this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2025
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The switch has a lot of similarities with phone hardware, but in a different form factor.
Almost all phones work like this, in that they are mobile-first devices which are designed to depend on the battery.
A major reason for this design choice is power stability.
The switch (just like a phone) can charge off any USB power supply, even really low power ones. The power coming in might be enough to slowly charge, but not enough to keep up when you do the most demanding tasks, like playing a graphically intensive game.
For that reason, the switch requires some charge in the battery, so that if the power draw spikes too much for the charger then the battery takes up the slack and things keep working nicely, rather than unexpected crashing or other oddities.
In the end, demanding the battery has at least a little charge to run is basically a safety feature to ensure that you have a good experience, and the switch does not die in unexpected ways.
Back when phones still had removable batteries, it was possible to use a battery-less phone that was hooked up to a charger.
I can't imagine the Switch would ever be in a situation where the dock would be providing less power than the device needs to stay charged.
Most people (especially kids) don't know anything about power or USB. I can't imagine it's rare for someone to try to play their switch while it's plugged into a USB 2.0 port on an old laptop
Sure, but we're talking about the dock, which is its own device that requires a minimum power threshold to work.
Isn't it still USB-C, though? An old laptop was just an example, people have definitely also tried old chargers for their docks
It is USB-C, but the part that goes from the dock to the Switch will always be a constant. If the dock itself is not receiving enough power, it (shouldn't) power the Switch at all.
I have heard it happening with power banks. Unless it's a "good" one, it will charge Switch slower than the power it uses, so it still drains battery, but slower.