Gadgetory

(mythical digital music) - I love the Switch 'cause there's this really great balance of being something that has that nostalgic fun factor, but also doesn't feel quite out of date. So it gave you all those games that you love from back in the day and new ones that are awesome, but gave you more freedom to play them where, and when, and how you wanted. (peppy electronic music) When it comes to functions that the Switch is missing that I wish it had, one of the biggest things would be built-in wireless headphones for it. (imposing digital music) So a lot of different companies have found ways of trying to address that problem. The first one that was really popular was GENKI, but the problem was that they were a Kickstarter program, but once the GENKI actually came out and people started being able to really use them, it definitely became the best option to bring that feature onto the Switch. Now the big thing that a lot of people have with using wireless stuff, especially with an adapter, is that you're gonna have a lot of noticeable lag between what's happening on the screen and what you're hearing, and with the GENKI, that's something that entirely depends on what headset you're using. There's different kinds of Bluetooth signals and coders that can be used, and as long as you're using one of the better options, the right kind of headset, you're not gonna have any kind of noticeable lag. What's great about it too is how it's able to use a lot of different kind of headsets, I mean, like I said, some are better or worse than others. For me, I think the easiest option that I really liked is that it would work with my AirPods, they're already AirPods I would use for my phone or even just tablets, whatever, and because I can use those with the Switch now, I do have to kinda re-sync it each time, but it ends up giving me this really low-lag experience with something that's really nice and completely fits, so that way, if I just wanna play on the go, and with headphones, I don't wanna involve people around me, that's just a great choice. (subterranean digital music) Another thing that's not like a huge problem, but it does get annoying over time, is that the way the Switch is designed makes it small and portable, but not always super comfortable. This is a thing that has happened with a lot of Nintendo handhelds, and something that a lot of companies have released to address that is grips, like protective cases that go around the body and give you real handles. There's a lot of these that have come out for the Switch in a lot of different shapes, and have different ups and downs. My personal favorite, though, that I think has all the right balance of features for me is the Skull & Co. grip. So there's a couple things about the Skull & Co. grip that I like more than other options out there, and some of this is just purely personal preference. I think its design does a really good balance between being comfortable, but also offering that little bit of extra protection for the Switch, where if, hopefully not, you accidentally drop it, it's not gonna just be absolutely destroyed unless it lands straight on a pointy rock or something, but the other thing is the grip shape. This varies from person to person, not every option's gonna be the best for everyone, but I find that the Skull & Co. has the most comfortable grip for me out of what I've used. It actually offers two different choices that you can swap in or out, so kinda depending on whether you got bigger or smaller hands, there's choices that you have. It's not just, this is how it is, and those are your only choice. I get why the Switch isn't built that way in the first place, because of the idea of how to keep it portable, How Joy-Cons dock into different things, and I understand the shape the Switch is in and why it didn't choose comfort over just the kind of size, and the way it all slots together, especially with the dock system, so I think the grip is the right way to go to just kinda balance it out. I don't see Nintendo ever addressing or changing that in their main design, and I don't think they need to. (majestic keyboard music) (plastic clattering) Oh, yeah, this. So there's a lot of controllers that come out on the Switch, like a lot, a lot, kinda something we emphasize on our channel, there's just all different options that are out there, and a lot of them have their merits, their strengths, some of them definitely have their downsides, too, but for me personally, the one that I've been going back to a lot that has become my favorite is the POWER A GameCube style controller, and there's a few different reasons why that is. First off, there's just that hard nostalgia for GameCube. I've always liked the design of the GameCube controller, it's something that's just a little different from what's kind of become the standard, especially when it comes to the A B X Y layout. It's a controller that's used a lot for Smash, that was part of the reason why it's so popular, but it's having an option on the Switch that is updated to be a modern controller, but has that form factor, 'cause you can use a GameCube controller, just an actual old school one on your Switch, and there are good reasons to do that as well, but I think this strikes a great balance of being something that you can use on any game and leverage the benefits of how it's shaped, and it's not really just a thing about nostalgia, of like, oh yeah, I love GameCube, and GameCube games, and playing on this controller, no, I really do think there is something to be said for the layout and design of the GameCube controller. It's a style that, depending on the game you play, it's either a massive upgrade, or a big downgrade. You have to make sure the games you're playing are designed with this kind of layout in mind, because it really heavily emphasizes the fact that you use the A button a lot, and you have easy access from there to the other three buttons, so with that in mind, some games definitely feel a lot better on this, other ones, I'll probably switch over to the Switch Pro controller, or even just use Joy-Cons. Hah, I was ready this time. Okay, so I have to clarify something about this. I don't really care about intercoolers on systems. I've always thought it's kind of an unnecessary thing, you don't really need one 'cause the system is designed to vent its heat just fine. If you're having a problem, either get the system fixed or stop putting it inside of a drawer, and give it space to breathe. That being said, though, I do like this intercooler, not because it's an intercooler, but because of how it changes the way that you use the dock, and what I mean by the way that it changes the way you dock, normally, you're docking just straight down into the Switch, which can work for certain setups, but it's kinda an inconvenient design if you put it in like a lower shelf, or something where there's like a ceiling to deal with, so what this does is it changes the design to being sideways, but just diagonal a little bit, 'cause straight sideways would be really annoying, but it's lifted enough to where then you can just kinda slide the Switch down into it so it's easier to put away in situations like that, which adds a nice little kinda freedom to where you can set the Switch dock up. (train horn blaring) So one of the things that's become really popular with the Switch is carrying cases, the ability to bring your Switch around along with games, controllers, cables, whatever. A lot of them are just the small ones that are meant for carrying just the Switch by itself with a couple of games, maybe the charging cable. If you want to be able to bring a lot of stuff all at once, though, definitely my favorite go-to that I have is the PDP Elite backpack for Switch. It's this backpack that's designed to be basically for the Switch specifically. The version before it, which is just the non-Elite one. That one was definitely just designed for Switch in mind alone, the Elite version offers a couple other additional pockets, and even a little place to put like, a laptop or something, if you want, so it runs the balance a little more of using it as a backpack, and using it as a Switch carrying case. Personally, I've been using it more for the Switch specifically a lot now. When it first came out, I was using it as my main backpack, but I've kinda moved to the point now where I have my main backpack for all my other gear and stuff, and then if I wanna bring a full Switch setup with the dock and everything, and bunch of games and controllers, that's where that backpack comes in. Something I really like about it too is that it's not super over-the-top with being a gaming themed thing, especially with a lot of the smaller carrying cases for the Switch, you get into stuff where a lot of it is heavy themed, which is cool, that's fine, but for something that you're actually wearing on your back while you're walking around places, it'd be nice for it not to be super flashy, so I really like that it's this kind of just very plain looking gray. It still has branding on it, it's not entirely like, not Switch related, but I think it does this good balance of being actually a good looking backpack at the same time of serving this gaming-focused purpose. What's great about the Switch, too, is that as much as I love all these different accessories, this is just what's come out in the first two years of the system, basically, so there is so much more to come, and I'm really excited to see what else we get in the future. (mellow digital music)