Some reports coming out about Nintendo’s new console suggest that it’s easy to damage superficially thanks in part to a plastic screen. But more videos have hit from people who really know how to put a piece of electronics through the ringer. It turns out that while it might not be tough to scratch the Switch, it’s nigh impossible to actually make it stop working unless you’re going about it very deliberately.
Even then, it might not still break
The guys at Waterjet Channel like to put their 60,000 psi waterjet cutter at things to see what happens – as one does. There’s science to be done, after all. And the results are actually pretty surprising. The guys get a game running on the system and put it on the table with the controllers operating the game wirelessly. While one of the guys plays the racing game, the other one starts up the cutter.
It’s not until almost 90 seconds in, when the first triangle of the Triforce they’re cutting actually drops out that the system actually snaps and fizzles out. You can spot the electrical current flowing through the water for a quick second before the screen goes black, when they hit the battery, which is what ended up killing the system.
To reiterate, the system lasted 90 seconds while they were cutting a hole in it with water. When one of the guys calls the system “possibly the most durable console you can buy right now,” he’s not wrong. JerryRigEverything had to put a lot of muscle into breaking his as well.
In addition to giving one un-touched Switch away to viewers, the guys put the Triforce-emblazoned Switch on eBay for a penny. The “seller refurbished” Switch eventually sold for $565.
If you’re thinking of getting a Switch for a kid or someone who has bad luck with electronics, there’s mounting evidence that they’re going to have it for a long time. Just get a screen protector and don’t try to apply any skins to the thing, and it’ll probably be able to withstand whatever your irresponsible loved one can literally throw at it.
