Nyko Power Shell Case For The Nintendo Switch Review

Easily one of the best Nintendo Switch Accessories available

Let’s be honest with each other. The Nintendo Switch is a versatile little system. Playable in both docked and portable modes, it’s one of the hottest pieces of gaming tech available. I’ve even gotten into the spirit by playing more of my Nintendo Switch games on the go. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I haven’t been the biggest advocate for portable gaming. However, that changed when I picked up a Nintendo Switch. I pretty much that it everywhere and enjoy gaming on it. Except that the battery life isn’t amazing. On average I’ve gotten between 3-4 hours of gaming on the go. Sometimes I forget to charge the unit before leaving the house, resulting in a dead Switch and a frustrated gamer. This is where the Nyko Power Shell Case for the Nintendo Switch comes into play. 

Name: Power Shell Case for Nintendo Switch
Manufacturer: Nyko
Price: $39.99
Availability: Now

If you’re a gamer who prefers taking your Nintendo Switch everywhere you go, instead of leaving it docked. Then this little beaut may be what you’re looking for. The Nyko Power Shell Case incorporates style, storage, and battery life, in one package. It can hold up to 12 Nintendo Switch games, very snuggly I might add. As well as 4 microSD cards and the Nintendo Switch with Joy-Cons attached. Priced at $39.99, I feel this is an attractive bundle for just about every Nintendo Switch owner.

On the bottom-left side of the case are 4 LED lights that glow when the case is being charged. Each LED represents a 25% charge. To the right of that is a micro-USB port. This is where the case gets charged from. And oddly enough, the Power Shell Case does include a micro-USB cable, it doesn’t include an AC adaptor. You’ll have to either plug it an AC adaptor you already own, the Nintendo Switch dock or go purchase one. It’s worth mentioning that a computer/Laptop can also charge the case – just pointing that out.

The case will only charge when the case is open. I completely understand the reasons behind this. That being when charging it produces a bit of heat. With the case closed, this could become a fire hazard. That being the case, I applaud Nyko for this decision. To accomplish this, there is a button on inside of the case that gets pressed down when the case is closed.When this happens, all power from the case gets cut off. To enable charging, the case will need to be open. There is another small button that functions as the power button. You’ll recognize it as it will have an image of a battery on it. The included battery is rated at 5000mah. It’s a nice sized battery, takes about 3 hours to charge and claims to double the Switch’s battery life. I averaged 4-5 hours of gaming while enjoying some The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Azure Striker Gunvolt while watching videos on Hulu. 

 

I’m not sure what the case is made up from, but I’m not a fan of the material choice. The entire case is smooth and feels nice, but it’s also very slippy. Placing it on the top down, I was able to slide the case across my desk without much force. Thankfully, the bottom does have four rubber feet. But I worry about just carrying the case around and having it accidentally falling out of your hands. Which leads us to our next point – sturdiness. The Power Shell Case was able to withstand a drop from 3-5 feet up. I didn’t dare testing drops any higher, as the inside of the case is hard plastic. Any real impact with the Switch inside of the case could be damaging to both and I didn’t want to risk that.

The case also features a fold-out and adjustable kickstand. The Switch will sit on this as it’s being charged. The kickstand adjusts in two different positions and is quite handy when you are playing a game with either the Joy-Cons or another wireless/wired controller. It also made watching videos on Hulu easier, since I didn’t already have a kickstand. The kickstand is adjusted by moving to between two slotted tracks, with the weight of the Switch holding it in place. I would have liked to have it snap into place, but it works out well.

Included with the Power Shell Case is a screen protector that I did not use, as I already have a tempered glass screen on my Switch. However, this screen protector is just a flimsy piece of plastic. I would have liked to see Nyko include their more premium screen protector, the Screen Armor. Though I imagine this would also jack up the price of the case. There’s also a cloth included to wipe the screen off. 

So far, it seems like this case is the total package. Right?

In fact, if I’m being completely honest, the Power Shell Case is perhaps a bit overkill. I love the fact that it can hold up to 12 games (plus the one in the switch) and multiple SDCards. At the same time, I doubt I’d carry more than 5 or 6 games at a time. Especially since most gamers are leaning towards digital downloads. The Nintendo Switch carts are small and are easily lost. Trust me, I’ve had my fair shares of panicking when I couldn’t find my The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  Does it really need 4 slots for the microSD cards? I’m sure there are those who may carry their entire games catalog with them. For those, this case is perfect.  For the rest of us that would love to have a bit more power when we’re out and about, you’ll be in love with this case just as well.

Review Disclosure Statement: The Nyko Power Shell Case for the Nintendo Switch was provided to us by Nyko for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please go review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.

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