exceptions being Pokemon Let's Go, Splatoon 2, Minecraft, and Fortnite totaling < 600MB), it shouldn't take that long, right?

The only pain is once I'm done with the transfer, it looks like I have to manually download online backups of save files for each title already installed (any redownloaded games automatically download the backup save I think?).

 

[Elfotografoalocado]

What no.


You're just repeating what I said dude. I made a typo with the "IGZO"

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Well, no, Spawn Wave says it's not the IGZO screen from Sharp's announcement because it's branded Innolux, I say that means nothing because Sharp and Innolux are essentially integrated, and Sharp's announcement could be fulfilled through the other brand.

The timing of the announcement and the purpose of these new Switch model make me think these are indeed the screens Sharp was talking about, but like I said, the only way to confirm anything is through proper analysis of the new display.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Gamestop now offering $225 for Switch.

https://twitter.com/wario64/status/1161294070104248320?s=21

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Fuck that my launch switch is hackable

worth WAAAY more than that

 

[Fairxchange]

Considering upgrading at Gamestop. Of course they told me I could transfer in store over the phone, and that the internet speed at the store is slow.

Thing I wonder is, how slow can it be? If all my games, pictures, and screenshots are on the microSD card, and I delete all local saves that are backed up online (the exceptions being Pokemon Let's Go, Splatoon 2, Minecraft, and Fortnite totaling < 600MB), it shouldn't take that long, right?

The only pain is once I'm done with the transfer, it looks like I have to manually download online backups of save files for each title already installed (any redownloaded games automatically download the backup save I think?).

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What's the drawback of just unlinking your current console as primary, restoring factory default settings then logging into the new Switch and downloading your cloud saves? What benefit does transferring Switches locally provide?

 

[PortisheadBiscuit]

Spawn Wave didn't confirm anything. He confirmed the screen is made by Innolux, which is a subsidiary of Foxconn like Sharp has been since 2016, and shares the technology pipeline with Sharp, including (Naturally) the IGZO technology.

The only way to tell whether the new screens are IGZO panels is by analyzing them in depth, because Innolux makes IGZO panels and Spawn Wave clearly didn't know.

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So he's just making assumptions per usual

 

[russbus64]

What's the drawback of just unlinking your current console as primary, restoring factory default settings then logging into the new Switch and downloading your cloud saves? What benefit does transferring Switches locally provide?

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The four games I listed can't have their saves backed up online. The only way to preserve them would be to do a local transfer. I've already deleted all other saves and they're the only ones on my system at this point.

 

[Elfotografoalocado]

So he's just making assumptions per usual

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I think he simply didn't want to waste the five seconds it takes to Google that Innolux and Sharp have been integrated as Foxconn subsidiaries for years.

 

[Ninjadom]

Well, no, Spawn Wave says it's not the IGZO screen from Sharp's announcement because it's branded Innolux, I say that means nothing because Sharp and Innolux are essentially integrated, and Sharp's announcement could be fulfilled through the other brand.

The timing of the announcement and the purpose of these new Switch model make me think these are indeed the screens Sharp was talking about, but like I said, the only way to confirm anything is through proper analysis of the new display.

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How will we be able to confirm/deny if the new Switch is using the IGZO screen?

 

[Toasty]

So I picked up the new switch and the screen looks like it's set to night mode on an iPhone. Is there any reason for this like a setting I just don't know about or what? It just seems like white levels are off. White theme is more eggshell on my new system than it is on my old one.

 

[Skittzo]

How will we be able to confirm/deny if the new Switch is using the IGZO screen?

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Probably by taking it apart and measuring the power draw of the screen by itself? Other than that you'd need to do a very detailed material analysis of the screen backplane.

But given the reported battery life we're seeing and increase in brightness it seems extremely likely the screens are using IGZO. It's hard to account for the battery life increase without some sort of screen efficiency gains.

 

[UltraMagnus]

Probably by taking it apart and measuring the power draw of the screen by itself? Other than that you'd need to do a very detailed material analysis of the screen backplane.

But given the reported battery life we're seeing and increase in brightness it seems extremely likely the screens are using IGZO. It's hard to account for the battery life increase without some sort of screen efficiency gains.

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I mean the increase in battery life lines up pretty well with die shrinking from 20nm to 16nm.

 

[Kraid]

Gamestop now offering $225 for Switch.

https://twitter.com/wario64/status/1161294070104248320?s=21

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If only I could use the transfer function in store...

 

[VeePs]

If only I could use the transfer function in store...

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Call and ask.

 

[Skittzo]

I mean the increase in battery life lines up pretty well with die shrinking from 20nm to 16nm.

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Not really, no. 16nm supposedly gets you a 60% increase in efficiency (or was it 40%?) yet we're seeing close to 100% increases (if not more) for more demanding games (where the SoC takes up the majority of the power draw).

 

[UltraMagnus]

Not really, no. 16nm supposedly gets you a 60% increase in efficiency (or was it 40%?) yet we're seeing close to 100% increases (if not more) for more demanding games (where the SoC takes up the majority of the power draw).

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I've read that the Parker X2 has about 50% more performance than a TX1 or can run the same performance at half the power draw, not sure if that's accurate but I remember reading that.

So if Mariko is basically just 16nm variant of the X1, then it should be able to have similar performance.

 

[Fairxchange]

The four games I listed can't have their saves backed up online. The only way to preserve them would be to do a local transfer. I've already deleted all other saves and they're the only ones on my system at this point.

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Got it, thanks.

 

[Skittzo]

I've read that the Parker X2 has about 50% more performance than a TX1 or can run the same performance at half the power draw, not sure if that's accurate but I remember reading that.

So if Mariko is basically just 16nm variant of the X1, then it should be able to have similar performance.

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Parker X2 is essentially the same thing as an X1 on 16nm, which Mariko is. The only difference is the memory bus width and the added Denver CPU cores (which are not useful for gaming) so outside of memory bandwidth Mariko is essentially Parker/TX2.

16nm, according to TSMC, supposedly gets you either 60% more energy efficiency (at the same clock speed) or 40% higher clocks (at the same power draw), or vice versa if I'm remembering that incorrectly. My point was that the efficiency gains we're seeing in Mariko are ABOVE 60% for some games, close to 100% even. Which should not be possible if the added efficiency from 16nm was the only efficiency gain.

Therefore the screen is highly likely to be another source of efficiency gain.

 

[UltraMagnus]

Parker X2 is essentially the same thing as an X1 on 16nm, which Mariko is. The only difference is the memory bus width and the added Denver CPU cores (which are not useful for gaming) so outside of memory bandwidth Mariko is essentially Parker/TX2.

16nm, according to TSMC, supposedly gets you either 60% more energy efficiency (at the same clock speed) or 40% higher clocks (at the same power draw), or vice versa if I'm remembering that incorrectly. My point was that the efficiency gains we're seeing in Mariko are ABOVE 60% for some games, close to 100% even. Which should not be possible if the added efficiency from 16nm was the only efficiency gain.

Therefore the screen is highly likely to be another source of efficiency gain.

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This is from Nvidia's slides

Max Q mode has 2x the energy efficiency on Jetson X2 board (Parker X2) verus a Jetson TX1 board (Tegra X1).

So I'm guessing the new chip Nintendo is using is capable of basically doing the same thing.

The Max P performance isn't quite 2x though because it requires going to max clock which even Nvidia doesn't recommend.

I think the chip Nintendo is using is basically using an equivalent to the Max-Q mode. Even on a Parker X2 it apparently disables the Denver 2 cores.

That should net you about double the battery life or slightly less which is basically what we're seeing from the new Switch models.

 

[Skittzo]

This is from Nvidia's slides

Max Q mode has 2x the energy efficiency on Jetson X2 board (Parker X2) verus a Jetson TX1 board (Tegra X1).

So I'm guessing the new chip Nintendo is using is capable of basically doing the same thing.

The Max P performance isn't quite 2x though because it requires going to max clock which even Nvidia doesn't recommend.

I think the chip Nintendo is using is basically using an equivalent to the Max-Q mode. Even on a Parker X2 it apparently disables the Denver 2 cores.

That should net you about double the battery life or slightly less which is basically what we're seeing from the new Switch models.

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Ah when you said 50% then you meant 2x (or 100% more).

Anyway there's a difference between comparing Jetson boards and real devices. The Switch doesn't reach the clock speeds even in the TX2 Max-Q mode, and it certainly can't sustain anything close to 7.5W in handheld mode. Nvidia claims "up to 2x" but that number is probably only close to accurate at maximum clock speeds, which the Switch isn't hitting. As you go down in speed the efficiency gains will be less and less noticeable (which is why you get ~2x battery increases for games like BotW or FETH but only ~30% increases for less demanding games (6.5hr to 9hr)).

Like I said above the only ways to be sure are to take power readings of the screen itself or to do a detailed materials analysis (probably with a mass spectrometer or something) but at least as of now it seems likely that the screen is also more energy efficient, which points to IGZO.

 

[UltraMagnus]

Ah when you said 50% then you meant 2x (or 100% more).

Anyway there's a difference between comparing Jetson boards and real devices. The Switch doesn't reach the clock speeds even in the TX2 Max-Q mode, and it certainly can't sustain anything close to 7.5W in handheld mode. Nvidia claims "up to 2x" but that number is probably only close to accurate at maximum clock speeds, which the Switch isn't hitting. As you go down in speed the efficiency gains will be less and less noticeable (which is why you get ~2x battery increases for games like BotW or FETH but only ~30% increases for less demanding games (6.5hr to 9hr)).

Like I said above the only ways to be sure are to take power readings of the screen itself or to do a detailed materials analysis (probably with a mass spectrometer or something) but at least as of now it seems likely that the screen is also more energy efficient, which points to IGZO.

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I mean yeah the Switch doesn't need 854 Mhz undocked or whatever it is, so it's power draw would probably be less than half of the 7.5 watts listed there.

To me it lines up pretty well with what we're seeing.

 

[Gurgelhals]

One thing that speaks against the revised Switch using a different screen technology that, as has already been mentioned here, costs more to manufacture is the fact that this revision is basically a byproduct created out of necessity. As such, all the changes Nintendo seems to have made to the product are those that were absolutely necessary to make the hardware Mariko-compatible (which they had to do because they're phasing out the old 20nm X1s) and nothing more than that. And the additional battery life simply came as a nice bonus. Changing the screen type doesn't really fit the pattern here. Maybe it's the Lite that uses IGZO displays for some reason.

 

[Yesterday]

If only I could use the transfer function in store...

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Do you have a friend with a Switch you can transfer your saves to temporarily? I transferred my profile to my sister's Switch and transferred it back with my new unit

 

[Skittzo]

I mean yeah the Switch doesn't need 854 Mhz undocked or whatever it is, so it's power draw would probably be less than half of the 7.5 watts listed there.

To me it lines up pretty well with what we're seeing.

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You missed my point, the "up to 2x" efficiency gain goes down substantially as you go farther down the power curve (aka as you use lower and lower clocks). They are citing 2x in ultra ideal circumstances at a power draw the Switch never gets anywhere close to in portable mode. So it won't be anywhere near that 2x increase.

One thing that speaks against the revised Switch using a different screen technology that, as has already been mentioned here, costs more to manufacture is the fact that this revision is basically a byproduct created out of necessity. As such, all the changes Nintendo seems to have made to the product are those that were absolutely necessary to make the hardware Mariko-compatible (which they had to do because they're phasing out the old 20nm X1s) and nothing more than that. And the additional battery life simply came as a nice bonus. Changing the screen type doesn't really fit the pattern here. Maybe it's the Lite that uses IGZO displays for some reason.

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The reason why they'd use IGZO screens in the v2 Switch is exactly because they are likely using it for the Lite. It's cheaper and easier to source screens from a single manufacturer than to do what they had to do once Japan Display started having financial troubles over the past few years.

 

[Kraid]

Do you have a friend with a Switch you can transfer your saves to temporarily? I transferred my profile to my sister's Switch and transferred it back with my new unit

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This... I might be able to pull off. I just don't wanna mess anything up and lose my Splatoon save lmao.

 

[Smash Kirby]

Has anyone looked into how expensive GSync hardware is? I'm curious if that could be something Nvidia could convince Nintendo to have in the Next Switch.

 

[Fairxchange]

Has anyone looked into how expensive GSync hardware is? I'm curious if that could be something Nvidia could convince Nintendo to have in the Next Switch.

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A variable refresh Switch? I wouldn't count on it. More likely we'd get beefier hardware that maintains more consistent frames.

 

[Shoichi]

Has anyone looked into how expensive GSync hardware is? I'm curious if that could be something Nvidia could convince Nintendo to have in the Next Switch.

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Gonna guess and say its a bit expensive (that chip raises the price of monitors by a good chunk compared to FreeSync). Along with the chip being a bit too big and possibly power hungry.

More likely we will see more power rather than something that will smooth out the fps.

 

[Gurgelhals]

Variable refresh rate is actually quite simple on a mobile device because the screen is part of the device itself and the GPU can directly control the refresh rate of the display through the device's internal embedded Displayport connection and without needing any expensive additional hardware.

In a desktop PC environment this is more complicated, because you essentially have to sync two separate devices through a standardised interface that wasn't originally designed to do that. Hence the need for expensive G-Sync hardware.

 

[Elfotografoalocado]

How will we be able to confirm/deny if the new Switch is using the IGZO screen?

Click to shrink...

I don't know, I'm not an expert in display technology, I imagine there's some level of analysis of the display that can give it away, I imagine it would probably require a teardown of the display itself and observation with a microscope. I seem to remember older IGZO displays had a very characteristic pixel substructure you could identify with just a macro photograph, back when only Sharp made them, but I don't know if it's still the case.

 

[Hermii]

Variable refresh rate is actually quite simple on a mobile device because the screen is part of the device itself and the GPU can directly control the refresh rate of the display through the device's internal embedded Displayport connection and without needing any expensive additional hardware.

In a desktop PC environment this is more complicated, because you essentially have to sync two separate devices through a standardised interface that wasn't originally designed to do that. Hence the need for expensive G-Sync hardware.

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Then why doesn't every single mobile device with a screen have it? Especially those made for gaming.

 

[jrDev]

It looks like I will be upgrading tomorrow with that Gamestop promo for $225. Anyone know if the other promo that says $5 extra for each game trade means you actually get $5 extra for each game? Cause that would be awesome and sweeten the deal even more...

If only I could use the transfer function in store...

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They usually let you if they are good sales associates...

 

[VeePs]

Anyone know if the other promo that says $5 extra for each game trade means you actually get $5 extra for each game?

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Yea. You can check the trade values on their website to see if it's worth it. The game must have a value of atleast $2.

 

[Nolbertos]

So about the trade-in. Haven't traded in in along time at GS. Do you get straight up cash or GS credit?? If GS credit, I'll sell my Switch on ebay. Just making sure.

 

[VeePs]

So about the trade-in. Haven't traded in in along time at GS. Do you get straight up cash or GS credit?? If GS credit, I'll sell my Switch on ebay. Just making sure.

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It's GS credit.

 

[Neoxon]

If only I could use the transfer function in store...

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Mine doesn't, but it depends on the store.

 

[Deleted member 2145]

So about the trade-in. Haven't traded in in along time at GS. Do you get straight up cash or GS credit?? If GS credit, I'll sell my Switch on ebay. Just making sure.

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they were just doing a $200 cash or credit but it looks like now it's $200 credit or $160 cash

https://www.gamestop.com/trade/details/?pid=10153584

 

[VeePs]

they were just doing a $200 cash or credit but it looks like now it's $200 credit or $160 cash

https://www.gamestop.com/trade/details/?pid=10153584

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https://www.gamestop.com/trade/

You'll get a extra $25 (Credit only) on trade in's on Xbox/PS4/Switch if you make a trade between now and September 15th as well.

 

[jrDev]

Yea. You can check the trade values on their website to see if it's worth it. The game must have a value of atleast $2.

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Wow! Great deal!

they were just doing a $200 cash or credit but it looks like now it's $200 credit or $160 cash

https://www.gamestop.com/trade/details/?pid=10153584

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Wait, does anyone notice that a regular member still gets $200 cash trade but pro loses $40? If anything shouldn't that be the other way around?

Edit: Nvm, seems it was definitely a bug when I had the page up because the website and app received a facelift since this morning...

 

[Gurgelhals]

Then why doesn't every single mobile device with a screen have it? Especially those made for gaming.

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Probably because it wasn't thought to be necessary / worth the additional effort. Console gaming (including handhelds) has traditionally dealt with the issue by simply having games run at either 30fps or 60fps; VRR doesn't do anything there as long as your framerate is stable. And most laptops aren't made for gaming, so it probably never even occurred to manufacturers to implement something like this. Both Nvidia and AMD have made a push there in recent years though, so I guess some gaming laptops do support some type of VRR by now.

Moreover, the whole idea of using Variable Refresh Rate in gaming is still relatively new. Not in theory, of course, but in practice: The first G-Sync displays were released only in 2014 and the optional(!) VRR component of the 1.2a DisplayPort specifications, which is what AMD's FreeSync uses, was standardised in 2013 (and as of today VRR still remains an entirely optional component of the DisplayPort specifications). This is still relatively young technology in the consumer space so it will take time to be adopted more widely. The fact that G-Sync is both proprietary and expensive certainly didn't help with this, but Nvidia is now grudgingly supporting FreeSync as well, so that's going to push things forward I guess.

 

[ShadowFox08]

Not an igizo screen, according to another teardown from a YouTuber

New Nintendo Switch doesn’t use upgraded Sharp screens | VGC

But teardown confirms display is a new model…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[LukasManak22]

Not an igizo screen, according to another teardown from a YouTuber

New Nintendo Switch doesn’t use upgraded Sharp screens | VGC

But teardown confirms display is a new model…

www.videogameschronicle.com

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Spawn Wave didn't confirm anything. He confirmed the screen is made by Innolux, which is a subsidiary of Foxconn like Sharp has been since 2016, and shares the technology pipeline with Sharp, including (Naturally) the IGZO technology.

The only way to tell whether the new screens are IGZO panels is by analyzing them in depth, because Innolux makes IGZO panels and Spawn Wave clearly didn't know.

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[Elfotografoalocado]

Seriously, Youtubers and "news" pages should try and spend the five minutes it takes to do the most basic of research to know a bit of the business side of the industry.
Not only is Innolux integrated with Sharp, Sharp also licenses the IGZO technology to other brands as well. Knowing basic things like that would really help produce higher quality content.

 

[ShadowFox08]

Not spawnwave. We'll see. Maybe DF can share some insight

 

[Deleted member 19868]

Not an igizo screen, according to another teardown from a YouTuber

New Nintendo Switch doesn’t use upgraded Sharp screens | VGC

But teardown confirms display is a new model…

www.videogameschronicle.com

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That article straight up lies from the first line. It states:

The new Nintendo Switch features a new screen model but it's not the upgraded IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) display from Sharp reported to be lined up for a future version of the console.
That's according to a teardown from Youtube creator Kevin Kenson, which confirms that the new Switch has an updated screen model number, perhaps explaining why tests revealed the screen is both brighter and closer to true light balance in tone.The new Nintendo Switch features a new screen model but it's not the upgraded IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) display from Sharp reported to be lined up for a future version of the console.

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Kenson never tears down the tablet, only the joycons. There's nothing in that 20 minute video about the screen's model number. Kenson just has a friend run some tests to determine the nits, Kelvin, etc. of the screen. All it confirms is that the new model uses a different panel, not who made it. The article also embeds Spawn Wave's video, but not Kenson's, so either someone is incompetent or the outlet is deliberately trying to mislead people. Nothing in his video supports any of the claims in that paragraph apart from confirming that the screen is brighter and closer to a better white balance. It's just clickbait crap journalism and I'd suggest not giving them any further clicks.

 

[RobotVM]

I got the Switch V2 but noticed it has 1 stuck/dead pixel. Anyone know GS exchange policy would do an exchange because of 1 dead pixel?

 

[Dakhil]

So Erica Griffin just released a video on YouTube about the Nintendo Switch revision.

 

[names2hard4you]

I got the new model today. I immediately noticed differences in the build as soon as I took it out of the package. Mind you the differences were very minor, but the casing material felt different, more sturdy? The screen's colours seemed a bit better as well? The Joy-cons too felt different when I get the unit up. All these could be placebo, but overall the impression I got was, as advertised, that I was holding an improved model of the Switch.

 

[sleepnaught]

I got the Switch V2 but noticed it has 1 stuck/dead pixel. Anyone know GS exchange policy would do an exchange because of 1 dead pixel?

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You can try, but from my experience, no.

 

[Tommyguns]

My kick stand on the new model doesn't sit flush with my system towards the bottom. Sticks out a bit.

I don't remember my old one doing this

 

[Deleted member 82]

So Erica Griffin just released a video on YouTube about the Nintendo Switch revision.

Click to shrink...

Haven't watched the video yet, but if there's one person I'd trust to get to the bottom of this, it's her. She's basically the go-to YouTuber if you want to learn about the infamous 3DS screen lottery. She's compared so many 3DS screens. Her passion about is almost unsettling lol. In all seriousness, she's great for that.