Niamul Reza 

City College Of New York 

Writing for Engineering ENGL 21007 

Sara Jacobson 

March 28, 2022 

Outline Of Contents 

• Introduction…Pg 3 
• Interior Of Nintendo Switch Tablet… Pg 3-4 
• Exterior Of Nintendo Switch Tablet Front… Pg 4-5 

• Exterior Of Nintendo Switch Tablet Back… Pg 5 
• Dock Of Nintendo Switch… Pg 6 
• Joy-Cons of Nintendo Switch… Pg 7-8 
• Conclusion… Pg 9 
• References… Pg 10

The Nintendo Switch is Nintendo’s first attempt at creating a home console that also serves as a handheld console. It was released on March 3, 2017. When you purchase a Nintendo Switch you receive the Nintendo Switch Tablet along with the left and right joy-con controllers. The Nintendo Switch Dock to place the Switch in when playing on the Tv with the HDMI cable and AC-Adaptor they provide. Additional accessories that come with the switch include the joy-con grip and left and right joy-con straps. 

(Figure 1) Different Modes of The Nintendo Switch. (n.d.). 

https://www.shacknews.com/article/99282/nintendo-switch-review-stuck-in-the-mid dle. 

The size of the Nintendo Switch is 4 inches high, 9 inches long, and 0.55 inches deep when including the joy-cons. The Nintendo Switch tablet itself is 6.2-inch 1280×720 resolution with a multi-touch LCD screen. The video output is 720p unless docked then becoming 1080p. All Nintendo Switches contain a custom Nvidia Tegra X1 chip used to emphasize performance without wasting power efficiency. The chip in the switch contains 4 GB worth of ram. The switch contains 32 GB worth of storage. After a while, you start to build up a collection of games and then run out of storage for all that saved data. At that point, you could upgrade to 2 terabytes by purchasing a micro SDXC card. The battery is a 4310 mAh lithium battery used to power the switch for roughly 3 hours before it needs to be charged again. The cooling system inside the switch consists of a large fan, a heat pipe, and a metal plate that prevents hot spots from forming. 

(Figure 2) The Inside Of The Nintendo Switch. (n.d.). https://www.zdnet.com/article/nintendo-switch-teardown-reveals-big-battery-and-lot s-of-cooling/. 

The front exterior of the Nintendo Switch screen contains 2 volume buttons located at the top left of the Switch used to control the audio coming out of the stereo speaker which is located at the bottom of the Switch. If you do not want to use a stereo speaker you are allowed to connect any Bluetooth headphones compatible with Bluetooth 4.1. If your headphones are not Bluetooth but wired there is a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top right side of the Switch. It also contains one power button beside the volume button used to turn the Switch on and off. To the right of the audio jack is the game card slot, which can read game cards, if you decide to purchase the card instead of getting the game digitally. There is a rail to the left and right of the screen used to connect the screen to the left and right joy-cons if you ever decide to play on handheld mode. During the night or in dark places you are going to have auto-brightness on allowing the brightness sensors to adjust the brightness depending on the environment. 

(Figure 3) Nintendo Switch Tablet Specs. Front. (n.d.). https://www.ign.com/wikis/nintendo-switch/Nintendo_Switch_Hardware_Specs. 

The back exterior of the switch contains a stand which allows you to put the Switch down on a flat surface and use it if it was hooked up to a mini tv. As previously mentioned when you run out of storage you could buy a micro SDXC card worth 2 terabytes of storage that can be placed in the micro SD card slot located between the stand and the Switch itself. The final part of the Nintendo Switch Tablet is the USB-Type C Connector (Base) located at the bottom center of the tablet which connects the AC Adapter to the Nintendo Switch Dock. The AC Adapter makes the battery charging time approximately 3 hours when in sleep mode. 

(Figure 4) Nintendo Switch Tablet Specs. Back . (n.d.). https://www.ign.com/wikis/nintendo-switch/Nintendo_Switch_Hardware_Specs. 

The dock of the Nintendo Switch is mostly empty space. There are USB ports on the left side of the dock and in the back of it to plug in wired switch pro controllers and other accessories that are sold separately from the Switch. The Tv output LED is in front of the dock which glows yellow when the switch is powered on. The system connector connects the base of the Switch tablet to the Dock to output it to the Tv as well as charge it. The back of the Dock contains the AC adapter port used to plug in the AC adapter and charge the switch. The HDMI port is used to plug in the HDMI cable to display the gameplay to the Tv. Finally, a back cover to protect the wires that are connected to the Dock. 

(Figure 5) Front and Back Of Dock Nintendo Switch. (n.d.). 

Front and Back of the Dock from NintendoSwitch

Most buttons on the joy-cons differ in functionality depending on the game. The ZL/ZR, L/R buttons are push buttons using compression springs as trigger buttons. The +/- buttons and the directional buttons/ ABXY buttons are opposites of each other all doing something different in each game. The exterior of the left and right joy-cons is the same in purpose aside from the left joy-con having a capture button to take pictures, while the right has a home button to go to the main menu and pause the game. The left and right sticks are also similar both being used to move; however, the right stick can be used to read Amiibos data, a figure that can connect wirelessly with the switch. As well as having rails on both joy-cons to connect to the Switch tablet, Joy-con grips, or Joy-Con straps. The interior of Switch joy-cons contains a battery that takes up almost the entire width of the controller having a capacity of 525 mAh. The interior is a 3-piece design having a top enclosure, bottom enclosure, and a sidewall. The sidewall is why the joy-cons can connect to grips having a spring l tab and flex cable. There are 4 light pipes in a black plastic holder providing separation and holding the sidewall together. The Printed Circuit Board Assembly in the left and right joy-con now has metal dome switches. 

(Figure 6) Button Commands on Left and Right Joy-Cons. (n.d.). https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/nintendo-switch-macro-recording-on-the-raspbe rry-pi/how-to-use-joycontrol. 

(Figure 7) Battery Of Switch Controller. (n.d.). https://www.fictiv.com/teardowns/nintendo-switch-teardown. 

The Nintendo Switch is an entertainment system that was able to outsell both its predecessors, the Wii, and Wii U. As well as being the first ever hybrid console. The main part being the Nintendo Switch Tablet, The Nintendo Switch Dock, and the left and right joy-cons. This Nintendo console comes with many parts and accessories to try and make your gameplay enjoyable. 

References 

Tech specs. Tech Specs. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.nintendo.com/fr_CA/switch/features/features/tech-specs/ 

Kingsley-Hughes, A. (2017, March 4). Nintendo Switch Teardown reveals big battery and lots of cooling, just keep it away from your aquarium. ZDNet. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.zdnet.com/article/nintendo-switch-teardown-reveals-big-battery-and-lot s-of-cooling/ 

Nintendo Switch Hardware Specs – Nintendo Switch Wiki Guide. IGN. (2019, July 

10). Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.ign.com/wikis/nintendo-switch/Nintendo_Switch_Hardware_Specs 

Nintendo Switch Teardown. Fictiv. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.fictiv.com/teardowns/nintendo-switch-teardown