Switch 2 is cheating? The dock supports VRR, but the console itself does not!

Nintendo claims that the Switch 2 supports VRR only in handheld mode. Meanwhile, the editorial team at The Verge has just proven that the dock... most certainly supports this feature — just not with the console itself.

Do you want your games to be as smooth as possible, even if they don’t consistently hit 60 or 120 frames? That’s precisely why VRR was created, which stands for variable refresh rate, eliminating stutter and tearing. The technology is already working in many TVs, laptops, and handhelds — and officially, the Switch 2 has it as well.

Nintendo even promoted for a while that the console would support VRR in TV mode. However, this information was quickly removed from the site, and on May 16, the company apologised: “The Nintendo Switch 2 supports VRR only in handheld mode.”

The Verge: dock supports VRR — and that at 4K at 120 Hz

The editorial team at The Verge did not give up. The journalists connected several other handhelds to the official dock for the Switch 2 — including the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS, and ROG Ally X with Bazzite system. And what did they find out? VRR works, and perfectly, at 4K and 120 Hz with HDR.

For the tests, a professional VRRTest tool was used — confirming that the image remains fluid with changing frame rates (e.g. between 48 and 60 fps or at 90 fps). The Nintendo console? It completely bypasses this feature in TV mode.

So where lies the problem?

Since the dock supports VRR, and the Switch 2 console supports it in handheld mode… why hasn't Nintendo enabled this option in TV mode?

In many games — from Cyberpunk 2077 to Hitman — drops below 60 fps are noticeable. VRR would smooth these out and improve gameplay quality. Yet, the company from Kyoto has not opted to activate this option on the big screen.

Some suggest that Nintendo simply isn't satisfied with the performance of VRR on the big screen yet. And there may be some truth to this — Digital Foundry reported issues with VRR even in handheld mode: from judder in No Man’s Sky to stutters in 40 fps mode in Cyberpunk.

On the other hand — the same Digital Foundry admits that VRR works correctly in Nintendo's official demo Welcome Tour. So the feature exists. And it works. It's just that… Nintendo isn't granting us access to it.

Nintendo is silent, technology waits

The editorial team at The Verge requested a comment from Nintendo. To no avail. The company did not provide any explanation as to why VRR has been "cut off" in docked mode, despite the dock being capable of handling it. Even competing devices can utilise this feature through Nintendo's official dock.

Is it a mistake? An oversight? A conscious decision?

Time will tell — but this is another technical mystery coinciding with the release of the Switch 2. Previously, there was already confusion regarding the blocked USB-C port and incompatibility with popular cameras.

And VRR? It exists. It works. The only issue being not with what it was created for.