Let’s be honest, many of us like to take our hybrid console when we have to take a long trip and enjoy idle or bored times to pass the time. However, these winter days is when we have to better protect our Nintendo Switch from cold and rain. And we don’t say it, but the manufacturer of it. Are we facing a serious problem or, instead, is it something minor?
It’s no secret that temperature swings are dangerous to say the least for any hardware, especially since they’re not designed to operate in extreme temperatures. In any case, there is no danger that the Nintendo Switch will burn out by making it go up in speed, but in the opposite direction. Especially on cold and rainy days where water can get into the circuitry and cause damage. So much so that Nintendo itself has already given the notice.
Nintendo warns: turn off your Switch in the middle of the rain
Since the NintendoDS and the SONY PSP, one of the most interesting functions of portable consoles is the sleep mode, which allows us to continue playing our favorite game where we left off. All thanks to the benefits of NAND Flash technology. This was a revolution, since before that we would stress to kill the final enemy of a game or win the last cup before the batteries died.
Well, Nintendo has made it clear via a tweet that we have to avoid leaving the console at rest on rainy days and turn it off completely. More than anything in case water and humidity enters inside it and ends up damaging its circuits. Therefore, they do not recommend playing under the station screen while you wait for the bus or train and not leaving it idle, but turning it off completely. In the event that the system has gotten wet, they recommend that you leave the console in a dry room and wait for the water to dry.
Turning off the console completely is easy, just press the Power button at the top of the console and select the appropriate option from the menu that appears. Another option is to keep the button pressed for 12 seconds to force a complete shutdown.
Is it as dangerous as Nintendo says?
Well, the truth is that no, since the console has active cooling in the form of a small fan that prevents internal condensation. Another thing is the screen, both in the IPS and OLED models. In any case, in all this time nothing has been said about the console’s problems in this regard and everything points to Nintendo being itself and exaggerating a minor problem. In any case, and just in case, do not bury your Nintendo Switch in the snow, as you may find yourself in for an unpleasant surprise.
