Tldr switch wins on most counts. Mostly due to bespoke effort to make it run better. Also docked. Go for a deck anyway.
this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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The tests that outperformed were in docked (not handheld) mode anyway, which means comparing this to the Deck is not really valid. Compare it to a gaming PC or console instead.
Thanks forgot. Edited.
Most games on Switch 2 will be bespoke ports while Deck will run Windows versions through a compatibility layer because Proton made devs forgo Linux native versions. Those tests were done in both handheld and docked. For handheld there are pros and cons for both but Switch looks much better, has better battery life (although with more dips below target framerate). Docked Switch simply blows the Deck away but that’s not a real life scenario really as you’ve said.
This is not a one-off, Switch is just newer hardware that’s carried by DLSS too. If you game on a budget you can buy and sell used copies on Switch as well. Not as simple decision as you make it out to be.
because Proton made devs forgo Linux native versions.
To be fair, a lot of the "native" linux version run worse than the proton version does. Just look at Witcher 2.
IIRC Witcher 2 used eON which is also some sort of translation mechanism. But yeah, native port is not a guarantee of stability. Wine/Proton is a guarantee that you’ll be losing performance on overhead due to those being a reverse engineered reimplementation of Windows libraries. It can be mitigated due to Linux being more performant and/or less bloated with adware. Regardless of all of this, we should be making comparisons to as-is performance because that’s what ultimately matters to end consumer.
Steam deck won’t play the latest Zelda and Mario and that’s why I have a gaming pc and will buy a switch 2 when I find one.
Wait a few months, Switch 2 seems so similar to Switch 1 its possible that is the reason Nintendo went so aggressively against Yuzu and Ryujinx. Developers could easily fork the code to get a massive head start on a Switch 2 emulator, again assuming that the architectures are similar enough.