The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally out now for everyone to pick up in stores. Despite a minor scare about availability at first, many people are finally experiencing the Switch 2 for the first time. Along with their new console, people have been playing games with online functionality through the Nintendo Switch online service. Those with an active membership with Switch Online can enjoy what's new in the service with Nintendo's newest console release. Whether you're driving through the long roads of Mario Kart World or diving into any of the other third-party titles available at the launch of Switch 2, chances are you're going to hop online at some point.

So is going online with the Nintendo Switch 2 a great experience for new console owners? Many criticisms of the original Nintendo Switch involved aspects of its online service and the stability of playing big Nintendo games online. After spending a good amount of time with the console and exploring the different features it has, I have a good idea of what most people will be facing when connecting their Nintendo Switch 2 to the internet. Here are my impressions of the Switch Online service for the Nintendo Switch 2 during its launch.

Online gaming with Nintendo Switch 2

Is it stable enough to play?

Not every Switch 2 game has things like online multiplayer, but a select few will have it as part of their experiences. And while titles like Street Fighter 6, released for Switch 2, have that as a big component, most new console owners will instead be playing something like Mario Kart World, which was bundled with the Nintendo Switch 2 at launch. When playing on my Nintendo Switch 2, I was connected via a Wi-Fi signal, which is what many people will be doing when connecting online with their own consoles. Although using an Ethernet cable is the most ideal setup when one wants to play online games, not every person who picks up a Switch 2 is going to be doing that, regardless of what game they play. Chances are, they'll set up their console after opening up the box and immediately look to connect to their home Wi-Fi, mostly to do things like logging into their account and downloading games from the eShop.

Most of my time playing games online with Switch 2 was spent with Mario Kart World and its different racing modes, which include larger lobbies of players and the Free Roam open-world setting. Unlike titles such as Street Fighter 6, which would only require two players to connect with each other, Mario Kart World is grouping up to 24 players at a time and letting them race together. Out of the many races I participated in, only a select few ever experienced any sort of online connectivity issues, mostly due to players exiting mid-race or entering the lobby for the first time. But while in the midst of a single track, the game would run smoothly for nearly the entire session. I never felt that my controls were sluggish, nor were my actions being delayed because of any sort of latency. While this might be an effect of many kinds of players with a variety of connections getting online to play Mario Kart World, it worked to my benefit.

I played for hours, participating in different races, both in docked mode and portable mode, and everything worked out well. But would this kind of result be different with each new session, or change heavily over time post-launch? It's entirely possible, but there's no way to tell at the current moment. The online connection I had for my games through Wi-Fi was solid, but it may vary in quality for others with different ISPs or Wi-Fi routers. The original Nintendo Switch struggled with online connections for many games around its own launch, so at least things appear to be better for Switch 2 right from the start.

Switch 2 eShop and online menus

When not playing games, but still online

One of the biggest criticisms of the first Nintendo Switch console was how navigating the menus of the eShop was sluggish and a big hassle. Trying to browse for new games or explore the featured sections that Nintendo highlights with their online menus was a struggle for many people, even with fast internet connections. Luckily, this doesn't appear to be a major problem with the Nintendo Switch 2. After diving into Mario Kart World for a long time, I decided to see what it was like to spend time with the eShop menus, as well as the Switch Online tabs for the console. To my surprise, they feel like they should have been on the original Switch, which is fast and easy to go through. No more lag between tabs and menus, struggling to load up images or selections within the menus.

What's very interesting is how smooth it is to go through these menus using the Joy-Con 2's mouse mode, which makes it feel like you're browsing windows on a PC. I found it very intuitive when switching between tabs on the eShop and easily clicking on different parts of the screen for each page. Clicking on areas with the top button of the Joy-Con is similar to the button on a mouse, while using the analog stick lets you scroll up and down the page, which feels so much easier than it sounds. To really play around with it, I tried doing this with both Joy-Con 2 controllers, and it quickly switches between them with the same functionality. Most people may just use the Joy-Cons like normal, but it's great to see that the option to try things out is there and so easily interchangeable.

But are the dynamic parts of the eShop and Switch Online tabs quick to load without a problem on Switch 2? Yes, and surprisingly so. Every space you highlight about a game can quickly load up a video, like a trailer, or a montage of images related to the game. There are even tabs for the Switch Online Expansion Pass section that play music and short samples of different features, like a combination of gameplay for the GameCube games that are available with Switch Online. All of this appeared so much easier to navigate and interact with as I browsed the menus, which is everything that Switch owners had asked for with the first console.

GameChat rooms with Switch 2

What's it like to talk online?

With Nintendo finally adding more features to their online service, like setting up a party chat, I was the most curious about it. Before the Nintendo Switch 2, the company struggled to have a legitimate way for players to create a party chat while playing their games. This is something other companies like Microsoft and Sony have been doing for years, so many wanted a similar approach from Nintendo with their own hardware. Unfortunately, the original Switch didn't have anything like that, opting to use a mobile app for party chat that nobody liked to use. So, when the Nintendo Switch 2 was revealed to have GameChat, I wanted to test it out as much as I could.

This was another surprise to me, because it worked so well. Setting up GameChat with another person was easy, but what took me back was how good the audio and connection were to the other person through GameChat. In the multiple sessions I had playing on my Switch 2, I tried using GameChat while in docked mode and portable mode, with another person doing the same. The audio quality was very good, with clear sound from the other person in their own room while we were both playing Mario Kart World. GameChat can have up to 12 people at a time, but getting a room set up like that is more of a challenge. The one downside to GameChat is that you can't quickly open up a room to other people not on your friend list, which is a step-down from how easy it is to do on other platforms.

But even without having the ability to welcome anyone into my GameChat lobby, the quality of the connection and sound was great. The best part is that even when someone is in portable mode, you can't hear them pressing buttons while they play, unless they were to slam the console or have something hit it. The microphone for the Switch 2 is on the main part of the unit with the screen, but that doesn't take away from how clear someone can sound when playing in docked mode. I positioned myself pretty far away from the console while talking to someone, and they were still able to hear me very clearly. The microphone was able to pick up whatever I was saying as I moved around or hung far back away from it while the console was docked.

Was the GameChat connection still good while playing Mario Kart World? Yes, which was perfect for coordinating where to go when hunting for some of the game's hidden secrets. Even as I fast-traveled between tracks or jumped between the different menus, the GameChat session never stuttered or had any latency issues. I even tried booting up and closing down various software multiple times just to be sure, and everything went smoothly with the GameChat lobby. However, one thing I could not test out was the quality of video with the Switch 2 camera, which allows GameChat to show players in the lobby. Without it, you just have your Switch Online profile pic on display that moves when you speak, so it's not a huge loss if you don't have a camera to use. Is it necessary to have when you use GameChat online? No, but you may not be getting much even if you have the Switch 2 camera connected, so there's no need to rush to get one if all you want to do is talk to other people while playing.

Nintendo Switch 2 online is solid

As of immediately following its launch, the Nintendo Switch 2 has a pretty good online experience. I didn't expect to walk away from playing games online with my Switch 2, thinking that things are looking up for Nintendo in this space. Not everybody will get to play the whole Switch 2 library online, as most games aren't focused on that, but the main things that people are diving into after getting their new console appear to be very solid. Playing the flagship launch title for the Switch 2 online is fun, which is definitely a great start to any console launch. Many of the bigger issues from the previous console going online seem to have been addressed. With time, some aspects will change for better or worse, but most people will be happy to know that going online with their Nintendo Switch 2 is going to be much better than they realize.