It didn’t take long for the community to pinpoint design flaws in the hardware of the Nintendo Switch. Some issues have developed over time, such as the outer shell cracking due to overheating, while others were abundantly clear from the get-go. Nintendo pushed the Switch’s playability over three distinct modes of play; docked, handheld, and tabletop. Unfortunately, the latter option has restrictions on being able to keep the unit charged while being played due to the charging point being located at the bottom of the Switch. Now, Nintendo has released the Adjustable Charging Stand, but how does it stand up to the competition?
To be clear, this isn’t the first solution to this issue; in fact, tabletop docks have been available since very early on in the Switch’s lifecycle, but it has taken 18 months for Nintendo to create an official solution to the problem. Perhaps Nintendo’s telemetry data, released as part of its investors report indicated that this is a solution that the market needed or, perhaps, it recognised that Third Party suppliers were making money on something it wasn’t.
The Adjustable Charging Stand is incredibly lightweight, small, and, most importantly, portable. The plastic is solid enough to hold the weight of the Switch but a tad too light to stop it from moving around. The Switch slots right into the dock and can be easily removed, although it would have been better if there was a locking mechanism instead. There is a port for the charging cable to be plugged in on the right-hand side of the unit, although the stand can be used without plugging it into the mains. The angle of the screen can be fully adjusted to get the preferred viewing angle, which is fantastic for use on trains, coaches, planes, or even just the average living room where the user would be sitting at varying distances away from the screen.
The unfortunate fact is that this retails for £16.99 in the UK, which is pretty pricey for what is essentially a small piece of plastic. In comparison, the HORI stand is priced around £9.99 but this perhaps a lot less portable in its nature, and given that the Nyko portable dock began to brick consoles in early 2018, it can be quite a risky business to use Third Party accessories.
