Nintendo Switch 2 gets user-replaceable battery this autumn in UK

What Nintendo has announced

Nintendo has confirmed that revised versions of the Switch 2 console and several of its accessories will go on sale in the UK and across Europe from summer 2026, with the updated console itself following in autumn. The revisions are designed to comply with incoming EU battery legislation that requires portable batteries in consumer electronics to be user-replaceable — and the UK, despite its post-Brexit regulatory path, falls within the scope of Nintendo's European rollout.

Nintendo published the announcement on its UK support page, confirming the changes after an initial report from Nikkei in March 2026 first flagged the company's plans.

The rollout schedule

Nintendo is staggering the transition across several months rather than switching everything over at once. The confirmed schedule is:

• Summer 2026: Joy-Con 2 pairs in selected colours are the first products to be updated.
• Autumn 2026: The revised Switch 2 console launches, bundled with updated Joy-Con 2 controllers — both featuring user-replaceable batteries.
• Winter 2026: Standalone Joy-Con 2 and Switch 2 Pro controllers with replaceable batteries go on sale.
• Early 2027: The Nintendo 64 and GameCube controllers for Switch 2 are updated.

Nintendo has cautioned that these are estimated timings and may shift depending on manufacturing and distribution factors. No exact autumn launch date has been confirmed.

What actually changes in the hardware

The revised Switch 2 console carries a battery rated at 5,172 mAh, a reduction of roughly one per cent from the current model's 5,220 mAh. The console itself gains around 10 grams in weight; with the updated Joy-Con 2 attached, the complete system tips the scales at approximately 548 grams compared with 534 grams today. According to Nintendo, these updates will not significantly affect functionality or battery life.

The accessory changes are more varied. The Switch 2 Pro Controller sees the sharpest battery reduction — from 1,070 mAh down to 897 mAh, a drop of around 16% — though it also sheds approximately 7 grams in weight. The Joy-Con 2 controllers add around 2 grams each. The GameCube Controller for Switch 2 actually gains a slightly larger battery, rising from 500 mAh to 525 mAh, while the N64 Controller adds just 1 gram with no battery change at all.

Nintendo has stated there is no difference in functionality between the current products and the revised versions.

How to buy — and why you won't get a choice

Nintendo is not offering UK buyers a choice between the standard and revised models. As existing stock sells through, it will simply be replaced by the updated version on a rolling basis — both on the Nintendo Store and, in due course, through retailers. Once old inventory is exhausted, the replaceable-battery revision is all that will be available.

Battery replacement kits for each revised product will also be sold through the Nintendo Store in Europe, though pricing has not yet been confirmed. The revised hardware will be sold across a wide range of territories including the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and dozens of other European and Middle Eastern markets.

The revised Switch 2 launched in the UK at £395.99. Whether the autumn revision will carry any price change has not been confirmed by Nintendo.

The end of the original Switch family in Europe

The more dramatic news buried in Nintendo's announcement concerns the original Switch line. Rather than redesigning hardware that has been on sale since March 2017 to meet the new battery rules, Nintendo has chosen to wind it down entirely in Europe.

In Nintendo's own words from its UK support page FAQ:

"From mid-February 2027, almost ten years after Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, Nintendo will no longer sell to retailers hardware in the Nintendo Switch family of systems – specifically Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite and Nintendo Switch – OLED Model. Sales of Nintendo Switch hardware on Nintendo Store will also end in mid-February 2027."

All three original Switch models will continue to be manufactured throughout 2026 and should remain widely available in European shops for the rest of this year. A handful of original Switch accessories — including the NES Controller, SNES Controller, SEGA Mega Drive Control Pad, the original Switch Pro Controller, and the Pokémon GO Plus+ — will also be withdrawn from the Nintendo Store in Europe after mid-February 2027.

Existing Switch owners have nothing to worry about: Nintendo has confirmed that the EU Batteries Regulation's replaceability requirement applies only to new products placed on the market after the February 2027 deadline, not hardware already in consumers' hands. Nintendo eShop, Nintendo Switch Online, and other services will all continue for the foreseeable future.

The regulation behind the change

Two pieces of EU legislation are driving this overhaul. The EU's Right to Repair Directive took effect on 31 July 2026. More specifically to this announcement, Article 11 of the EU Batteries Regulation (EU 2023/1542) — which requires that portable batteries in consumer products be readily removable and replaceable by the end user using only commercially available tools, with no heat or solvents — enters into force in February 2027. Manufacturers are also required to make replacement batteries available as spare parts for at least five years after the last unit of a given model is sold.

There is currently no equivalent regulatory incentive in the United States or Japan, and Nintendo has not announced plans to bring the revised hardware to those markets.