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New Nintendo Switch Model Price for India Revealed, Original Version Gets Deep Discount

New Nintendo Switch model India price confirmed with ready availability while the older version becomes drastically cheaper offline.
Nintendo Switch

While the new Nintendo Switch with better battery life has been available in parts of the world since the middle of August, it’s not officially available in India yet. However, it’s finally selling through importers, for a price of Rs. 27,500 to 29,500 depending on which part of the country you’re buying from. Of course, you’re not buying it officially with a warranty, since Nintendo doesn’t have an India presence.

What this means is, you’re restricted to buying from independent stores offline, most of whom depend on parallel imports and therefore charge an amount they deem fit as there’s no MRP to consider. This price range was confirmed by multiple sources in the supply chain and at retail speaking to The Mako Reactor on the condition of anonymity.

The reason for the delay of the new Nintendo Switch India release has to do with when it launched in neighbouring regions like the Middle East. There, countries like the UAE only received stock last week. A decent chunk of parallel imports for the Nintendo Switch originate from the UAE, sources confirm.

That said, this has resulted in a price drop for the original Nintendo Switch with stores now selling it for around Rs. 21,000. That’s a pretty good deal when you consider Amazon India has it for Rs. 25,000 or so, making us wonder how much the new Nintendo Switch with improved battery life would sell for on Amazon when it eventually shows up.

New Nintendo Switch model versus old one: how to tell the difference

If you’re wondering how to tell the difference between the new Nintendo Switch model and 2017’s launch unit, we got you covered with this handy guide. You’ll need to look for differences in packaging and model numbers to tell one from the other.

New Nintendo Switch model versus old Switch – what to buy?

The old Nintendo Switch offers 2.5 to 6.5 hours of battery life with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild lasting for 3 hours in specific conditions. The new Nintendo Switch Model that is still called the Nintendo Switch will offer 4.5 to 9 hours of battery life with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild lasting for 5.5 hours. This is a huge upgrade.

However is this alone worth spending around Rs. 6,000 more for? This depends on how often you play on your Switch in handheld mode. Even if you need the extra battery life, it’s cheaper to buy a power bank from the likes of Anker or Xiaomi than to spend an additional amount for the new Switch with improved battery life.

Until pricing on the new Nintendo Switch reduces or the old Switch stock is depleted from the India market completely, there’s no reason to spend that much more for just a battery life increase and little else.

The Mako Reactor is your one-stop destination for everything Japanese gaming in India.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.