What simply occurred? Whereas many new Nintendo Change 2 homeowners are dealing with their consoles with excessive care, fearful {that a} single accident may spell catastrophe for the prized gadget, JerryRigEverything’s Zack Nelson took a really totally different method. In a latest video, Nelson subjected the hand-held to a collection of punishing sturdiness exams, pushing the boundaries of Nintendo’s newest {hardware} to see simply how a lot abuse it may stand up to.
The centerpiece of Nelson’s check was a dramatic sequence wherein he repeatedly struck the Change 2’s display with heavy channel lock pliers. Over the course of greater than 50 forceful blows, the glass lastly gave approach, shattering and sending sharp fragments flying. Even so, after a reset, the console powered again on, although the show remained dangerously fractured and suffering from glass shards.
Nelson additionally examined the Change 2’s inside design, providing viewers an in depth take a look at the gadget’s building. He dismantled the console to disclose that many elements, such because the Pleasure-Con 2 analog sticks and the headphone jack, are extremely modular. This method, he famous, makes repairs extra accessible for these prepared to open up their gadget. With solely a Phillips screwdriver and a specialised tri-point driver, most customers may try primary repairs at residence. After reassembling the console, Nelson reported that it functioned with out difficulty.
Nonetheless, Nelson additionally recognized a number of limitations within the Change 2’s repairability. The batteries, as an example, are glued firmly in place – a notable change from the unique Change, which allowed for simpler battery swaps. Eradicating the brand new battery requires persistence, vital drive, and a beneficiant utility of alcohol to dissolve the adhesive.
Moreover, the sport card slot and USB-C ports usually are not modular; if these components fail, customers could also be pressured to switch the whole motherboard, a expensive and technically demanding course of until one is expert at soldering.
Nelson’s consideration then returned to the Change 2’s show, which contains a protecting movie that Nintendo warns customers to not take away. The corporate claims this layer is designed to forestall glass shards from scattering, much like laminated glass in automotive windshields.
Nelson determined to place this declare to the check. “We did take away the plastic display protector from earlier, and the one solution to actually inform if the Nintendo Change 2 display goes to scatter into bits if we shatter it’s if we shatter it!” he mentioned.
With out the protecting movie, Nelson resumed his assault on the gadget with the heavy pliers. After 13 blows, the Pleasure-Cons indifferent, however the display remained intact. One other 14 strikes did not inflict additional injury. “One other 14 very stable hits, and the Change 2 is shockingly nonetheless alive. 15 extra and nonetheless nothing! That is wild. If watching this does not offer you confidence within the Change 2’s sturdiness, nothing will,” Nelson remarked.
Solely after greater than 50 hits did the glass lastly break. “Solely after 50 hits from my ridiculously massive pliers can we see that certainly there’s a skinny layer of glass on the floor, and as you’ll be able to see from the sluggish movement, Nintendo was proper and it does certainly explode into little needle-like shards of glass with out that laminate prime layer. So I might undoubtedly depart yours intact and in place,” he warned.
Regardless of the catastrophic injury to the display, the Change 2 itself continued to perform after a reset. “Despite the fact that I did get a black display of dying, after a fast reset, Nintendo says it was simply kidding about being recreation over and is able to carry on taking part in. Principally invincible. I am a giant fan of the Nintendo Change 2,” Nelson concluded.
