the EU just forced Nintendo to make the Switch 2's battery replaceable — and it costs you capacity

the EU forced Nintendo to make the Switch 2 battery user-replaceable, and it costs about 1% of capacity. I'd take that trade every single time — and… Aliteq Ravi Malhotra · Hardware Editor

Revised Switch 2 with a user-replaceable battery arrives in the EU/UK from autumn 2026.

Driven by the EU Right-to-Repair Directive (effective July 31, 2026), backed by the EU Batteries Regulation in Feb 2027.

The cost: 5,172 mAh vs 5,220 mAh and about 10g more weight — roughly a 1% capacity reduction.

Joy-Con 2 and the Pro, N64 and GameCube controllers get the same treatment.

Lithium cells degrade. In four years that original battery is meaningfully worse than it is today, and the difference between 'replace a part' and 'send the console away or live with it' is the…

I'd take this trade every time

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