Technologies

Nintendo Switch OLED Review: The Best Switch, but Still Mostly the Same

Editor’s Choice: A bigger, better display and an excellent kickstand make this a great handheld game system, but existing Switch owners don’t need to upgrade.

I’m going to make this absolutely simple for you: The Switch OLED is the best Nintendo Switch there is, period. But your kids aren’t going to care. Or, at least, mine didn’t.

I learned this the hard way when I took the OLED-screen Switch downstairs to show my kids and got the Cold Hard Shrug of Indifference. My littlest kid wants a Switch he can fold up and put in his pocket. My older kid thought it was nicer, but also said he’s fine with the Switch he has. That’s the thing about the latest Switch update: The subtle upgrades are great, but they’re also more like things the original Switch should have had in the first place.

The newest version of the Switch is the most expensive: $350, or $50 more than the original Switch. Is it worth it? To me, yes. To my kids, no. But I’m old, my eyes are bad and I love the idea of tabletop game consoles.

I bought a fancy Kindle Oasis midway through the pandemic. I already had a Kindle Paperwhite. I read a lot. The Oasis has a nicer, bigger screen. I don’t regret it. The Switch OLED is like the Kindle Oasis of Switches.

That bigger, more vibrant OLED display is obviously better. That’s why a lot of people at CNET (not me, though) have an OLED TV, and we’ve been talking about the advantage OLED brings to phones for years. (One thing I don’t know the answer to yet is if there are any concerns with screen burn-in.) If you play a lot of Switch games in handheld mode, and want the best experience, this is it. And now that I’ve played it for a week, I obviously like this Switch the best.

But the other way this shines is in the Switch’s third mode: tabletop mode.

Finally, a good tabletop Switch

I always wanted a Vectrex, an old game console from the ’80s that had vector graphics and looked like a self-contained mini arcade machine you’d stand up on a desk. I used to put iPads in little mini arcade cabinets. I love the idea of Arcade1Up’s Countercade retro machines.

The Switch has two clear gaming modes: handheld, and playing docked with a TV. But there’s another. Tabletop mode means you use the Switch as a propped-up screen and huddle around it with your detachable Joy-Con controllers. That mode has generally been lousy with the original Switch, because its flimsy kickstand is terrible and it only stands at one angle. The original Switch’s 6.2-inch screen is also better viewed from shorter distances, while tabletop gaming makes it feel too small for collaborative split-screen games.

The 7-inch OLED Switch’s display is far more vivid and can show off small game details more clearly. Also, that rear kickstand is improved at long last. The pop-out plastic stand runs almost the entire length of the body, and can be adjusted to any subtle angle, from nearly upright to close to flat. Much like many iPad kickstand cases (or the Microsoft Surface Pro), it means it’s finally usable. It just makes sharing games on that screen a lot more fun for games like Pikmin 3, or board games like Clubhouse Games.

Look, for multiplayer games, you’ll still want to dock with a TV. The tabletop mode is really a niche third form. But if you’re traveling with kids, you may end up taking advantage of it a lot more than you thought (and it seems like an amazing thing to have for airline table gaming).

A bit bigger (but basically still the same size)

The OLED Switch is a bit bigger and heavier than the original Switch. Still, I was able to zip it into a basic carrying case I’ve used for the old Switch just fine. The slightly changed dimensions do mean it won’t slide into those old folding Labo cardboard items (if you care), and it’ll likely make other more closely tailored accessories and sleeves not fit. But so far it feels like using the older Switch, just better. There’s no change to how the Joy-Cons connect to the sides, so that’s the main thing.

The display: Vivid, sometimes subtle

The larger 7-inch OLED display is, without a doubt, better. Colors are more saturated, which works really well with Nintendo’s bright and bold games. Metroid Dread, which I played on the OLED Switch, looks wonderful. So does Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Hades, Super Mario Odyssey, Untitled Goose Game, Zelda: Skyward Sword, WarioWare: Get It Together and nearly everything else I threw at it.

The bezels are smaller, and the whole thing feels more modern now. You can’t even see how much better the display looks in these photos (photos don’t easily tell the story with displays). But also, the jump to a 7-inch display isn’t the quantum leap experience.

The recent iPad Mini has a larger screen, for instance. The 7-inch display looks better for all games, but it’s still sometimes a bit small for me and my tablet-based life. The 720p resolution is low for a 7-inch display, but really I never noticed that much.

One thing I do know: I don’t want to go back to the older Switch now. The display looks small and clearly worse, and the OLED display is already spoiling me.

New dock, but also old dock

The new dock with the Switch OLED has an Ethernet jack now for wired internet connections, which isn’t anything I need but is helpful to have just in case, I guess. That jack means one internal USB 3 port is removed, but there are still two USB 3 ports on the outside. The pull-off rear dock cover is easier for cable access than the hinged door was previously. The dock is just for connecting the Switch to your TV, so if you’re a handheld-only gamer, that’s what that weird box with the slot in it is for.

But the new Switch works in old Switch docks, too. The new dock isn’t really all that new. (Although, new docks can get upgraded firmware — which might mean new features, but it’s hard to tell right now.)

It works with older Joy-Cons! (But Joy-Cons haven’t changed)

The Switch OLED can use any pair of Switch Joy-Cons you have lying around, just like always. That’s great news, except the Joy-Cons that come with the new Switch aren’t different, either. I got to try the new white-and-black model with its white Joy-Cons, but other than the color change, they have exactly the same features — and exactly the same feel. Joy-Cons, to me, have ended up feeling pretty old compared to the rock-solid and comfy Xbox and PS5 controllers. I wanted analog triggers, a better analog stick, less Bluetooth lag. And who knows if these seemingly similar Joy-Cons break as easily as older ones do.

It runs quieter so far?

The fan on my older Switch sounds like a car engine: I think the fan’s broken, or damaged. The Switch OLED, so far, has seemed a lot quieter. There’s still a heat vent at the top, but I haven’t noticed any noise as much.

More storage (but still get a microSD card)

The 64GB base storage on the Switch OLED is a good bump from the 32GB that older Switches have, which is nice. I downloaded 13 games before filling it up: Switch digital games range from several hundred megabytes to over 10GB, but take up less space than PS5 or Xbox games. Still, there’s a microSD card slot on the Switch like always, and storage is cheap. Using an extra storage drive doesn’t require any special setup or lock you to specific brands, unlike PS5 and Xbox Series X storage expansions.

This is the one Switch I’d want. But it’s not necessarily one you need

For me, it’s clear the OLED Switch is the best Switch, based on specs alone. But that slightly bigger and brighter screen, those better speakers, the slightly different dock and the admittedly very nice new kickstand don’t really add up to a huge reason to upgrade if you have a Switch you’re happy with. The Switch still plays games just the same as it did before, and the exact same games. TV playing is identical.

A true Switch 2 hasn’t arrived yet, and may never arrive. Nintendo may just choose to slowly upgrade bits of the Switch over time, in the same way that phones slowly upgrade. At this point, the Switch OLED is the best version and the one I’d recommend for any new buyer. It’s worth the extra $50 if it’s your very first Switch.

We’re over five years into Nintendo’s Switch console lifecycle, and there are tons of great games. But, also, the Switch clearly lacks the graphics punch of next-gen consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Mobile games and iPad games keep getting better. There are a lot of ways to play games. The Switch is still a wonderful library of Nintendo and indie games and other stuff too, and a stellar family device, but it’s just one slice of an ever-growing gaming universe. Nintendo hasn’t leveled up its console yet — this still has the same processor as before and serves the same audience. Just consider it a revision that’s checked a bunch of features off our wish list. But not all of them.

Technologies

The Future’s Here: Testing Out Gemini’s Live Camera Mode

Gemini Live’s new camera mode feels like the future when it works. I put it through a stress test with my offbeat collectibles.

«I just spotted your scissors on the table, right next to the green package of pistachios. Do you see them?»

Gemini Live’s chatty new camera feature was right. My scissors were exactly where it said they were, and all I did was pass my camera in front of them at some point during a 15-minute live session of me giving the AI chatbot a tour of my apartment. Google’s been rolling out the new camera mode to all Android phones using the Gemini app for free after a two-week exclusive to Pixel 9 (including the new Pixel 9A) and Galaxy S5 smartphones. So, what exactly is this camera mode and how does it work?

When you start a live session with Gemini, you now how have the option to enable a live camera view, where you can talk to the chatbot and ask it about anything the camera sees. Not only can it identify objects, but you can also ask questions about them — and it works pretty well for the most part. In addition, you can share your screen with Gemini so it can identify things you surface on your phone’s display.

When the new camera feature popped up on my phone, I didn’t hesitate to try it out. In one of my longer tests, I turned it on and started walking through my apartment, asking Gemini what it saw. It identified some fruit, ChapStick and a few other everyday items with no problem. I was wowed when it found my scissors.

That’s because I hadn’t mentioned the scissors at all. Gemini had silently identified them somewhere along the way and then recalled the location with precision. It felt so much like the future, I had to do further testing.

My experiment with Gemini Live’s camera feature was following the lead of the demo that Google did last summer when it first showed off these live video AI capabilities. Gemini reminded the person giving the demo where they’d left their glasses, and it seemed too good to be true. But as I discovered, it was very true indeed.

Gemini Live will recognize a whole lot more than household odds and ends. Google says it’ll help you navigate a crowded train station or figure out the filling of a pastry. It can give you deeper information about artwork, like where an object originated and whether it was a limited edition piece.

It’s more than just a souped-up Google Lens. You talk with it, and it talks to you. I didn’t need to speak to Gemini in any particular way — it was as casual as any conversation. Way better than talking with the old Google Assistant that the company is quickly phasing out.

Google also released a new YouTube video for the April 2025 Pixel Drop showcasing the feature, and there’s now a dedicated page on the Google Store for it.

To get started, you can go live with Gemini, enable the camera and start talking. That’s it.

Gemini Live follows on from Google’s Project Astra, first revealed last year as possibly the company’s biggest «we’re in the future» feature, an experimental next step for generative AI capabilities, beyond your simply typing or even speaking prompts into a chatbot like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It comes as AI companies continue to dramatically increase the skills of AI tools, from video generation to raw processing power. Similar to Gemini Live, there’s Apple’s Visual Intelligence, which the iPhone maker released in a beta form late last year.

My big takeaway is that a feature like Gemini Live has the potential to change how we interact with the world around us, melding our digital and physical worlds together just by holding your camera in front of almost anything.

I put Gemini Live to a real test

The first time I tried it, Gemini was shockingly accurate when I placed a very specific gaming collectible of a stuffed rabbit in my camera’s view. The second time, I showed it to a friend in an art gallery. It identified the tortoise on a cross (don’t ask me) and immediately identified and translated the kanji right next to the tortoise, giving both of us chills and leaving us more than a little creeped out. In a good way, I think.

I got to thinking about how I could stress-test the feature. I tried to screen-record it in action, but it consistently fell apart at that task. And what if I went off the beaten path with it? I’m a huge fan of the horror genre — movies, TV shows, video games — and have countless collectibles, trinkets and what have you. How well would it do with more obscure stuff — like my horror-themed collectibles?

First, let me say that Gemini can be both absolutely incredible and ridiculously frustrating in the same round of questions. I had roughly 11 objects that I was asking Gemini to identify, and it would sometimes get worse the longer the live session ran, so I had to limit sessions to only one or two objects. My guess is that Gemini attempted to use contextual information from previously identified objects to guess new objects put in front of it, which sort of makes sense, but ultimately, neither I nor it benefited from this.

Sometimes, Gemini was just on point, easily landing the correct answers with no fuss or confusion, but this tended to happen with more recent or popular objects. For example, I was surprised when it immediately guessed one of my test objects was not only from Destiny 2, but was a limited edition from a seasonal event from last year.

At other times, Gemini would be way off the mark, and I would need to give it more hints to get into the ballpark of the right answer. And sometimes, it seemed as though Gemini was taking context from my previous live sessions to come up with answers, identifying multiple objects as coming from Silent Hill when they were not. I have a display case dedicated to the game series, so I could see why it would want to dip into that territory quickly.

Gemini can get full-on bugged out at times. On more than one occasion, Gemini misidentified one of the items as a made-up character from the unreleased Silent Hill: f game, clearly merging pieces of different titles into something that never was. The other consistent bug I experienced was when Gemini would produce an incorrect answer, and I would correct it and hint closer at the answer — or straight up give it the answer, only to have it repeat the incorrect answer as if it was a new guess. When that happened, I would close the session and start a new one, which wasn’t always helpful.

One trick I found was that some conversations did better than others. If I scrolled through my Gemini conversation list, tapped an old chat that had gotten a specific item correct, and then went live again from that chat, it would be able to identify the items without issue. While that’s not necessarily surprising, it was interesting to see that some conversations worked better than others, even if you used the same language.

Google didn’t respond to my requests for more information on how Gemini Live works.

I wanted Gemini to successfully answer my sometimes highly specific questions, so I provided plenty of hints to get there. The nudges were often helpful, but not always. Below are a series of objects I tried to get Gemini to identify and provide information about.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for April 26, #1407

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,407 for April 26. Hint: Fans of a certain musical group will rock out with this puzzle.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle isn’t too tough. The letters are fairly common, and fans of a certain rock band might get a kick out of the answer. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There is one vowel in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter C.

Wordle hint No. 4: Rock out

Today’s Wordle answer is the name of a legendary English rock band.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a violent confrontation.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is CLASH.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, April 25, No. 1406 was KNOWN.

Recent Wordle answers

April 21, No. 1402: SPATE

April 22, No. 1403: ARTSY

April 23, No. 1404: OZONE.

April 24, No. 1405: GENIE

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q.

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

STARE

NOISE

Technologies

T-Mobile Adds New Top 5G Plans, T-Satellite and New 5-Year Price Locks

The new top unlimited plans, Experience More and Experience Beyond, shave some costs and add data and satellite options.

Just two years after expanding its lineup of cellular plans, T-Mobile this week announced two new plans that replace its Go5G Plus and Go5G Next offerings, refreshed its prepaid Metro line and wrapped them all in a promised five-year pricing guarantee.

To convert more subscribers, the carrier is also offering up to $800 to help customers pay off phone balances when switching from another carrier.

In a briefing with CNET, Jon Friar, president of T-Mobile’s consumer group, explained why the company is revamping and simplifying its array of mobile plans. «The pain point that’s out there over the last couple of years is rising costs all around consumers,» Friar said. «For us to be able to bring more value and even lower prices on [plans like] Experience More versus our former Go5G Plus is a huge win for consumers.»

The new plans went into effect April 23.

With these changes, CNET is already hard at work updating our picks for Best T-Mobile Plans, so check back soon for our recommendations.

More Experiences to define the T-Mobile experience

The top of the new T-Mobile postpaid lineup is two new plans: Experience More and Experience Beyond.

Experience More is the next generation of the Go5G Plus plan, which has unlimited 5G and 4G LTE access and unlimited Premium Data (download speeds up to 418Mbps and upload speeds up to 31Mbps). High-speed hotspot data is bumped up to 60GB from 50GB per month. The monthly price is now $5 lower per line than Go5G Plus.

The Experience More plan also gets free T-Satellite with Starlink service (the new name for T-Mobile’s satellite feature that uses Starlink’s constellation of satellites) through the end of 2025. Although T-Satellite is still officially in beta until July, customers can continue to get free access to the beta starting now. At the start of the new year, the service will cost $10 per month, a $5 drop from T-Mobile’s originally announced pricing. T-Satellite will be open to customers of other carriers for the same pricing beginning in July.

The new top-tier plan, Experience Beyond, also comes in $5 per line cheaper than its predecessor, Go5G Next. It has 250GB of high-speed hotspot data per month, up from 50GB, and more data when you’re traveling outside the US: 30GB in Canada and Mexico (versus 15GB) and 15GB in 215 countries (up from 5GB). T-Satellite service is included in the Experience Beyond plan.

However, one small change to the Experience plans affects that pricing: Taxes and fees, previously included in the Go5G Plus and Go5G Next prices, are now broken out separately. T-Mobile recently announced that one such fee, the Regulatory Programs and Telco Recovery Fee, would increase up to 50 cents per month.

According to T-Mobile, the Experience Beyond rates and features will be «rolling out soon» for customers currently on the Go5G Next plan.

The Essentials plan is staying in the lineup at the same cost of $60 per month for a single line, the same 50GB of Premium Data and unlimited 5G and 4G LTE data. High-speed hotspot data is an optional $10 add-on, as is T-Satellite access, for $15 (both per month).

Also still in the mix is the Essentials Saver plan, an affordable option that has ranked high in CNET’s Best Cellphone Plans recommendations.

Corresponding T-Mobile plans, such as those for military, first responders and people age 55 and older are also getting refreshed with the new lineup.

T-Mobile’s plan shakeup is being driven in part by the current economic climate. Explaining the rationale behind the price reductions and the streamlined number of plans, Mike Katz, president of marketing, innovation and experience at T-Mobile told CNET, «We’re in a weird time right now where prices everywhere are going up and they’ve happened over the last several years. We felt like there was an opportunity to compete with some simplicity, but more importantly, some peace of mind for customers.»

Existing customers who want to switch to one of the new plans can do so at the same rates offered to new customers. Or, if a current plan still works for them, they can continue without changes (although keep in mind that T-Mobile earlier this year increased prices for some legacy plans).

Five years of price stability

It’s nearly impossible to think about prices these days without warily eyeing how tariffs and US economic policy will affect what we pay for things. So it’s not surprising to see carriers implement some cost stability into their plans. For instance, Verizon recently locked prices for three years on their plans.

Now, T-Mobile is building a five-year price guarantee for its T-Mobile and Metro plans. That pricing applies to talk, text and data amounts — not necessarily taxes and other fees that can fluctuate.

Given the uncertain outlook, it seems counterintuitive to lock in a longer rate. When asked about this, Katz said, «We feel like our job is to solve pain points for customers and we feel like this helps with this exact sentiment. It shifts the risk from customers to us. We’ll take the risk so they don’t have to.»

The price hold applies to new customers signing up for the plans as well as current customers switching to one. T-Mobile is offering the same deals and pricing to new and existing subscribers. Also, the five-year deal applies to pricing; it’s not a five-year plan commitment.

More money and options to encourage switchers

The promise of a five-year price guarantee is also intended to lure people from other carriers, particularly AT&T and Verizon. As further incentive, T-Mobile is offering up to $800 per line (distributed via a virtual prepaid Mastercard) to help pay off other carriers’ device contracts. This is a limited-time offer. There are also options to trade in old devices, including locked phones, to get up to four new flagship phones.

Or, if getting out of a contract isn’t an issue, T-Mobile can offer $200 in credit (up to $800 for four lines) to bring an existing number to the network.

Four new Metro prepaid plans

On the prepaid side, T-Mobile is rolling out four new Metro plans, which are also covered by the new five-year price guarantee:

• Metro Starter costs $25 per line per month for a family of four and there is no need to bring an existing number. (The cost is $105 the first month.)

• Metro Starter Plus runs $40 per month for a new phone, unlimited talk, text and 5G data when bringing an existing number. For $65 per month, new customers can get two lines and two new Samsung A15 phones. No autopay is required.

• Metro Flex Unlimited is $30 per line per month with autopay for four lines ($125 the first month) with unlimited talk, text and 5G data.

• Metro Flex Unlimited Plus costs $60 per line per month, then $35 for lines two and three and then lowers the price of the fourth line to $10 per month as more family members are added. Adding a tablet or smartwatch to an existing line costs $5. And streaming video, such as from the included Amazon Prime membership, comes through at HD quality.

See more: If you’re looking for phone plans, you may also be looking for a new cell phone. Here are CNET’s picks.