Nintendo Switch Screen Glare: How To Make It Less Reflective

The screen of the Nintendo Switch is very reflective – fortunately, you can equip the Switch with an anti-reflective screen protector. We'll show you how to reduce the Switch's screen glare.

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Nintendo Switch anti-glare protection: Here you can find out how to make your Nintendo Switch less reflective. | © Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch is a portable console that is ideal for gaming on the go. In principle, this works well – the Switch is comfortable to hold when mobile, the controls don't feel much different from playing on a TV, and the battery life is also decent.

However, the Nintendo Switch screen has a major drawback: it is very reflective – the screen glare is terrible. Especially in direct sunlight, playing is practically impossible, which can be extremely annoying on a long car or train journey where the lighting conditions constantly change, ruining the gaming experience.

Therefore, we looked for solutions. Of course, you can create a do-it-yourself solution – for the balcony, you can use a cardboard box as protection against the sun. But while this might work at home (and by the way, it attracts weird looks from the neighbors), it won't in the car. Luckily, you have some other options for that situation.

Nintendo Switch Anti-Glare Protection: Get A Cheap Anti-Glare Screen Protector

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The bottom Nintendo Switch has been fitted with an anti-glare screen protector, the top one hasn't – which you can clearly see due to the strong reflection of the room on the upper screen. | © EarlyGame

In search of an alternative to the inflexible do-it-yourself cardboard approach, we came across an anti-glare screen protector by the company Brotect on Amazon (available in Europe), which is specifically designed for the Switch. We found the price of around 6.50 Euros for a pack of two pleasantly low but also suspiciously low; after all, the film is also supposed to protect against scratches and fingerprints.

To personally test if the anti-glare film can deliver on its promise, we promptly ordered it and tried it out.

Note: We only tested the Brotect product, if this should not be available in your region, you can try out one of the following that should provide very similar results:

Nintendo Switch Anti-Glare Screen Protector in Review

The manufacturer conveniently includes a special cleaning cloth, which you can use to clean your Switch screen before applying the film. It is essential to avoid sticking any dust particles or other foreign objects that could then permanently damage your screen or be super annoying while gaming.

The installation itself is quite simple – after you have cleaned the screen, remove the thin protective film from the screen protector and place it precisely on your Switch. It works exactly like applying a screen protector on your smartphone. Ideally, look for a location that is as free as possible from dust or other particles for this procedure.

Nintendo Switch Anti-Glare Screen Protector: How Does It Affect The Image?

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The screen of our Nintendo Switch still delivers rich colors even with the applied anti-glare film. | © EarlyGame

As the Switch screen now has an additional layer, this of course also affects the way the screen displays the image.

However, we found the change to be minimal; with a "still image" – in our example, the menu screen of the Nintendo console – you can see a certain graininess if you look closely, but we hardly noticed it once we started playing a game.

We also didn't notice any downsides of the touchscreen functions – it worked with the screen protector just as flawlessly as without it.

Nintendo Switch Anti-Glare Screen Protector: How Well Does It Reduce Reflections?

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Nintendo Switch: Thanks to the screen protector, the console reflects significantly less. | © EarlyGame

Now let's get to the most important point – can the product actually reduce the reflection of the Switch screen, and if so, how well?

After testing for a week, we can confirm: With the anti-glare screen protector, the screen of the Switch reflects significantly less. As a result, we were able to play outdoors in broad daylight, where we would have hardly been able to see anything other than our reflection before. Obviously, the screen protector has its limits: in direct sunlight, the anti-glare protection hardly helps.

Our conclusion: If you play a lot on the go and don't necessarily have to play in direct sunlight, you can get a lot of utility with the anti-glare screen protector for very little money. In addition, the film protects against scratches and fingerprints and you can also play with lower screen brightness, saving additional battery power.

Note: Our two Switch consoles are the classic versions of the Nintendo console, meaning not the OLED model.

Lukas Ballat

Lukas has been passionate about shooters his whole life and at EarlyGame he teaches you everything about CoD, while also taking care of campaigns and partner projects. He also plays Souls-likes and doesn't shy away from the Diablo-grind either....

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