Nintendo Switch 2 VRR Status Becomes Even More Unclear

Alright, so here’s the deal with the new Nintendo Switch 2, or whatever everyone’s buzzing about lately. Apparently, it can do this VRR thing — VRR stands for variable refresh rate — which should, in theory, banish those annoying screen splits that happen when your TV and console aren’t exactly on the same vibe. You know, a bit like trying to have a conversation with someone who’s always just a beat behind. Anyway, excited gamers were all set for this sweet feature, but Nintendo kinda yanked it away as if they accidentally let you peek at your birthday gift too soon.

Now, here’s a quirky twist, the dock — yeah, the thing you stick your Switch into — can totally handle VRR. Go figure. But plug the Switch 2 into it? Nada. Zip. No VRR for you, my friend. Sean Hollister from The Verge jumped into this rabbit hole and found out that if you connect a different gadget like, say, a Steam Deck, it’s all rainbows and VRR, working like a charm. Same goes for other handhelds, the Lenovo Legion Go S or the Asus ROG Ally X. Weird, right?

So, why can’t the Switch 2 do VRR when docked? Nintendo’s lips are sealed tighter than a drum. Could be they just couldn’t get it going without some major hiccups, so rather than sending out a glitchy mess, they hit the brakes on VRR docked mode. Guess they didn’t want their big shiny toy to trip right out of the gate. But who knows, maybe they’re working on it backstage, and we’ll get lucky with a fix down the road.

For now, if you’ve got other handhelds handy, you can still squeeze some VRR juice from that Switch dock. It’s like they gave you a Ferrari with bicycle tires, but at least you can use the garage for your other rides. Here’s hoping Nintendo throws in an update soon. Meanwhile, I’m still scratching my head over how the dock gets VRR but not the Switch 2. Seriously, makes my brain hurt a bit thinking about it!