Tutorial – How to really turn off your Nintendo Switch console?

The Nintendo Switch recently passed the milestone of 7 million units sold in France and has established itself as one of the most popular consoles in France, ahead of the Wii. And it is very likely that this year 2023 will not yet be the year of decline since our favorite hylian-kokiri will return on May 12 with the probable system-seller The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

As always with the Switch (except with the Lite model, of course), it will be possible to roam the plains of Hyrule and roam the dungeons in docked mode (therefore connected to the television) and in nomadic mode, freed from all wire to the paw. And for those who prefer this way of playing, our tip of the day can perhaps help them save a few percent of battery by avoiding being left dry in front of a final palace boss.

A screen off but a processor running

Like us, you must be a lot to turn it off by briefly pressing the on/off button located on the upper edge of the device. You can also press the “home” button and select “sleep”. Finally, the home menu also has its standby button. However, these different methods only put the Switch to sleep. The screen is off, but all apps running in the background still need the energy stored in the battery to power the CPU and memory. However, there is a way to completely turn off the console and thus limit its consumption.

Good point, the method is rather simple since it is enough to maintain the pressure on the famous button of the upper edge for at least three seconds. A new window opens, giving the possibility of using standby (definitely) or accessing the power options, including the famous “turn off”. Simply select this option to completely cut off the power supply. You will know that everything has gone according to your wishes if, when you turn the Switch back on, the Nintendo logo appears along with the console logo.

A significant gain in autonomy?

But what do you really gain from turning off your Switch instead of putting it to sleep? To find out, we tested both methods, battery 100% charged, wifi on, with the game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in operation when stopped. Note that our test Switch is a classic model (neither Oled nor Lite but the handling is exactly the same) and that it already has a little bottle. Our test stretched over 20 hours, 10 completely turning off the console and 10 putting it to sleep. In the first case, the battery had not been nibbled one iota (well, one percent). The indicator still proudly showing 100%. In standby mode, the battery life was a little affected since it remained “only” 97%. We can deduce that in this state, the Switch depletes its battery in 330 hours, or just under two weeks, which allows us to see what is coming.