Mystery Solved; Now We Know What The Hole Under The Nintendo Switch’s Screen Is For

So, you’ve recently gotten a new Nintendo Switch, and have started catching some pocket monsters in Pokémon Sword And Shield. And as you enter a new area and wait for the loading screen to finish, you notice a little camera-like notch at the bottom of the screen.

What is the purpose of this thing, you ask? As it turns out, it’s a brightness sensor, as highlighted by Nintendo Customer Support Japan.

Essentially, what this sensor does is automatically adjust the screen’s brightness depending on the amount of light present surrounding the Switch. Though not very obvious, the sensor actually changes colour when it notices a shift in brightness, signalling the Switch to lower or increase the brightness for your convenience.

Of course, you can switch off the Auto-Brightness feature in the system settings if you find the sensor hindering your gameplay experience.

While this feature isn’t present in the Nintendo Switch Lite, we imagine it could be in the upcoming Nintendo Switch Pro.

Marion Frayna

Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.