{"id":696710,"date":"2026-07-17T13:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/696710\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T13:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:54:10","slug":"nintendo-explains-how-to-replace-its-new-user-serviceable-joy-con-batteries-in-12-or-13-easy-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/696710\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo Explains How to Replace Its New User-Serviceable Joy-Con Batteries in 12 (or 13) Easy Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nintendo<\/a> Image: Nintendo<\/p>\n

Nintendo recently added user-replaceable batteries to their Switch 2 product line (and set an end date for Switch 1 sales<\/a>) in order to comply with new EU serviceability laws. The Switch 2 and Switch 2 Pro Controller will get user-replaceable battery versions later this year, but the first products to be affected will be the Switch 2 Joy-Con controllers – which arrive this summer and will slowly replace the old models in Europe.<\/p>\n

To that end, Nintendo has now published guides on how to replace the battery for both the left and right Joy-Cons, as well as how to identify the new user-replaceable models. They’ve also detailed the contents of a new “Nintendo Battery Replacement Kit” which will be sold soon. It includes the battery itself, a PH00 screwdriver, tweezers, a spudger and double-sided tape.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the left and right Joy-Cons have different instructions, with the the Left Joy-Con having a 12-step process<\/a> and the Right Joy-Con bumping that up to 13<\/a>. The difference lies in the antenna built into the right controller, which Nintendo’s guide suggests checking before you reconnect the battery cables.<\/p>\n

Do you prefer user-repairable batteries or higher capacities? (421 votes)
\nUser-repairability every day81%Larger capacity is more important8%No strong feelings either way11%<\/p>\n

The process looks a little fiddly, especially when dealing with the small battery cables and ensuring the original ribbon cables are kept intact, but with patience and the correct tools it shouldn’t prove problematic. Each step has an accompanying image or video showing exactly what to do.<\/p>\n

The page on identifying the new user-replaceable Joy-Cons<\/a> is interesting too. There are reportedly four ways to tell the new models: by the model numbers shown in the Switch 2 System Settings (System > Serial Number), by the model numbers printed on the back of the Joy-Con, by markings on the box, and by the presence of Phillips (cross-head) rather than Y-head screws. I’d probably go for that last one, if I was you!<\/p>\n

\"Here's<\/a>\"Here's<\/a>Here’s what the new Joy-Cons look like, with new screws and a new model number. Click to enlarge. \u2014 Images: Nintendo<\/p>\n

The new Joy-Con model numbers to look out for are HAC-015(-01) and HAC-016(-01), with the (-01) denoting the user-replaceable model versus the original HAC-015 and HAC-016 model numbers which have fixed batteries.<\/p>\n

It’s fascinating to see Nintendo turn its efforts to teardown videos, and I’m sure we’ll see folks on YouTube produce their own guides before too long too.<\/p>\n

What do you make of the guides? Are there any surprises here I missed? Let me know in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image: Nintendo Nintendo recently added user-replaceable batteries to their Switch 2 product line (and set an end date…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,376,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-696710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-gb","tag-nintendo-switch-2","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}